# Can you keep these as 'pets'?



## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

Tarsier?
I watched an amazing program about them the other day, and i was just wondering 
Thank you  

EDIT - actually i now remmeber them possibly saying they are becomming extinct so i doubt you can, but maybe there are breeding programs accross the world maybe?

Just found a good pic on google.


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## amyloveys (Jan 12, 2008)

thats the cutest thing ever!


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## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

amyloveys said:


> thats the cutest thing ever!


lol, the program i waatched about them was amazing, how they move, and their size is very cute too.


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## angela__k__84 (Oct 4, 2008)

There was an episode of Weird Creatures with Nick Baker about the Tarsier.
They always repeat it on Nat Geo.


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## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

angela__k__84 said:


> There was an episode of Weird Creatures with Nick Baker about the Tarsier.
> They always repeat it on Nat Geo.


that could of possibly been it...


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

*drools* Nick Baker...


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## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

Amalthea said:


> *drools* Nick Baker...


lmao!








nawwwwwwwww
and i HATE those creatures.. ew ew ew ew ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww


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## BenjaminBoaz (Jan 6, 2006)

You need to speak to nerys!


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

I caught a star nosed mole once as a kid... 

I love watching Weird Creatures for both the critters and Nick Baker. NUM! Tasty tasty animal guy!!


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## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

animalstorey said:


> You need to speak to nerys!


lol i do!



Amalthea said:


> I caught a star nosed mole once as a kid...


gags a little .. YUCK
lol, seriously they really freak me out


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

I let it go in our rockery wall in the back yard  Don't think my parents were too impressed *giggles*


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## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

Amalthea said:


> I let it go in our rockery wall in the back yard  Don't think my parents were too impressed *giggles*


lol!! dont blame them!


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

:whistling2::whistling2::whistling2:


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## angela__k__84 (Oct 4, 2008)

I love Nick Baker 
The second season of Weird Creatures should be on Animal Planet soon.


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

Ohhh!!! Exciting!  More Nick Baker *drools*


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## angela__k__84 (Oct 4, 2008)

Nick Baker.tv - Naturalist

Enjoy :mf_dribble:


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

Gorgeous man! Would eat him up! NUM!


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## xXFooFooLaFluffXx (Aug 4, 2007)

they look like they could be related to the slow loris? very similar faces to me anyway. possibly completekly wrong though so takin a wild guess

edit: mind you on closer inspection theyre not that similar, though there are a few similarities, the slow loris is much cuter though imo!


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## Rum_Kitty (Jun 14, 2009)

YouTube - Dramatic Tarsier (not lemur!)

:gasp: I'm scared!

I've never heard of anyone keeping these as pets tbh. Just lorises which are just :flrt:.


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## taraliz (Aug 10, 2008)

its a furry gollum !


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## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

xXFooFooLaFluffXx said:


> they look like they could be related to the slow loris? very similar faces to me anyway. possibly completekly wrong though so takin a wild guess
> 
> edit: mind you on closer inspection theyre not that similar, though there are a few similarities, the slow loris is much cuter though imo!


i love them too!



Rum_Kitty said:


> YouTube - Dramatic Tarsier (not lemur!)
> 
> :gasp: I'm scared!
> 
> I've never heard of anyone keeping these as pets tbh. Just lorises which are just :flrt:.


lol love that video!


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## spider_duck (Feb 25, 2008)

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Its eyes are bigger than its head!!!!! *faints*


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## bampoisongirl (Mar 28, 2008)

i love tarsiers ever since seeing them on weird creatures! I wonder if u can keep them as pets? i doubt it though, never seen them? also, has anyone ever seen than episode of crocodile hunter when there is a cute furry thing hitting steve irwin on the head when he's trying to feed it banana in the wild? anyonw know what animal it is? i cant remember. I know its a name that has the same word twice, like aye-aye i think xx


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## C4VEMAN-5AM (May 30, 2009)

Those taisar things creep me out, theyre huge eyes just look too weird.

