Slow Loris Trade in Vietnam: Exploring Diverse Knowledge and Values

Abstract

Wildlife trade can present a major threat to primate populations. In Vietnam, slow lorises (genus Nycticebus) are subject to local, regional and international demand for diverse uses including as medicine, as meat and for pets. Ethnographic approaches explore the nuances of human-primate interactions in complex sociocultural contexts. We combined ethnographic interviews of key informants with information from questionnaires, focus groups and a movie broadcast on Vietnamese television to explore diverse knowledge and values related to slow lorises and their use in trade in Vietnam. We infer prices, uses and networks for expanding targeted regional and international markets as compared to the opportunistic local one. We highlight key findings related to gendered knowledge about slow lorises and more-than-human ontologies of slow lorises as active participants in human-slow loris interactions. We suggest that conservation efforts should pay attention to the clarification of vernacular names, and use names that highlight ecological or behavioural qualities of slow lorises, rather than other names that could be confused with medicinal remedies. Our results confirm the dynamic complexity of trade in Vietnam, highlighting the importance of ethnographic methods to explore diverse knowledge and values for place-based or site-appropriate conservation management of primates and other highly traded taxa.

Moving beyond the human–nature dichotomy through biocultural approaches: including ecological well-being in resilience indicators

“…Current methods that expand the breadth of resilience indicators available for decision-making in biocultural approaches include cultural landscape and community asset mapping, multispecies ethnographies, and the development of community well-being indicators for the conservation of biocultural landscapes (Ens 2012, Pert et al 2015, Wali et al 2017, Thạch et al 2017, McCarter et al 2018). …”

Applying systems thinking to inform studies of wildlife trade in primates

“…Selection and outlining of second‐tier variables via iterative exploration, or a cyclical process of proposing, testing, analyzing, and refining variable choices, can be helpful to explore the dynamics and interconnections of a system across scales. For example, as we describe further below, ethnographic analysis of interviews with actors across Vietnam revealed that slow lorises are subject to opportunistic or incidental exploitation depending on cultural or socio‐economic context and location (Thạch et al, ). Thạch et al () report that while targeted trade occurs for international export of slow lorises as exotic pets at high prices through specific networks, opportunistic local exploitation varies considerably depending on local memories, customs, and beliefs regarding medicinal properties.…”

“…For example, as we describe further below, ethnographic analysis of interviews with actors across Vietnam revealed that slow lorises are subject to opportunistic or incidental exploitation depending on cultural or socio‐economic context and location (Thạch et al, ). Thạch et al () report that while targeted trade occurs for international export of slow lorises as exotic pets at high prices through specific networks, opportunistic local exploitation varies considerably depending on local memories, customs, and beliefs regarding medicinal properties. Thus, detailed exploration of variables for the study of this primate trade system that includes socio‐economic context, ethnicity, norms, and local beliefs and values can best determine how these factors interact to produce the variation seen in trade patterns at different locations.…”

“…For actors, we selected variables about age, gender, ethnic group, income and education level, and the economic and cultural values placed on traded species (Figure ). Our variable selection was informed by an ethnographic analysis of interviews with actors across Vietnam (Thạch et al, ). This analysis showed that slow lorises are hunted for uses that range from meat to medicine to pets and that variation in uses relates to location and local memories.…”

Multidisciplinary studies of wildlife trade in primates: Challenges and priorities

“…In addition to hunting for food, other reasons for primate hunting include cultural values, particularly in some animistic societies where non‐human primates form integral parts of human mythologies or even identities. Primates may also be key ingredients in “traditional folk medicine,” especially in Asia (Alves et al, ; Starr, Nekaris, Streicher, & Leung, ; Thach et al, ; Zhou et al, ).…”