Slow Loris Welfare and the Exotic Pet Trade

Slow lorises are venomous primates sold illegally as exotic pets, suffering severely from tooth removal and unsuitable captive conditions in a trade driven by viral social media.

Key Facts

Slow lorises are the only venomous primates, with venom delivered through a combination of arm gland secretion and saliva
The exotic pet trade involves removal of teeth to make handling safer, a painful and often fatal procedure
Viral videos of slow lorises being tickled drove demand despite showing animals in distress
All eight slow loris species are protected under CITES Appendix I
Rescued slow lorises have extremely poor welfare outcomes in captivity even in specialist care
They are solitary nocturnal foragers that fare very poorly in any captive environment

Welfare Considerations

Slow lorises sold as pets have their teeth removed with wire cutters without anesthesia, causing fatal infection in many animals and chronic pain in survivors. Animals without teeth cannot be released to the wild and cannot feed naturally in captivity. The tickling behavior shown in viral videos is actually a fear response — slow lorises raise their arms to apply venom to their bites when threatened. These animals in videos are experiencing extreme stress while appearing cute to uninformed viewers. Almost all slow lorises entering captivity die within years from inappropriate conditions.

What You Can Do

Never share or engage positively with social media content showing slow lorises as pets
Report illegal slow loris trade to TRAFFIC and wildlife crime hotlines
Educate others that tickling videos show stressed animals not happy pets
Support International Animal Rescue slow loris programs in Indonesia
Donate to organizations fighting slow loris trafficking and social media demand
Advocate for platform policies removing wildlife trafficking content from social media