The conservation of slow lorises, nocturnal primates in the rain forests
of South and Southeast Asia, faces threats from deforestation, the
exotic pet trade, traditional medicine, and the bushmeat trade. Five
species of slow loris are listed as either "Vulnerable" or
"Endangered"
by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Their
conservation status was originally listed as "Least Concern" in 2000
because of imprecise population surveys and the frequency in which these
primates were found in animal markets. Because of their rapidly
declining populations and local extinctions, their status was updated
and in 2007 the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) elevated them to Appendix I, which
prohibits international commercial trade. Local laws also protect slow
lorises, but enforcement is lacking in most areas. Slow lorises are
regularly smuggled and sold as exotic pets in Japan, the United States,
and Europe. Their popularity is largely due to their "cute" appearance
and highly viewed pet videos on YouTube.
Read more: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_of_slow_lorises>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1918:
Polish troops and civilians began a three-day pogrom against
Jews and Ukrainian Christians in Lwów (now Lviv, Ukraine).
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lw%C3%B3w_pogrom_(1918)>
1950:
Two trains collided near Valemount, British Columbia, Canada;
the subsequent trial catapulted future Prime Minister of Canada John
Diefenbaker into the political limelight.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canoe_River_train_crash>
1974:
Explosives placed in two central pubs in Birmingham, England,
killed 21 people and injured 182 others, and eventually led to the
arrest and imprisonment of six people who were later exonerated.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birmingham_pub_bombings>
1980:
Over 83 million people watched the Dallas TV episode "Who Done
It" to find out "Who shot J. R.?".
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Done_It_(Dallas)>
2009:
An explosion in a coal mine in Heilongjiang, China, killed 108
miners.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Heilongjiang_mine_explosion>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
koine:
1. A lingua franca.
2. A regional language that becomes standard over time.
<https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/koine>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
The principles of terrorism unavoidably rebound to the fatal injury of
liberty and revolution. Absolute power corrupts and defeats its
partisans no less than its opponents. A people that knows not liberty
becomes accustomed to dictatorship: fighting despotism and counter-
revolution, terrorism itself becomes their efficient school. Once on the
road of terrorism, the State necessarily becomes estranged from the
people.
--Alexander Berkman
<https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alexander_Berkman>