Wild Slow Loris Welfare and Illegal Pet Trade

Slow lorises are the only venomous primates and are critically threatened by the illegal pet trade. Viral videos showing them as cute pets drive demand that causes immense suffering and population decline.

Key Facts

All eight slow loris species are Critically Endangered or Endangered on the IUCN Red List
They are the only venomous primates — their venom glands combine with saliva to produce a toxin
Slow lorises in the pet trade have their teeth clipped or removed to prevent venomous bites — this causes severe pain and infection
Capture for the pet trade involves traumatic trapping, vehicle transport, and handling that kills many before sale
Viral social media videos showing slow lorises being tickled or held show animals in distress, not pleasure
Tickling in slow lorises triggers a fear response — raised arms are a defence posture, not a play posture
They are nocturnal and highly specialised for forest environments they cannot replicate in captivity
International Animal Rescue and International Union for Conservation of Nature work on slow loris protection

Welfare Considerations

Slow loris welfare in the illegal pet trade is characterised by extreme and prolonged suffering from capture through to death in captivity. Tooth clipping — removing the teeth that deliver venom — is performed without anaesthesia using wire cutters or nail clippers, causing severe pain and often leading to fatal sepsis from infection. Animals that survive undergo stress of capture, transport, and inadequate captive care. Their complex nutritional needs, nocturnal biology, and requirement for forest environments cannot be met in captivity. Slow lorises in videos showing apparent enjoyment of human contact are displaying stress responses — the raised arms posture is a defensive behaviour, not pleasure. The social media viral loop that drives demand directly causes welfare catastrophe. Reporting these videos as wildlife trafficking reduces their reach.

What You Can Do

Never share or engage positively with slow loris pet videos — report them to the platform as wildlife trafficking content
Never purchase or keep a slow loris as a pet — the trade causes extreme suffering and is illegal globally
Support International Animal Rescue slow loris rehabilitation and release programs
Advocate for platform policies requiring removal of wildlife trafficking content including primate pet videos
Donate to slow loris research and conservation programs working on habitat protection
Learn about slow loris biology to understand why their apparent enjoyment in videos is actually distress