Transcript Primate Conservation

Primate Conservation
“It is my firm belief that unless we work together
to change attitudes at all levels - from world
leaders to the consumers of illegal bushmeat there will be no viable populations of great
apes in the wild within 50 years.”
– Dr Jane Goodall
Major threats to Primates
• Capture of wild primates for zoos and
research is rare today, but those populations
are still suffering numbers.
• Hunting and the bushmeat trade.
• The largest threat, with the most irreversible
impact is the destruction of primate’s
habitat.
• Range of the chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes )
• There are only about
700 mountain gorillas
remaining in the wild.
Habitat Loss: Forest fragmentation
• Fragmentation into
isolated pockets. This
creates home ranges
which are too small for
primate (and other
animals) sustainability.
• Creates easier access for
human involvement
(hunting, farming etc).
• Selective logging also
leads to forest
fragmentation.
Habitat Loss: Deforestation
• Causes:
– increase in human
population.
decrease of available
space, increase of
food production,
etc.
• Palm Oil plantation
Bushmeat
• What “bushmeat” is:
meat of wild animals.
• Typically the term is
used when referring to
African wild animals.
• It affects primates, and
other protected
species, in Asia and
South and Central
America as well as
Africa.
Bushmeat
• Many of the mammals
at risk are primates,
including:
–
–
–
–
–
Chimpanzees
Bonobos
Gorillas
Mandrills
Colobus Monkeys
Bushmeat
• Mostly OWM central
and west Africa
• In the DRC 5-7% of
chimp and gorilla
populations are killed
each year.
Bushmeat
• A 12 month study in Brazzaville (in the
northern Congo) counted 15,000 animal
carcasses at bushmeat markets, including
293 chimpanzees.
• A study conducted between 1983 and 2000
revealed that ape populations in Gabon
declined by more than half, and the leading
cause for this decline was commercial
hunting (and logging).
Bushmeat
• Economics: most
studies on the
economics of the
bushmeat trade come
from central Africa.
• Estimated that
bushmeat accounts for
roughly 33% of village
income in Cameroon,
and 25% of rural
income.
Bushmeat
• Why: for food, to
demonstrate wealth,
for commerce.
• Humans have been
doing this for 1000s of
years. Why is it so
important now?
– Increase in human
populations lead to an
increase in bushmeat
trade and consumption.
Conservation issues
• We are not looking at a single
issue, even if that issue is as
large as deforestation or the
bushmeat trade.
• These issues are interrelated:
there are many instances of
deforestation leading to a rise in
the bushmeat trade (as areas
become more accessible to
hunters, or because loggers hunt
for their own needs)
• Other, temporary issues arise:
ex. Rwandan and Guatemalan
genocides.
Conservation strategies
• Studies and surveys to keep tabs on primate
population statistics.
• Systematic monitoring of protected areas.
• Implement codes of conduct for timber
companies which would include ‘no
hunting’ policies, reinforce already existing
laws, etc.
Conservation Strategies
• Education on:
– Conservation
– Risks (for humans as
well as non-human
primates).
– Resources
– Sustainability
Conservation Strategies
• Cooperation:
– Individuals
– Communities
– Nations and
governments
Conservation Strategies
• Rhesus Macaques
were heavily imported
into the US from India
for medical research,
but when surveys
showed that wild
populations were
locally threatened,
bans on exportation
were put into place.
Conservation Strategies
• Companies which
do not use palm oil:
– Breyer's Natural Ice
Cream
– "Dirty" Potato
Chips
– Lean Cuisine
Conservation
• It’s not too late!
• While the situation is dire,
these primates are not yet
extinct.
• Humans have brought
back animals from the
brink of extinction before,
it IS possible (for example
in the 1800s white tail deer
were endangered and on
the brink of extinction in
the United States).