News
Thursday 25th February 2010
Many of our closest living relatives – the world’s apes, monkeys, lemurs and other primates – are facing the imminent threat of extinction, according to a new report.
Primates in Peril: The World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates, 2008-2010, reveals that almost half (48%) of the world’s 634 primates could soon disappear, due to the destruction of tropical forests, illegal wildlife trade and commercial bushmeat hunting.
The report was compiled by 85 leading primate experts from around the world, and launched at Bristol Zoo Gardens in the UK on the 18th February. Speaking at the launch, one of the editors, Dr Christoph Schwitzer, said “This report makes for very alarming reading and it underlines the extent of the danger facing many of the world’s primates. We hope it will be effective in drawing attention to the plight of each of the 25 species included. Support and action to help save these species is vital if we are to avoid losing these wonderful animals forever.”
The list of the world’s 25 most endangered species includes species from Africa, Madagascar, Asia and Central and South America, many of which have desperately small population sizes. There are thought to be less that 100 northern sportive lemurs (Lepilemur septentrionalis) left in Madagascar, while just 60 to 70 golden headed langurs (Trachypithecus. p. poliocephalus) remain on the island of Cat Ba in north-eastern Vietnam.
Dr Russell Mittermeier, chair of the IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group and President of Conservation International, said “The purpose of our top 25 list is to highlight those that are most at risk, to attract the attention of the public, to stimulate national governments to do more, and especially to find the resources to implement desperately needed conservation measures”.
With the help of the world’s best filmmakers, photographers and scientists, ARKive has already profiled 18 of the 25 primate species included in the report.
However, as part of the ARKive 2010 Challenge - to track down films and photos of the world’s most endangered plants and animals - we are still on the hunt for seven of the species on the list, including: the Roloway Guenon; Rondo Dwarf Galago; Tana River Red Colobus; Tonkin Snub-nosed Monkey; Simakobu; Siau Island Tarsier; and the Niger Delta Red Colobus Monkey. So if you have films or photos of any of these species, ARKive would be delighted to hear from you arkive@wildscreen.org.uk
Primates in Peril: The World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates, 2008–2010 has been compiled by the Primate Specialist Group of IUCN’s Species Survival Commission (SSC) and the International Primatological Society (IPS), in collaboration with Conservation International (CI).
Full report available from:
www.iucn.org/?4753/Worlds-most-endangered-primates-revealed
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