A report by the world’s foremost primate authorities, the International Primatological Society, presented the state of primates around the world. They found that of the world’s 634 kinds of primates almost 50 percent are in danger of going extinct.
© Pam Wood
A breakdown showed the following numbers and percentages of primates fell into the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List classification for species as Vulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered:
- Africa: 63 species and subspecies (37% of all African primates)
- Asia: 120 species and subspecies (71% of all African primates)
- Madagascar: 41 species and subspecies (43% of all Malagasy primates)
- Neotropics: 79 species and subspecies (40% of all Neotropical primates)
© Conservation International, 2008
Causes included habitat destruction, the hunting of primates for food and an illegal wildlife trade.
It’s also important to note that within the various species of apes are sub-species. For example, mountain gorillas are a species of gorilla, andmountain gorilla numbers are incredibly low, approximately 720, according to the International Gorilla Conservation Program.
Gorillas have often been stereotypes as aggressive, yet they are almost the opposite, and as this following award-winning video shows, there is much in their gentle and peaceful nature that humans can relate to.
AIDS Research Also Affected
In 1999 scientists revealed what they believed was the origins of AIDS. The source comes from a type of chimpanzee that is immune to the virus. Unfortunately, the forests in which they live are being opened up by logging companies, resulting in a destruction of the chimpanzee’s habitat.
Also hunting of these and other animals is on the increase in the forest. All these factors are preventing further studies of the possible cures for AIDS. (For more about the immense problems around the world from AIDS, including political issues, check out this web site’s section on AIDS.)
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