Slow Loris Saved At Last Minute From Being Sold As A Pet

Slow lorises are known for their curious little faces with wide emotional eyes, but the species also suffers from a common plight not many people know about.

The endangered animal is often stolen from the wild to be sold into captivity as a pet.

When local wildlife authorities discovered a slow loris in the midst of being kidnapped in Borneo this week, officials confiscated him and brought him to a place where he could heal: the Center for Orangutan Protection (COP), a beacon of hope for struggling Indonesian wildlife.

Skinny and malnourished, not to mention very anxious from being taken from the forest and put into a cage, the little animal was going to be sold as a pet. An untreated wound festered on one of his legs.

Under COP's care, this lucky slow loris is receiving much-needed medical treatment.

"Not only does the slow loris pet trade cause unimaginable suffering, it is also the biggest threat to the survival of the species, which is in serious danger of extinction," according to International Animal Rescue (IAR), an organization that works to save animals from suffering around the world and aims to raise awareness about what life is really like for wild animals sold as pets.

When they're brought into the illegal pet trade, slow lorises often have their teeth cut off to make them less of a threat to their handlers. When they're transported, many slow lorises die of the sheer stress of the experience.

But this slow loris rescued by COP has dodged a cruel fate that threatens so many of his peers.

The wound on his leg was cleaned and bandaged. And he was given fresh bananas to eat.

"Precious baby, get well after your horrible ordeal," one commenter wrote on Facebook, after seeing the photographs of the slow loris snatched from certain doom at the last moment. "Sending love and healing light to you."

This slow loris came so close to experiencing what too many already have - a pet trade that threatens the species's very survival.

Click here to help COP save animals animals in need.

Check out a video about another rescued slow loris below: