𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘀

Some pictures recorded by installed infrared camera in a Pygmy Slow Loris (𝘯𝘺𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘣𝘶𝘴 𝘱𝘺𝘨𝘮𝘢𝘦𝘶𝘴) enclousure at EPRC. You can see the mother loris licking her baby. Not just a gesture of love, more than that, this is how the mother loris are ‘putting on’ her child a protective ‘armor’ before her mother goes for food.

Did you know? Slow Loris (𝘕𝘺𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘣𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘱) is 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗼𝘂𝘀? Currently the world records more than 500 species of primate have been found, and the Slow Loris is the only ones of which is known to be poisonous. To access its poison, a slow loris licks (or slowly rubs its hands) under glands near its armpits- and cover its teeth. And the resulting bite can expose a person or predator to fantal potentially anaphylactic shock. Similarly, by licking her baby’s fur before going out at night, the mother loris has created a shell that protects her childs from predators.

Sadly, the poison is not able to hold them off against hunters who feeding a demand for the primates in the illegal pet trade. Even when rescued, we found that many of slow lorises had their fangs broken by hunters or their former owner (and they do not regrow permanently) to take away their defenses. They will end up in very painful situations, lose their defenses, and even find food in the wild.
𝙇𝙚𝙩’𝙨 𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙚𝙘𝙩 𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙.

# Primates are not pets.