Cambodia Proposes International Protection for Lorises

December 2006

The nation of Cambodia has submitted a proposal for the transfer of the slow loris and pygmy loris (scientific genus Nycticebus) from Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to Appendix I. This reclassification would mean that these lorises will be protected from international commercial trade—for example, they will no longer be able to be sold internationally for use as food or in traditional medicines. Under Appendix II, all that is needed is a permit from the exporting country (which can easily be forged) stating that the animal had been removed from the wild in a way that was not detrimental to the species as a whole. However, Appendix I species need permits from both the importing and exporting countries, and such species cannot be used for primarily commercial purposes.

Lorises are shy, small, nocturnal prosimian primates with huge eyes. They are found only in Southeast Asia. According to the Cambodian government, these species are suffering from habitat destruction and from commercial trade, particularly from demand for traditional Asian medicines.

The Cambodian proposal will be considered at the 14th Conference of the Parties to CITES, to be held 3 – 15 June 2007 in The Hague, the Netherlands. The full proposal can be seen online (go to http://www.cites.org/eng/notif/2006/E052.pdf).

Send a Thank You to Cambodia

Please write a letter expressing appreciation to the Cambodian Government for its efforts to protect lorises from extinction. Even better, you could send a holiday card with a personal thank you note.

Cambodian CITES Secretariat
242 Preah Norodom Boulevard
Sangkat Tonle Basac, Khan Chamcarmon
P.O. Box 2467
Phnom Penh, Cambodia