:blush::blush:


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## angela__k__84 (Oct 4, 2008)

Personally the Tarsier doesn't do it much for me either - Nick Baker called it "The real Gremlin" which sums it up :whistling2:


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## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

i like ickle gremlin type thingsss


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

bampoisongirl said:


> i love tarsiers ever since seeing them on weird creatures! I wonder if u can keep them as pets? i doubt it though, never seen them? also, has anyone ever seen than episode of crocodile hunter when there is a cute furry thing hitting steve irwin on the head when he's trying to feed it banana in the wild? anyonw know what animal it is? i cant remember. I know its a name that has the same word twice, like aye-aye i think xx


 
Cus cus


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## gtm (Jan 23, 2008)

Amalthea said:


> Ohhh!!! Exciting!  More Nick Baker *drools*


Amazingly enough he has a forum:-

nickbaker.tv :: Index

enjoy:mf_dribble:


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## angela__k__84 (Oct 4, 2008)

I KNOW!
I am a frequent visitor to his site :flrt:


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## Nerys (Apr 18, 2005)

you know.. each eyeball is the same size as their brain is.. 

the fossil record shows evidence of tarsiers in Europe, North America and Asia.. the few tarsier species left extant today are all found on only a few southeast asian islands..

as far as conservation status goes:

"The World Conservation Union (IUCN) lists the Dian's tarsier as Lower Risk/Conservation Dependent, meaning its survival depends on conservation efforts. The Eastern tarsier is listed as Near Threatened, not currently threatened, but could become so, because of habitat loss and degradation due to human activities. The Philippine tarsier and three other species found in Indonesia are listed as Data Deficient*, meaning the species may be well-studied but information about distribution is lacking."
Tarsiers: Tarsiidae - Conservation Status

**DD - Assessed in the year 2000 by A. Eudey and members of the Primate Specialist Group and Evaluted by WR Konstant, RA Mittermeier & AB Rylands from the Primate Red List Authority. The DD category means 'Data Deficient'. This indicates that there is insufficient data to provide a proper assessment of whether the animal is in risk of extinction. More work needs to be conducted on the population figures of tarsiers so that they can be properly categorised. *
(tarsier)

Tarsiers are said to fare poorly in captivity, with many places siting total lack of captive breeding success. I have seen some reports of captive breeding, for instance Frankfurt bred theirs twice (although actually kept them on and off from 1964 all the way up to 1992.), but both times the baby did not survive. Skansen Akvariet, stockholm, also is reported to have bred theirs when they had them in the past... Tarsiers are also said to be one of the few animals that will "commit suicide" in captivity.. they have been known to injure and kill themselves through sheer stress, and there are reports that most tarsiers barely tolerate handling at all.. a keeper in the phillipines mentions seeing tarsiers kill themselves by banging their heads on the cage walls until they die from it.. and others that get so stressed from handling, that they will in time, just stop breathing under the stress of it all.

in the phillippines, the DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) has declared the phillippines tarsier as a protected species through Administrative Order No. 38, which formally includes it among the national protected wildlife species. This means people are prohibited by law from hunting, killing, wounding, or taking arbitrary possession of the animal. Even the conduct of activities that may be destructive to its habitats have also been banned. Anyone who wishes to keep a tarsier for educational or scientific reasons is required to get a certificate from the DENR. Needless to say, their sale in the open market or their export are strictly banned. I think a new tarsier was described in 2008, and that one is listed amongst the top 25 threatened primates in the world. 

