Exotic pets seized from high-rise

MALAYSIA: A woman was arrested after authorities found a baby honey bear, a leopard cat - a type of small wild feline - and a slow loris primate in her appartment.

Officials acting on a tip discovered the endangered species at the 25-year-old woman's appartment in a Kuala Lumpur city high-rise. The animals, worth hundreds of euros on the black market, were kept as pets, and the cage for the slow loris - a lemur-like animal - had swings to keep it amused.

The animals are thought to have been bought from indigenous tribes, and the woman said her male cousin owned them. Officials want to send the animals to a zoo or release them back into the wild.

Metro Ireland, 8 December 2009, p8.