Killer cuteness: The slow and painful death of slow lorises, the latest 'must have' pets

By Richard Hartley-parkinson

Last updated at 2:46 PM on 1st June 2011

Their cuteness has made them an internet sensation. But ther popularity is now threatening their very survival.

Thanks to millions of hits on YouTube slow lorises have become a must-have pet - and are being plucked from their natural habitat in the rainforests of south-east Asia and traded for up to £3,500.

But what happens to them before they are 'customer ready' makes their plight even more distressing.

They have to have their teeth ripped out with nail clippers so that they don't cause an injury to their new owners.

Scroll down for a video. WARNING: Graphic image below

Their large eyes add to the cuteness of the slow lorises but there are fears the primates will soon become extinct

There is a global high protection order under endangered species conventions meaning they can't be transported to the UK but the black market is rife and it is feared that many are smuggled in.

The population of slow lorises has declined to the point that there are now fears over their survival and they could soon become extinct.

Two of the endangered primates were smuggled aboard a Brisbane-bound flight from Singapore but had to be put down by quarantine officers.

The crew on the Emirates flight found them in the cabin during the filght and when the plane landed in Australia customs officials took the animals.

A spokesman said: 'Slow lorises can carry several diseases... including rabies and they also have a bite that is toxic.'

The creatures have their teeth removed with nail clippers before they are sold as 'pets'. They usually become infected and, unable to eat, die a slow and painful death

The charity International Animal Rescue campaigns to raise awareness to try and stop people from taking one of the primates.

On it's website, the charity says: 'These harmless little animals suffer terrible stress from exposure to the sunlight at these markets where they are dumped in cramped cages. These timid creatures normally move about quietly in the darkness of the night.

'The markets, where they are surrounded by other animals and people, are a nightmare for them. Tragically, many of them die from trauma even before they have been sold.

'To prevent them from using their venomous bite, traders cruelly cut their teeth using wire cutters. This ghastly mutilation causes terrible infections, often leading to a slow and painful death.

'In some areas of Indonesia, slow lorises are brutally killed for use in traditional medicine. This is having a huge impact on wild loris populations.

'Numbers of this endangered primate are difficult to assess; status surveys have found them to occur in dramatically low densities when compared to other primates inhabiting the same forests. 'In some countries where they were known to be abundant, few to no lorises can found in the wild today, suggesting that illegal trade may be the cause of population decline.'