Surely Dr Seuss dreamt up the slow loris. It’s a creature that looks like a miniature sloth. It moves through the jungle canopy with an exaggerated lope and it has round dreamy eyes. Who on earth would want to lock one up in a tiny cage?

This is a story about intervening in conservation. As you’ll see, it’s full of dilemmas. We were in Borneo researching a series of stories; we did not expect to get involved like this. Hopefully we did the right thing but in truth we can’t be sure. What would you do if, like us, you came across two slow lorises huddled together in a cage two-thirds the size of a milk crate?

The law in the Malaysian state of Sarawak says no one can catch, kill, keep or eat these creatures, but in this small village — like so many others — these rules are not enforced.