Rihanna’s Selfie With Loris Leads To Two Arrests In Thailand [Photos]

Rihanna posted a number of pictures of herself over her eventful weekend in Thailand on Instagram, including one in which the R&B star posed with the endangered slow loris that led to the arrest of two Thai street vendors.

Unaware of the loris’ status as protected species, Rihanna uploaded a selfie with the cuddly primate, which is native to Southeast Asia. She captioned the photo: “Look who was talkin dirty to me! #Thailand#nightlife.”

“Phuket authorities were alerted to the picture of Rihanna, and last night police arrested the two individuals who brought out the Loris as a photo opportunity for tourists,” a Phuket district chief, Weera Kerdsirimongkon, told Entertainment Weekly. “It’s like a cat-and-mouse game. But this time it’s bigger because a celebrity like Rihanna posted the picture, and there were more than 200,000 ‘likes’ from around the world.”

The two individuals responsible for exploiting the loris Rihanna posed with an one other were a 20-year-old man and 16-year-old boy. If charged and found guilty of possession of protected animals, they each face up to four years in prison and a fine of 40,000 baht ($1,300).

The loris wasn’t the only animal that Rihanna posed with in Thailand. She also spent some time with a group of trained elephants. “They all hail Empress when She walk by,” she wrote with one of the photos. The elephant pictures are also getting the singer some backlash, as elephant shows in Thailand are somewhat notorious for using abusive and tortuous methods while training the elephants.

Rihanna departed Thailand on Sunday for a tour stop in Singapore. She’s currently in Australia, where she’ll be making stops on her Diamonds World Tour into next month.

– Chelsea Regan

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