Slow Lorises: The Viral Cute Animal That Should Never Be a Pet

Slow lorises are venomous nocturnal primates whose popularity in viral videos drives a brutal illegal trade causing immense suffering.

Key Facts

Slow lorises are small nocturnal primates of South and Southeast Asia — the only venomous primates
They produce venom from a gland near the elbow; combined with saliva it can cause anaphylactic shock
Slow lorises go "viral" repeatedly in cute videos where they raise their arms — this is actually a defensive venom-delivery posture indicating extreme fear
The exotic pet trade captures lorises from the wild; their teeth are cut to prevent biting, causing infection and often death
All eight slow loris species are protected under CITES Appendix I — all trade is illegal
Most lorises confiscated from the pet trade are too psychologically damaged for release and must live in sanctuaries

Welfare Considerations

Slow lorises experience profound welfare harm at every stage of the illegal pet trade. Capture involves terrifying handling of a wild, nocturnal animal. Teeth clipping — performed to make them "safe" as pets — is done without anesthesia using wire cutters, causing severe pain, infection, and often fatal septicemia. The highly social, complex lives of wild lorises are reduced to solitary confinement, inappropriate diets, and forced day activity. The "cute" raising of arms in viral videos represents acute fear, not happiness. Confiscated lorises rarely recover full psychological health — they develop stereotypic behaviors, self-mutilate, and cannot be returned to the wild. The demand created by viral videos directly drives poaching that removes individuals from already-threatened wild populations. This is one of the clearest cases where seemingly harmless social media sharing causes direct animal suffering.

What You Can Do

Never share or positively engage with slow loris "pet" videos — report them to the platform as promoting illegal wildlife trade
Support the Little Fireface Project which researches wild lorises and combats the illegal trade
Advocate for social media platform policies that detect and remove wildlife trafficking content
Donate to Southeast Asian wildlife rescue centers that care for confiscated slow lorises