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Slow loris · Pet trade injury

Rescued Slow Loris Teeth Removed

Why traffickers remove slow loris teeth, what it means for rescue, and when a rescued slow loris can or cannot return to the wild.

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A rescued slow loris receiving specialist nocturnal rehabilitation care

In brief

Slow loris teeth are often cut or pulled by traders to prevent biting; rescued lorises with dental damage need urgent veterinary care and may be unable to return to the wild.

Teeth

Common mutilation

Venom

Reason traders fear bites

Night

Nocturnal care need

CITES I

Trade ban

Guide 1

Why Traders Remove Teeth

Slow lorises are venomous primates. Traders often cut or pull their teeth so the animals cannot bite buyers. The process is painful, usually unsanitary and can cause infection, starvation, chronic pain and death.

Guide 2

What Dental Damage Means for Rescue

A slow loris with damaged teeth may struggle to feed naturally, defend itself or process gum and insects. Rescue teams need specialist dental assessment, pain control, infection treatment and long-term monitoring.

Guide 3

Can These Lorises Be Released?

Release depends on the severity of dental damage, behaviour, health and ability to forage. Some animals can recover enough for soft release; others need lifetime sanctuary care in nocturnal, species-appropriate enclosures.

Guide 4

Why Traffickers Cut Teeth

Slow lorises are the only venomous primates. Pet traders clip or pull teeth with pliers — often without anaesthetic — so buyers are not bitten. The procedure causes infection, inability to feed and often death.

Guide 5

Release Outcomes After Dental Mutilation

Lorises with removed teeth cannot gouge tree gum — a staple food. Many face lifetime sanctuary care. Early seizure before mutilation dramatically improves release prospects — another reason trafficking interdiction funding matters.

Guide 6

Why UK Donors Choose WARN — Transparent Partner Grants

WARN is a registered UK Community Interest Company (Company no. 17298990) and is not a charity, so it cannot claim Gift Aid. The donation case is transparent partner-led welfare where support reaches practical field needs. WARN states upfront that gifts fund WARN's 17-country partner network across South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Africa, Southern Africa and South America programmes through vetted local partners — not WARN-run sanctuaries. Every gift is receipted; give one-off at donate or monthly at monthly giving.

Explore Related Rescue Work

Wildlife guide

Slow Loris

Slow lorises are small nocturnal primates from South and Southeast Asia; every species is threatened with extinction — ranging from Vulnerable to Critically Endangered — largely because of the illegal pet trade, which is fuelled in part by viral social media videos.

Country programme

Indonesia

Indonesia is a Southeast Asian archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, home to Bornean and Sumatran orangutans, Sumatran tigers, Javan and Sumatran rhinos, the Komodo dragon and the sun bear; its wildlife is under sustained pressure from palm-oil and pulpwood deforestation, the illegal pet trade, and one of the world's largest contributions to marine plastic.

Country programme

Malaysia

Malaysia is a Southeast Asian range state for Bornean orangutans (Sabah), sun bears, Sunda pangolins, clouded leopards and the Malayan tiger; it is a top-tier transit country for trafficked wildlife, with Kuala Lumpur's airports and the Port Klang container hub repeatedly identified by UNODC as wildlife-crime chokepoints.

Country programme

Vietnam

Vietnam is a Southeast Asian country where WARN's planned work focuses on three connected welfare problems: ending the moon-bear bile-farming industry in partnership with the national phase-out, the cat meat trade that handles several million cats per year, and pangolin and big-cat-part trafficking demand reduction.

Country programme

Thailand

Thailand is a Southeast Asian country where WARN's planned work focuses on captive-wildlife welfare in the tourism industry — supporting genuine non-contact sanctuaries for retired tourism elephants, macaques, slow lorises and rescued bears, and contributing consumer-education materials on ethical wildlife tourism.

Country programme

Cambodia

Cambodia is a Southeast Asian country where WARN's planned work centres on the snare crisis in the Lower Mekong forests — funding de-snaring patrols, providing veterinary triage for snared wildlife, and supporting the rescue of pangolins, sun bears and Asian elephants caught up in cross-border trafficking.

Source Notes

WARN uses named intergovernmental, conservation and animal-welfare sources for numeric claims. These notes summarise the source basis for this page.

CITES

Slow lorises are protected from commercial international trade.

IUCN Red List

Slow loris species are threatened by illegal trade and habitat loss.

Wildlife trade research

Dental mutilation is documented in slow lorises sold through the exotic pet trade.

Rescued Slow Loris Teeth Removed: Frequently Asked Questions

Why do slow loris traders remove teeth?
They remove or cut teeth to reduce the risk of venomous bites, making the animal easier to sell as a pet.
Can a slow loris live without teeth?
Some survive with specialist care, but dental damage can make natural feeding and wild survival impossible.
Is a slow loris raising its arms cute?
No. That behaviour is commonly linked to stress and defence, not enjoyment.
Can slow lorises survive without teeth?
Some survive in sanctuary with modified diets, but wild release is usually impossible. Infection from crude extraction kills many.
Is dental mutilation legal?
No — it is cruel and illegal in most jurisdictions, yet persists in the exotic pet supply chain driven by social media demand.
How can UK donors help?
Donate to slow loris appeal for partner-led rescue, dental assessment and specialist rehabilitation in Indonesia and Thailand.
Why do people buy slow lorises as pets?
Social-media videos misrepresent them as cute, slow and harmless — hiding nocturnal needs, venom, dietary requirements and the cruelty behind teeth removal.
Is WARN a registered charity?
World Animal Rescue Network (WARN) is World Animal Rescue Network CIC (Company number 17298990), a registered UK Community Interest Company — not a registered charity. See registration status for full legal identity.

Help Fund Frontline Rescue

World Animal Rescue Network CIC (Company no. 17298990) raises funds for established local partners. Your support helps build the rescue capacity these animals need.

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