Photo: Via Instagram.
Rihanna can now count herself as a member of the Celebrities With Illegal Animals Club. There was Paris Hilton, whose ferrets were confiscated some years back by the state of California. Most recently, there was Mally, Justin Bieber's capuchin monkey, who was detained in Germany and sent to live in a zoo. You could also probably count Vanilla Ice's wallaroo, which would've been legal if he hadn't let his permit lapse. And now a couple of slow lorises have their freedom from a pair of Thai smugglers, all thanks to RiRi. Or perhaps credit should go to her penchant for Instagram instead.
It went down like this: Rihanna was in Thailand recently, on a break from her Diamonds World Tour. She stopped into Phuket and took a selfie with one of these tiny primates, which are listed as a protected species in Thailand, offered up by a couple of local vendors as a photo op. Shortly after Rihanna posted the picture to Instagram, the authorities were alerted. They arrested the vendors and confiscated the animals. The two face a penalty of up to four years in prison and a fine of 40,000 baht, or about $1,300.
It is unknown whether or not the lorises were holding tiny umbrellas. (Huffington Post)