The exploitation of threatened slow lorises has spread to Turkey. New research shows that the country is the latest to use the tiny primates as
tourist props, where people can pose with the animals for a nominal fee. Researchers found dozens of examples of tourists posing with two vulnerable South Asian loris species, despite the fact that no primate has ever been legally imported into Turkey. Lorises, perhaps best known from
seemingly adorable YouTube videos, have become
increasingly illegally trafficked in recent years. The fragile, nocturnal animals suffer greatly from the practice and rarely survive long in captivity.
The exploitation of threatened slow lorises has spread to Turkey. New research shows that the country is the latest to use the tiny primates as
tourist props, where people can pose with the animals for a nominal fee. Researchers found dozens of examples of tourists posing with two vulnerable South Asian loris species, despite the fact that no primate has ever been legally imported into Turkey. Lorises, perhaps best known from
seemingly adorable YouTube videos, have become
increasingly illegally trafficked in recent years. The fragile, nocturnal animals suffer greatly from the practice and rarely survive long in captivity.
