This article examines the cultural drivers behind the illegal wildlife trade of slender and slow lorises in South and Southeast Asia using an ethnoprimatological approach. The authors conducted fieldwork including participant observation and interviews to understand the origins and uses of lorises being sold in markets. They found the trade is driven by the use of lorises in traditional medicine due to lack of access to modern healthcare. The deep-rooted cultural beliefs around lorises are inhibiting conservation efforts. The comprehensive study combined ethnographic accounts with trade data to provide insights into the ultimate causes of the trade from the local perspective.

1. Individual Research Review Article:
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
In this article the authors (Nekaris et al.)question the way that conservation is
practiced through the field of ethnoprimatology. Their main topic of study is looking at
which primates (a focus in lorises) are found being illegally sold in markets across South
East Asia. In order to gain information on the lorises in the market, one must look at how
the primates’ origins, the price of the animal (dead or alive), the people usage of them.
Nekaris et al.criticize how those who practice in light only of conservation and
knowledge were not keeping the primate traders in mind, jeopardizing their livelihoods.
Nekaris et al. propose that there needs to be a “satisfactory system for ethically
quantifying the anthropological elements that drive primate trade,” ( 878, Nekaris et al.).
Through this work the authors try to examine ethical practices to establish an
understanding of the relationship between humans and non-human primates as a natural
resource a cultural figure. The theme of human and environmental relations are discussed
from an ethical, economic, and cultural standpoint.
One of the things done well in the article was mentioning the they read reviews
and literature that needed to analyzed before going out in the field and go into detail of
the data collection. Using anthropological methods, they were able to use participant
observation to gain stories and record beliefs that the communities held about the lorises.
They make a point of the importance in being involved in the interests in all aspects of
the trade to help the researcher understand the trade from an emic perspective. It was
proposed that this would allow for greater rapport between the communities and the
anthropologist, which would create better data, in turn allowing for stronger steps to be

2. taken for conservation.
The results were laid out clearly, allowing the readers follow. They noted which
primates were being targeted, where they were being sold to, and for what purpose. The
discussion section linked pieces of the research together to come up with significant
conclusions: 1. the trade is perpetuated by the use of lorises for medicinal purposes due to
the lack of knowledge, poverty, lack of infrastructure and access to modern medicine, 2.
belief systems are so deep set, they are inhibiting the alteration towards a more scientific
conservation of resources. The authors use maps to show where the studies were done; a
chart of the species-specific international trade;and a chart showing which species were
being traded in which specific regions, and whether they were dead or alive. This kind of
data compilation combined which the ethnographic accounts of the attitudes of the people
towards the lorises contributed to comprehensive study. The researchers have laid out the
steps they took so that anyone with experience in primatology and ethnography could
replicate the project. If I were to expand upon this research I would focus on the history
of natural resource use in these areas, government influences on the trade, and would
have work more closely with people who are actually capturing the primates.
Although there have been other studies done on the trade of animals in South East
Asia ([Stich and Kruger, 2002], [Malone et al., 2002; Shepherd et al., 2005], and
throughout Asia [Schulze & Groves, 2004]),Nekaris et alpresents a unique case
documenting the cultural accounts with the trade. They also take into account that
looking at this cannot be done from just the community specific level; it needs to be
integrated into the global context as well.
To conclude their work, Nekaris et al. stated that “learning the local language,

3. building rapport with traders, and spending long periods at each locality along the supply
chain allowed us to uncover the ultimate causes of trade,” (884 Nekaris et al.) Their
methods of collecting data in working with the community through complete
participation observation allowed them to gauge the needs of the people and how they
can be contributed in an environmental context for conservation. Their methods of
intimate participation using ethical practices serve not only the environment and the
people who live on the land. Their practice should be used as framework for conducting
and presenting research in anthropology.
Citation:
Nekaris, K.A.I.; Shepherd, C.R.; Starr, C.R; andNijman, V. 2010.
Exploring Cultural Drivers for Wildlife Trade via an EthnoprimatologicalApproach : A Case
Study of Slender and Slow Lorises (Loris and Nycticebus) in South and Southeast Asia. American
Journal of Primatology.