Spotlight on Students: Primate Conservation

The following is a guest post featuring the work of students enrolled in my SA 202 course.  This exceptional work highlights the importance of primate conservation.  I hope you find this piece informative and are inspired to make a positive change in the world that will help this and other endangered primates.

Javan Slow Loris (Image Source: Arkive)

By: Daisha Townsend

Introduction

            All primates are different in their own way. An example would be their physical and dietary features.  A broad number of endangerments species are vulnerable to extinction. For example, slow Javan Loris, also known as Nycticebus javanicus, “is at a devastating loss of their habitat and are in high demand for rampant Asian pets and traditional medicine trades” (Schulze and Groves 2004; Das et al. 2009; Nekaris et al. 2010; Osterberg and Nekaris 2015). These nocturnal creatures are very vulnerable to extinction because they are slow to reproduce to recover their population and are easy to be caught by human due to their slow locomotion (Nekaris and Starr 2015).  In addition to being captured, these little guys are also dying out due to a dramatic change within their environment. The conversion from native rainforest lands to agricultural plantations has decreased the Loris population over the last 10 years (Wirdateti and Dahrudin 2011).  As a result, by catching the slow loris and misusing them as pets, humans are the leading cause to endangered slow loris. 

When Primates Collide

            Due to some people’s infatuation with illegal pet trading, many slow Loris and other endangered species suffered from the means of it. In comparison, the majority of the trade is to “satisfy a large domestic demand, with a smaller proportion being smuggled abroad to destinations like the Middle East and Japan” (Nycticebus Javanicus 2017).  During the trafficking process, the slow Loris are crammed in uncomfortable boxes and sacks with poor diets, forced diurnal activity, and excessive force (Nycticebus Javanicus 2017). In addition to harmful treatment, these beautiful creatures succumb to forced fatalities due to their highly venomous bite, which are caused by mixing saliva with a gland under its upper arm. For the most part, the middle man will to cut or remove their teeth to avoid being bitten during shipping and handling (Nycticebus Javanicus 2017). Therefore, without teeth to chew and eat their food the slow loris would eventually starve to death. As pets, a slow loris limbs would also be used by Asians to create fashionable key rings to sell (Nijman et al. 2014). This concluded that humans are a huge factor to endangered slow loris.

Ways to Save

            Firstly, to prevent the continuation of this endangered species, humans should not buy products made from these animals, such as the slow loris limb key rings. Based on research, the belief behind this cruel treatment was discovered to be used for medicines to cure cancer or to bring good luck, which has not been proven. Therefore, slow loris key rings are made without a true purpose; it symbolizes nothing more than just jewelry (Das et al. 2009). Secondly, another helpful component to saving these endangered animals would be to stop uploading videos on how cute and ticklish they are. According to a British newspaper, these videos are fueling trading programs that are cruel and brutal (Nijman et al. 2014).  These cute and cuddly videos encourage people to buy a slow loris, therefore, causing them to become endangered. Lastly, to prevent extinction would be to form support group to protect the endangered slow loris. These support groups issue programs so donors can help fund the campaign to protect the slow loris (Associate 2017). 

Saving Javan Slow Loris

            Slow lorises are very important to save due to their diet and how it helps our environment from pest and other insects. These creatures are omnivores, which has a diet of, insects, arthropods, reptiles, eggs, fruits, gums, and nectar. Seeing that insets are one of the main creatures over populating the earth, slow Loris diet is contributing to minimizing the insect population, therefore minimizing pest and other intolerable and dangerous insects. Another reason would be because they pollinate the rainforest. Slow lorises are tree-dwelling animals. By going from tree to tree while eating fruits and other plants they are carrying seeds and pollen with them (Nycticebus Javanicus 2017), which will continue the cycle of pollination. This is very important because of the critical condition the rainforest endures from human interference with wild life.

Saving All Primates

            In addition to the slow loris, all primates are in direful positions and each one had a purpose for wild life growth. All primates have a similar diet which may all consist of fruit, vegetables, and insects. In addition to keeping the insect population under control or decreasing as much as possible, all primates are natural gardeners. They pollenate the rainforest with vegetation and seeds to help keep wild life thriving (Nycticebus Javanicus 2017). Without primates, insects would continue to over populate and the rainforest would not have these mammals to populate far areas of the forest.

Conclusion

            Lastly, many primates are endangered all over the world such as the slow loris; however, they don’t have to be if humans together prevent trafficking of these amazing creatures. We should help stimulate there population growth by returning and leaving them in their own habitat. With our distant relatives help, they are making a way for our environment and planet to stay under populated by insects and pest.  In order to help ourselves, we must first save them.

References

Associate, S. T. (n.d.). Thank You for Helping Us Protect Slow Lorises! Retrieved April 19, 2017, from https://www.globalgiving.org/microprojects/protect-the-rare-and-endangered-slow-loris/reports/?subid=45787

Das, N., J. Biswas, J. Das, P. C. Ray, A. Sangma and P. C. Bhattacharjee. 2009. Status of Bengal slow loris Nycticebus bengalensis (Primates: Lorisidae) in Gibbon Wildlife Sanctuary, Assam, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 1: 558–561.

Nekaris, K. A. I., C. R. Shepherd, C. R. Starr and V. Nijman. 2010. Exploring cultural drivers for wildlife trade via an ethnoprimatological approach: a case study of slender and slow lorises (Loris and Nycticebus) in South and Southeast Asia. American Journal of Primatology 72: 877–886.

Nekaris, K. A. I. and C. R. Starr. 2015. Conservation and ecology of the neglected slow loris: priorities and prospects. Endangered Species Research 28: 87–95.

Nijman, V. and K. A. I. Nekaris. 2014. Traditions, taboos and trade in slow lorises in Sundanese communities in southern Java, Indonesia. Endangered Species Research 25: 79–88.

Nycticebus javanicus . (n.d.). Retrieved April 18, 2017, from http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/39761/0

Osterberg, P., and K. A. I. Nekaris. 2015. The conservation implications of the use of photo prop animals for tourists in Thailand: a slow loris case study (Nycticebus spp.). TRAFFIC Bulletin 27: 13–18.

Schulze, H. and C. P. Groves. 2004. Asian lorises: Taxonomic problems caused by illegal trade. In: Conservation of Primates in Vietnam, T. Nadler, U. Streicher and Ha Thang Long (eds.), pp.33–36. Frankfurt Zoological Society, Frankfurt.