Release of rescued Lorises to the wild

Slow Lorises go home after rescue and treatment at WFFT

Our Wildlife Rescue Center receives dozens of Slow Loris and Pygmee Loris all year round. While the slow loris is a local species, the pygmee loris is not (WFFT has data suggesting that the Pygmee Loris does actually live in two Eastern Thailand provinces) so only slow lorises can be released back to the wild when they are found strong, healthy and wild enough.

For some of the lucky lorises it was lately time to go back to the wild, on a late afternoon three lorises were released back to the area they were once found or taken.

Shy as always, getting one more chance to a life in the wild

The WFFT wildlife rescue center is the only wildlife rescue center in Thailand with a fully equipped and licensed wildlife hospital, therefore being able to complete the full rescue with quarantine and full medical check-ups before release back to the wild. While the WFFT currently doesn’t receive any sponsorship for its mobile clinic from any organisation abroad, it is luckily still able to continue the rescue, rehabilitation and release work of wildlife such as these little primates…

First thing, getting high up to a safe place

WFFT still cares for a number of unreleasable slow lorises and some healthy pygmee lorises and we try to give them a life as good and close as possible to nature. It is not easy to house many lorises together unfortunately as the sweet looking animals are fierce fighters when housed together.

Treatment of a rescued loris at WFFT

The slow loris is sold openly on local and infamous weekend market Jatujak in Bangkok as pets. Lorises are also paraded around Phuket, Koh Samui and Pattaya for photo opportunities with tourists, although illegal the authorities turn a blind eye in most cases, raids are taking place every now and then while the arrested person are back on the streets within days with newly poached wildlife to exploit…

A loris used as a photo-prop in a Pattaya Shopping mall

Edwin Wiek / WFFT