The cutest face in the forest - The Slow Loris

A few months ago I visited JAAN, Animal Aid Network, in Java to see the work that they are doing on the front line of wildlife conservation, rescuing wildlife across the Indonesian islands. Amongst the rare and beautiful species that they are working to save is one of the most endearing of all primates - the Slow Loris. They had recently rescued 7 of these shy animals from street traders in Jakarta and I was able to see for myself the condition of these nervous individuals. Hiding amongst the foliage, their large eyes seemed to convey a deep despair. It's easy to empathise with such a charming face but this is also the root of their troubles. Just a few years ago, this shy primate became an instant celebrity when more than 12 million people watched a YouTube video of a loris being tickled in a Russian flat. Sadly this sudden popularity has fuelled a boom in the international pet trade which has pushed the slow loris closer to extinction. They are being sold internationally on the internet, in pet shops, and are particularly fashionable in China and Japan. According to the Japan Wildlife Conservation Society, women are fond of them because "they're easy to keep, they don't cry, they're small, and just very cute". At the markets these nocturnal forest animals are thrown around in small cramped cages and exposed to unbearable heat in the harsh South Asian sun. Their teeth are often cut off with nail clippers to protect the handler from the loris’s uniquely toxic bite. This painful mutilation causes terrible infections, often leading to a slow and painful death. Many slow lorises die before they've been sold. Thankfully for some individuals, organisations like JAAN get to them first.

The Little Fireface Project, named after the Sundanese word for loris, aims to save these primates from extinction through learning more about their ecology and using this information to educate local people and law enforcement officers, leading  to empathy and empowerment whereby people in countries where lorises exist will want to save them for themselves.

International Animal Rescue has established a facility in Ciapus, West Java, specialising in the care of slow lorises like those rescued by JAAN. The centre and its lorises feature prominently in the BBC Natural World documentary, Jungle Gremlins of Java, that was broadcast in 2012.