Cuteness Overload...Right?

For someone who doesn't know any better, this video is downright adorable. 

And that's the problem. People don't know any better - that needs to change.

According to work done by the likes of Professor Anna Nekaris (basically the slow loris lady out there), videos like these are boosting demand for any species of slow loris.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see how this is possible. When I first saw this video, I thought it was completely harmless. Not long after, I started to learn the truth.

A loris in the wild, where it should be. Image from Arup Shah via BBC Wildlife.

Basic Loris Myths Debunked

• "They come from captivity." Experts have found it near impossible to breed lorises in captivity - they often don't survive long enough.
• "This loris is happy." Raising arms, like the loris in this video is doing, is often a sign of distress in lorises. Lorises are also very sensitive to light, being a primarily nocturnal species, and you can see the wide eyes of the one in the video.
• "They are easy to look after." Lorises have a very specific diet that humans cannot replicate in captivity. They are not meant to survive off of bananas and rice balls, and will not last long on such a diet.
• "They can just go back to the wild later." Most lorises, after being removed from the wild, have their teeth violently removed with pliers. They never eat properly again.

In a disturbing turn of events, YouTube refuses to remove this video and others like it, claiming it not to be animal abuse. In the comments, if you talk about the wildlife trade and discuss ramifications of the video, chances are you will be voted down so much YouTube will remove your comment!

The first step to curbing demand for the loris is recognizing that is it not a cut pet but a wild animal. Also, take a minute to sign this petition asking YouTube to remove videos of captive lorises.

For more on slow loris conservation, visit Nekaris' Little Fireface Project and learn about her work in the region.