In recent weeks International Animal Rescue’s team in Indonesia has come to the aid of several slow lorises desperately in need of help after being poached from the wild.
At the beginning of September the centre in Ciapus took in a very sick slow loris that had been found in the middle of the crowded and dirty city centre of Jakarta.
The frightened little animal was being chased by a crowd of children but thankfully a passerby stepped in, caught the loris and called IAR.
The poor creature was in a very bad state. There was no way of telling how long he had been wandering in the city. He may have escaped from an animal market in Jakarta, or from a cage where he was being kept as a pet.
At the IAR centre the loris was checked over by our medical team who discovered the worst gum and tooth infection they had ever seen in a loris. His gums were swollen and oozing with pus. The poor creature was completely unable to eat. He also had several injuries that needed treating, as well as a skin infection and ulcers on his legs and arms.
The loris, named Hayang, was put on broad spectrum antibiotic treatment and vitamins. All his food had to be blended because of the painful condition in his mouth. Latest good news is that he’s getting stronger and healthier by the day. It is hoped he can soon be moved from the clinic into an outside enclosure. When he is even stronger he will be given dental treatment.
Also doing well at the centre is Sonja, a beautiful and already rare loris from Kalimantan, who arrived at the centre in August. Sonja is already gaining weight. When she arrived she was very skinny and all the fur on her back was missing. It is possible that she had been kept in a filthy cage and her fur was permanently covered in excrement.
Another female loris, Kim, is also doing well. She has been at the centre for four months and had to have one of her canine teeth removed soon after her arrival. However, this didn’t get rid of the abscess in her mouth. As lorises have their teeth cruelly clipped in the markets before they are sold, they often develop dental infections. So Kim had to pay a second visit to the dentist and this time four of her teeth were removed because they were already necrotic.
Nevertheless, on the very day when the surgery was performed, Kim managed to eat just as much food as usual at feeding time, including some large crickets - her favourite meal.
Jawa, one of the Javanese lorises at the centre, was lucky to be rescued from the market with his teeth still intact. He was on sale in a very small local market in Bogor, near the forestry department office. IAR contacted the forestry police and they immediately confiscated the loris and brought it to the centre. Jawa stayed with IAR for some time because while he was in our care he became ill, probably because living in confinement didn’t agree with him. Like all wild lorises, Jawa was very timid. When someone tried to observe him, even from a distance, he would very wisely hide in between the branches or in a box.
On 26 September, Jawa was able to go back to the forest where he belonged. Near our facility in Ciapus, Bogor, there is a National Park called Gunung Halimun-Salak. The loris keepers, three rangers and IAR Veterinary Director Karmele witnessed how fast Jawa reached a branch and quickly vanished into the depths of the forest. We hope Jawa will live happily and peacefully there, free from further danger.