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Slow Lorises

mike4g_air (788 posts) • 0

A week before Christmas two Slow Lorises climbed on our apartment patio
and we couldn't contact the pet owners.
Research indicated this animal is illegal as a pet and on the brink of being an endangered species.
The range of their habitat is as far north as central Yunnan.
Another fact is Slow Lorises have never been reproduced in captivity, therefore these two fellows were once in nature and can adapt.
So off we went to Southern Yunnan, west of the red river to release the pair Lorises into nature.
Photos and vids here:
paraglideyunnan.smugmug.com/[...]

AlPage48 (1394 posts) • 0

Interesting. I have a photo of one of these taken in XiShuangBanNa back in '07. I had never seen the creature before and the locals just referred to it as the "sleepy monkey". Now I have a name to go with the face.

colinflahive (167 posts) • 0

well done mike. two years ago this animal would frequent our back paito and wage battles with our dog. i got a photo once, but never figured out what it was. you've solved the mystery...

Pierre (46 posts) • 0

@Colin: kudos to the loris, I wouldn't think of battleling with your dog
@Mike: If you don't mind me asking, where do you live in Kunming (in a more city like or more rural area)?
Do people here really keep lorises as pets?
And also Kodos to you for sending them back into nature, let's hope they will enjoy...

blobbles (958 posts) • 0

While I completely applaud the sentiment Mike and love the videos...

Do you know how long these have been in captivity? Also... your release point... do you know if this was close to food sources for them or another population? I am asking as sometimes people that re-release animals into the wild without any research sometimes do more harm than good. Animals that have been in captivity all their lives don't know what to eat or sometimes how, are released into areas without any food or any number of other factors which could result in a pretty quick death... contacting a zoo first to ask the advice of some experts would have been a good idea... they may have even sent you GPS tags to track their progress!

bucko (695 posts) • 0

@blobbles-
While your advice is correct when talking about a western zoo, it is misguided dealing with Chinese zoos. Chinese zoos, especially Kunming zoo are horrible for animals. They are mistreated, tortured and drugged most of the time. Animals are forced to preform for the zoo's profit margin, and are mistreated in the process. There is no animal protection laws in China and most zoo workers are not professional and don't care about the animal's comfort or safety.

I have never set foot in the Kunming zoo. I will not give 1 coin to further the mistreatment of animals there. I was so happy to hear the the Kunming zoo will be shut down.

Best to do as you did, and release by yourself.

mike4g_air (788 posts) • 0

Pierre.... I live in think UK, apartment blocks, the climbed from other floors along the plumbing and ledges..

Bobbles....good points and they were well thought before releasing them.

While researching I found out they cut the teeth for the pet trade, these little buggers still had the longish teeth.
It was a gamble to estimate how long they had been in captivity, I had some clues showing they had been living out in the wild for some time and suspected they were in transit to pet shops.The reason the "owners" didn't contact us among other clues.
I wouldn't have released one individual, since they had "escaped" and were found huddling together It was a good sign they were buddies.

They were released in a section of old virgin forest with vines, huge trees, small fruit trees and of course insects, their diet, I was impressed at this forest. Crossing a crystal clear river waist deep which separates the forest from the road was a safe place away from humans and their cats, people are the most dangerous to these animals as they also make medicine with "Sleepy Monkeys" and BBQs.

Bucko...... True facts and my thoughts exactly...

I probably could have sold them for a high price but to think they would have been eternal slaves wouldn't have set right with me.

Priceless to see them out in the wild..... at least they got a chance.

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