“Not cute anymore!”

Earlier this week, a male Sunda Slow Loris was brought to the WFFT Wildlife Hospital. The owner of the poor little animal didn’t find him cute enough anymore so decided to get rid of him and abandoned him at a vet clinic. One veterinarian there was aware of the work we are doing at the WFFT Centre and came with the scared critter knowing our staff would take good care of him.

As pets, baby animals are really popular, but as soon as they become adults and some natural instincts kick in, they become less cute, manageable, and welcome in the eyes of their owners. Additionally, it is illegal to harbor native wildlife species as pets in Thailand so this shouldn’t have happened in the first place!

But this has been a positive change for our new nocturnal resident. We dewormed this little loris, monitored him for a couple days in our hospital, and then moved him to a more natural enclosure for further assessment as a possible release candidate. His teeth are all miraculously intact and he is especially feisty so we are hopeful.

Wild Animal Are Not Pets –Keep Them Wild!!!

The Sunda slow loris is listed as Vulnerable (VU) by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, due to loss of habitat and severe pressures from hunting. The major threats that this species’ habitat faces include farming, timber removal, human settlement, road building, dams, power lines, fragmentations, soil loss and erosion, and deliberately set fires. They are hunted and traded for food, traditional “medicine”, sport, and as pets.