ENVIRONMENT: One in Three Primates Threatened With Extinction

By Stephen Leahy Reprint | | Print |

Stephen Leahy

BROOKLIN, Canada, Oct 23 2002 (IPS) - One in every three species of apes, monkeys, lemurs and other primates is threatened with extinction, and the number of those animals classified as endangered or critically endangered has jumped by almost 63 percent – from 120 to 195 – since January 2000, say international conservation groups.

Asia now accounts for almost 45 percent of the world’s most endangered primates, reported scientists at the 19th congress of the International Primatological Society in Beijing, China.

”Vietnam is at risk of undergoing a major primate extinction spasm within the next few years if rapid action is not taken,” says Russ Mittermeier, president of Conservation International (CI), an environmental group that works in more than 30 countries.

Several primates in Vietnam now only number in the dozens or low hundreds of individuals and face imminent extinction without immediate significant efforts, says Mittermeier. ”Fully 20 percent of the 25 most endangered primates are located in Vietnam, with another 16 percent from China and 12 percent from Indonesia.”

The world knows how to preserve these species says Mittermeier, but countries like Vietnam and Cambodia simply lack conservation resources to do that on their own. They need technical expertise, training and educational resources. ”First World countries need to do much more in terms of providing resources and funding.”

The major threats to primates are growing populations in Asia and elsewhere that put pressure on wildlife habitat as well as the trade in ”bush meat” and wildlife used as medicine. In particular, rising affluence in China has dramatically increased the volume and value of wildlife medicinals.

”China and other Asian countries need a major attitudinal shift towards wildlife,” says Mittermeier, who observes this starting to happen with the country’s younger generation.

While education and parks are important, the key to wildlife preservation is ensuring that local communities benefit, he adds. Groups like CI usually train and pay locals to be guides, guards, research assistants and educators.

Once they are involved and benefit from conservation, local peoples become the spokespeople for wildlife, says Mittermeier. ”It’s absolutely necessary that there be local economic benefits.”

There are plenty of success stories, particularly in Brazil, where nearly one-third of the threatened golden lion tamarin population is said to have been born in captivity and reintroduced to the wild or were the offspring of reintroduced animals. At one time the animal’s population was estimated at fewer than 100 individuals.

Funding for these projects come from individuals, private foundations, the World Bank and other sources.

”We are only limited in what could be done by lack of funds. If we had 20 million dollars we could easily increase the number of projects 20-fold,” Mittermeir says. Sometimes only a few thousand dollars is needed to save an endangered species he adds.

As flagship species, primates are important to the health of their surrounding ecosystems. Through the dispersal of fruit seeds and other foods they consume, primates help support a wide range of plant and animal life that make up the earth’s forests.

In addition to helping preserve biodiversity, efforts to save primates creates healthier ecosystems. For example, deforestation has resulted in water shortages in many parts of Africa and elsewhere. Efforts to preserve habitat for primates brings benefits for all species, says Mittermeier.

”It’s important to point out that the Top 25 list is just the tip of the iceberg and a call for more conservation action,” says CI researcher Bill Konstant. ”Essentially, for each primate on (the list), any one of several other equally threatened species might have been chosen instead.”

As an illustration of this, the World Conservation Union’s 2002 Red List of Threatened Species notes that 11,167 other plants and animals are now threatened with extinction, an increase of 121 since 2000.

ENVIRONMENT: One in Three Primates Threatened With Extinction

By Stephen Leahy Reprint | | Print |

Stephen Leahy

BROOKLIN, Canada, Oct 23 2002 (IPS) - One in every three species of apes, monkeys, lemurs and other primates is threatened with extinction, and the number of those animals classified as endangered or critically endangered has jumped by almost 63 percent – from 120 to 195 – since January 2000, say international conservation groups.
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