Fortunately, these innocent little beings were rescued before being sent from Indonesia to China by a trader who was apprehended on the spot by a law enforcement team from the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry.
Sadly though the animals did not escape without substantial
injuries.
The news and photos were released yesterday by International Animal Rescue (IAR) which transferred the critically endangered primates to its center in West Java last week for emergency treatment.
As reported by the organization, the lorises were suffering from stress, dehydration and hunger. Several had already had their teeth cut while others were found with facial injuries and wounds.
Veterinarian Dr. Imam Afrin who explained that four of the lorises had been crammed in a cardboard box, taped up as parcel and sent by delivery service on a train to Kediri, called their survival a miracle.
The perpetrator is believed to be part of a network of illegal wildlife traders operating on social media.
“Illegal hunting and trafficking is pushing the Slow Lors perilously close to extinction, warned Karmele Llano Sanchez, Program Director of IAP Indonesia. “If the species is to survive, it is vital that the trade is stamped out. It causes immeasurable suffering and poses a greater threat to the survival of the species as a whole. The latest confiscation must send out a strong and urgent message to traffickers and potential buyers that Slow Lorises must not be captured, sold or kept as pets, and that the consequences for continuing to trade in them will be severe.”
according to Sanchez, hundreds of these protected endangered species are sold each year in Indonesian pet markets and now on social media. He estimates that about three Loris’s are taken from the wild each day and likely to die before they are even sold.