​Philippine Tarsier Foundation, Inc.

http://www.gov.ph/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=21591

I believe that there are, or have been, private keepers in the UK with Tarsier in their collections in recent years.. i am not sure whether they still have them or not however. They did get a mention from the private sector recently during a meeting held on primate welfare. 

there are only a few in zoos around the world, frankfurt used to have them, as did Skansen Akvariet in stockholm. cleveland, singapore and Duke Prim have them, or have had them, in 2007 Ueno-Zoo in tokyo had 4, San Diego, Brookfield, Cinncinati.. all show as having had them in the past, but not necessarily having them now. in fact i have read that the last tarsier to be found in a western zoo (cleveland) died in 2006. 

i guess.. in short... tarsiers as pets... would be a no..

firstly, as a species, they do not take well to captivity, both from the living in an enclosure idea and the proximity to people idea

secondly, availability.. with some estimates of only 5000-10,000 left in the wild, with the export and trade bans, with the lack of captive breeding success, which is a knock on from the first point (ie- not doing well in captivity) there is never going to be a surplas of babies available to the zoo's round the world, let along the private keeper...

its a shame, there is a chance that some private keepers would stand a better chance than a zoo collection - purely as a zoo has visitors.. whereas many private keepers are very private indeed. but that would be very different to having one as a "pet"

so yus.. personally, i can't see they that have a place in the pet trade at all.. shame, lovely looking animals, you know with a fossil record of 45 million years, they are one of the longest continuous species groups on the planet.

hth

Nerys


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## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

wow thanks for all that!
commiting sucide is crazy that is really crazy.
thanks again.


Nerys said:


> you know.. each eyeball is the same size as their brain is..
> 
> the fossil record shows evidence of tarsiers in Europe, North America and Asia.. the few tarsier species left extant today are all found on only a few southeast asian islands..
> 
> ...


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

Hmm... I _may_ have just joined Nick Baker's forum :whistling2:


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## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

Amalthea said:


> Hmm... I _may_ have just joined Nick Baker's forum :whistling2:


 Our users have posted a total of *2566* articles
We have *195* registered users
The newest registered user is *Amalthea

HAHAAH
*


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## bosshogg (Nov 19, 2006)

Amalthea said:


> *drools* Nick Baker...


hee hee I follow him on Twitter :2thumb:


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## bosshogg (Nov 19, 2006)

Amalthea said:


> Hmm... I _may_ have just joined Nick Baker's forum :whistling2:



I'm a member to :no1:


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## angela__k__84 (Oct 4, 2008)

Yay! Are we back to the Nick Baker drool-fest? 









Freeky, sorry we hi-jacked your thread!


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## freekygeeky (May 25, 2007)

angela__k__84 said:


> Yay! Are we back to the Nick Baker drool-fest?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


thats fine


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## Stacey010884 (Mar 7, 2009)

After having read Nerys reply I am saddened. Animals are threatened by humans and yet still there's not enough concern for conserving habitats and the animals within them.

Reminds me of something said in Watership Down, though I can't remember the exact words it's along the line of "Man will never stop until they spoil the earth."


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

Oh, but what a wonderful thread hi-jacking it is... *drools* I've just looked for him on facebook (I have refrained from Twittering so far)... Found _A_ Nick Baker with _THE_ Nick Baker's picture... Might actually be him... *shrugs*


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## bampoisongirl (Mar 28, 2008)

Amalthea said:


> Cus cus



:gasp:....i love u!


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## BenjaminBoaz (Jan 6, 2006)

bristol zoo has them!


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

bampoisongirl said:


> :gasp:....i love u!


:blush: Aww shucks! :blush:


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## SeaWolf (Apr 27, 2009)

lool
im sure if you can find a breeder you can have one
although youll have to talk to CITES about it :/


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## glidergirl (Nov 27, 2006)

I joined an Indonesian forum ages ago, and apparently someone on there had a pet tarsier. Yeah - there's a you tube video, and I think Nerys may have already mentioned the Japanese like them as pets - unfortunately the Tarsier don't agree though!

Nick Baker has a forum ...


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

You joining the Nick Baker stalking, too, Marie?


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## angela__k__84 (Oct 4, 2008)

We need to start a thread just for Nick :flrt:


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## Amalthea (Oct 2, 2007)

Amalthea said:


> You joining the Nick Baker stalking, too, Marie?


*giggles* That'll be a "yes", then? :lol2:


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