Viral Slow Loris YouTube Video Encourages Animal Cruelty

April 8, 2011 - PRLog -- The endangered Slow Loris, a small animal species found in South-East Asia, has become a huge hit on YouTube after a video was published showing the Loris clutching a cocktail umbrella and being tickled.

However, what might first appear to be an innocent and fun video does in fact have a much darker side. The Loris is an endangered animal and the video is a clear form of animal cruelty. The consequences of its new fame are also very detrimental, encouraging the illegal trade in the animal as ill-informed adults and children attempt to get their own infant lorises.

On most endangered animal websites, such as http://www.animaladoptions.org.uk, the status of the Slow Loris is not covered as before this YouTube video awareness of the species was very limited. However, the YouTube video has changed all this.

The loris in the video appears to be friendly, but as Chris Shepherd from Traffic Southeast Asia says, there’s a reason for this:

“The only reason the loris isn't biting the person holding it in the video is because it has had its teeth ripped out with pliers."

Unfortunately, with its teeth removed the loris is a doomed animal as it becomes very vulnerable to infection. In addition, in the video it is daylight so the loris, being a nocturnal animal, is completely blinded. Therefore it simply allows itself to be ticked as a form of self-defence and survival.

It’s an extremely worrying situation as lorises are still traded openly in many parts of Indonesia and increased demand from the West could signal big problems for the animals, in a similar way to how rhinos in Africa have become under an increased poaching threat in recent years – http://www.animaladoptions.org.uk/black-rhino

Hopefully YouTube, with pressure from the media and conservationists, will do the right thing and take the video down.

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Animal Adoptions is a site highlighting the plight of many of the world's most endangered animals, including polar bears, orangutans, tigers and leopards.