Venomous primates… but we’re the real monsters.
Adorable appearances equate to monstrous mistreatment.
Adorable wide-eyed fluff balls. Slow lorises are nocturnal primates found in the wild in Southeast Asia. They live up high in trees and have the biggest eyes of all primates whereby they are able to see in almost complete darkness. And, my God, are they cute. However, looks can be deceiving; slow lorises are the world’s only venomous primates. They lick a gland in their arm which releases toxins into their saliva, resulting in a toxic bite.
Sounds scary, right? Perhaps not.
Slow lorises only use the venom in extreme and threatening situations, to ward off predators, and to capture their prey. Their diet consists of mollusks, small vertebrates, and fruit. Recent research has discovered parallels between the toxins produced by slow lorises and the allergic reactions that cats trigger in humans; this could suggest that, like slow lorises, cats also use their saliva as a defence mechanism. A bite from a slow loris can occasionally trigger an extreme allergic response, an anaphylactic shock.
Appearances can be misleading, and the slow lorises adorable appearance has essentially led to their ultimate demise. Who knew being so cute could be so dangerous? If you’re familiar with what a slow loris looks like it’s probably for the wrong reasons. You’re likely to have seen one of the videos that has circled around the internet of a slow loris enjoying a tickle or eating a rice ball. A seemingly adorable, harmless video…
The reality, however, is a lot darker.
Due to their growing popularity online, slow lorises have become immensely sought after in the illegal exotic pet trade. As, of course, it is simply human nature to see something endearing and demand to possess it as our own. The slow lorises are stolen away from their natural habitats and forced into the pet trade, where they are treated with cruelty in order to be domesticated. To conquer the problem of their defensive venomous bite, their teeth are forcibly removed, leaving them susceptible to infection, and they are destined to live out their days in a restrictive cage as opposed to a canopy of trees.
Those cute online videos of the primates eating rice balls and being tickled are, in truth, a lot gloomier than how they are conveyed. Animal behaviorists has brought to light that they merely eat the rice balls due to their lack of teeth, after they are removed before being sold on as pets, and they raise their arms to be ‘tickled’ out of defence so the toxic glands on their arms are accessible to them.
Though the pet trade is driven predominantly by western society and people’s desire to have the primates in their own homes, this has extended to the point where slow lorises are becoming targets of the tourist industry in their own countries as well. Slow lorises are native to Southeast Asia and a trip to Bangkok revealed to me how the primates are captured and used as tourist attractions in even their home countries. Slow lorises are held captive in tiny boxes and cages in the Thai markets, forced to defy their nocturnal instincts, denied of their autonomy, and used to attract tourists for photos.
Slow lorises attract far less attention from conservation communities than other at-risk wildlife such as elephants and tigers, however the danger they encounter from the pet trade and tourist industry is equally as harrowing.
They are now among the top 25 most endangered primates, and it has been reported that their population has declined by at least 80% over the past 24 years. Their lack of recognition hinders many conservation efforts, as many people are unaware of their existence. However, the awareness of their mistreatment is becoming more commonly known due to their rising online popularity, and the illegalisation of trade aids in the protection of the species.
The trade of slow lorises has become criminalised, as every nation in which they naturally occur now lists them as protected, including Cambodia where anyone who catches, hunts, poisons or transports them may be fined up to $250 USD and may face one month in prison. Additionally, the slow loris trade has been illegal in Indonesia since 1973, where offenders may face up to five years in prison and may be fined up to $10,000 USD.
Though these laws are in place and do aid in the protection of the species, my visit to Bangkok illustrates that this law does not consistently deter perpetrators, and slow lorises remain at risk within the exotic pet trade, and the tourist industry. Therefore, there is still a great deal of awareness that remains to be raised. It is imperative to continue to create and increase this awareness in order to improve the quality of life of these adorable creatures and ensure the continuation of their existence.
