On Friday 8 June in the Hague Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) worked rapidly to increase global protection for the slow loris, the endangered primate IAR is working to rescue and protect from the pet trade in Indonesia.
Says Alan Knight, CEO of International Animal Rescue, “This is really good news. We hope today’s decision will reduce the enormous numbers of slow lorises that are taken from the wild each year and sold as pets in South and South East Asia.” The Kingdom of Cambodia proposed to increase the loris’ status under the Convention by transferring it from Appendix II to Appendix I, thus prohibiting all commercial trade in the species. Sadly, these endearing animals are taken by the tens of thousands to be sold as pets or used in traditional medicine. As a consequence, populations of all five species have suffered a serious decline and only recently, four slow loris species were recommended for an uplisting in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
“Our team is working flat out in Indonesia to rescue and rehabilitate these small primates and return them to the wild where they belong,” says Knight. “The law will need to be vigorously enforced if this new level of protection is to reduce the threats to wild loris populations and give them a chance to recover.”