Rescued loris needs urgent dental treatment!

Another Slow Loris rescued just in time

Today saw the arrival of a new young, male slow loris at WFFT. He was being kept as a pet but had started to bite his owner and developed unsightly wounds on his face so the owner decided to surrender him to our refuge. This Loris has been the victim of the horrific practice of teeth clipping where, after being poached from the wild the wildlife trader cuts the sharp canine teeth for the convenience of the new owner. This results in deep abscesses in the animal’s jaw and eventually death from the infection.

This Loris has suffered the pain of 2 such abscesses in his lower jaw for 1 whole year! After several failed attempts by local clinic to treat the infections medically, The vet team at WFFT’s wildlife hospital knew the only option was surgery. 3 teeth were extracted and the abscesses cleaned out under general anaesthesia this afternoon. He is recovering well but the infection is deep into the jaw and will take months of treatment to heal. Sadly, these problems make him unsuitable for release back to the wild but if he recovers he will have a permanent home here at WFFT in one of our large forest enclosures, as close to nature as possible.

Despite being an endangered and protected species, sadly, Lorises are still popular pets and barbaric practices like teeth clipping blunt the painful bite making them even more appealing to some. Widespread education and improved law enforcement is urgently required if we are to stop the trade and save this species before it’s too late.