Slow Lorises Sarah and Satu at Tasikoki
The article and film link below were prepared by Gavin and Billy, at Tasikoki. Our Masarang hk Team also included some general facts about slow lorises as well some details about the suffering they go through as part of the ‘pet trade’. Please consider volunteering at Tasikoki or help by offering food/support/donations for the slow loris care at Tasikoki via Masarang hk: www.Masarang.hk
Tasikoki Slow Lorises
In January 2016, 25 Javan Slow Loris were confiscated from a single smuggler who was taking them to the Philippines. All the slow lorises were taken to Tasikoki for rehabilitation.
They were put into temporary accommodation and closely monitored. All were highly stressed, malnourished and suffering from oral hygiene issues due to the cruel treatment they suffered at the hands of the smuggler, though this treatment is common for slow lorises in this ‘pet trade’. The detail of this treatment is given below. All 25 were suffering from problems such as abscesses, infections and even the inability to eat solid foods in some cases.
In Summer 2016, two volunteers were so taken with the ‘slowies’, as we had taken to affectionately calling them, they were determined to provide better accommodation for them. Gemma and Paul raised US$800 in two weeks and that money funded the repair of a disused aviary to cater just for the slowies.
Unfortunately, by this time only 17 slowies remained as the rest had succumbed to their injuries and the stress they had been put through before they arrived at Tasikoki.
Over the space of a week, each surviving slowie had a full health check and was moved into their new homes in what the volunteers christened “Slow Loris Lane.”
They were closely monitored over the next few weeks and were given a diet rich in special foods bought in from the UK that catered to species that consume a great deal of tree sap in their diet.
Volunteers were instructed in the art of the Bug Hunt which rapidly became one of the most popular activities volunteers could experience. The slowies are nocturnal animals and each slowie would normally eat between 30 – 40 insects a night. We had to catch a lot of bugs!
We have now a sponsor based in the Netherlands, a company called Protix, that has developed a line of insect protein-based food supplements. In the last 18 months Protix has donated several dozen kilos of insect protein and it has made a marked difference to the health of the slowies. We are very grateful for any donation they could offer.
We use the Protix supplements several times a week and continue to Bug Hunt. After doing a great deal of research we tried supplementing the slowie diet with the small house geckos that are everywhere here. I can safely say that watching grown men and women trying to catch these geckos is one of the most farcical things you will ever see, but it is worth it as the extra protein in their diet continues to make a marked difference in the slowie’s general health. A short film showing the great work the volunteers are doing and how the Protix products are really helping the slowies in particular is Here.
Since they moved into Slow Loris Lane we have had a birth and unfortunately some more casualties amongst the group and we are hopeful that the remaining 11 slowies will eventually be relocated back to Java where they will have to spend the remainder of their lives in captivity but at a rescue centre dedicated to slow loris. The sad truth of their being poached means that the damage caused to their teeth means that our slowies could never survive in the wild again.
Please help us take care of them, whether volunteering yourself or donating supplies/funds and mark the donation “Slow Loris Care’. We would be very grateful for any assistance you could give.
The Tasikoki Team
Slow Loris Facts
In wildlife conservation, media exposure of an endangered and hitherto unknown species can be a good thing. Indeed, public awareness is one of the most powerful tools for conservation. Just look at how quickly the pangolin, an animal that most people had probably never even heard of until a few years ago, has become an icon for conservation on par with the elephant and gained similar levels of support for the end of its illicit trafficking.
Sometimes however, media exposure can backfire and make an already uphill battle even harder. Case in point: The Slow Loris.
The slow loris (Genus: Nycticebus) is a tiny primitive primate belonging to the group known as prosimians, which also includes bushbabies, tarsiers and lemurs. There are several species distributed across South and Southeast Asia, with the one housed at Tasikoki being the Javan slow loris (Nycticebus). Though it is indeed a very slow mover, it is not defenceless. Far from it. Beneath it’s cute and fluffy exterior hides an insidious secret: the slow loris is the world’s only venomous primate.
An unusual cocktail of saliva-borne toxins and secretions from glands on the animal’s elbows, slow loris venom has been known to cause anaphylactic shock, slow-to-heal necrosis (flesh rotting) and even death in humans. More often however, it uses this to catch its prey of insects and small animals (it also eats fruit and tree sap). Recent research has also found the markings on its face act as a warning to predators of its toxicity, in the same way that the colouration of a poison dart frog is a warning of its. However, there is only one recorded death by slow loris bite in scientific literature.
Ironically, this facial defence mechanism has also helped to contribute to the slow loris’ decline in the wild. Combined with its small size, fluffy fur and large eyes, it has helped to make the animal very endearing to humans and a popular target for the illegal pet trade. The demand for slow lorises as pets has skyrocketed in the wake of viral YouTube videos showing captive ones being tickled by their owners, adding further woes to a species already struggling with the loss of most of its habitat to agriculture.
Today, the pet trade in slow lorises is the leading cause of their decline in the wild, in spite of the fact that they are completely unsuitable for domestication by just about every measure. Lorises in the wild are nocturnal, don’t like loud noises, travel vast distances in search of food and have a highly varied diet. Contrast this to a well-lit, noisy house, a tiny cage and a monotonous diet and it’s easy to see why pet lorises suffer so much psychological stress and health problems such as obesity, diabetes and pneumonia.
There’s also the issue of animal cruelty. In order to prevent envenomation of their customers, ‘pet vendors’, for want of a better title, will clip the teeth of lorises using crude instruments like wire cutters or pliers and not include any anaesthetic. Imagine somebody doing the same thing to your teeth and you have some idea of how excruciating this procedure is for the lorises.
Worse still, not only can this often lead to death by infection and blood loss, but the makeshift nature of this ‘operation’ means that not all of the loris’ teeth are clipped, meaning that its owner can still get the full dose of venom if they are bitten with intact teeth. Even the process of transporting lorises from the wild to the market, often in cramped, poorly ventilated containers, carries a mortality rate as high as 90%.
As with any species, the loss of the slow loris will probably have far-reaching impacts on the rainforest ecosystem. Although not much is understood about its ecology due to its secretive nature, it is a known seed disperser and pollinator. It is also known to have a slow reproductive rate, producing only one baby every 16 months. This makes it unable to replenish its population fast enough to keep up with the rate of trafficking and it is likely that several plant species will decline along with it as a result.
If you want to help the slow loris, the best thing you can do is to not only not buy one as a pet, but also to keep your eyes and ears open for those who do. If you know of somebody who is thinking of buying a slow loris, talk them out of it. Conservation issues aside, possessing a slow loris is illegal under international law and punishable by up to 5 years in prison in some countries, so you’ll be doing the potential buyer a favour just as much as you’ll be doing lorises one. And don’t let them off if they say the loris they plan to buy was born in captivity. Breeding lorises in captivity would require in-depth knowledge of their breeding biology and suitable breeding facilities, things a pet shop owner almost certainly doesn’t have. Therefore, it is very likely that any slow loris up for sale is a wild caught one.
Avoid places offering tourist photo-ops with slow lorises and keep an eye out for online videos of slow lorises being offered for sale. If you come across the latter, you can report it to us: masarang.hk@gmail.com
Thank You.
The Masarang HK Team
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