Half of the World's Primate Species Threatened
8/28/97
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Headline: Half of the World's Primate Species Threatened
Source: AFP
Date: 8/28/97
WASHINGTON, Aug 28 (AFP) - Half the world's primate species are
threatened with extinction because they are overhunted and their
natural habitats are disappearing, the World Watch Institute journal
says.
An article in the journal's September issue also says monkeys
are particularly vulnerable because poachers have to kill the mother
in order to get their hands on the highly sought babies.
Orangutans, native to Indonesia, have lost 80 percent of their
jungle habitat over the last 20 years, while in Japan, macaques are
driven to raid orchards and farms for food.
The macaque population is down to 50,000, in part because
enraged rural dwellers kill the animals to try to prevent the
incursions.
In Madagascar, 20 of the 30 species of lemurs, one of the oldest
types of primates on the planet, face extinction with 80 percent of
the forest cover cut down in the 1,000 years since humans came to
the Indian Ocean island.
In Brazil and sub-Saharan Africa, roads built to transport logs
from the rain forest make it easier for primate hunters to reach
their game, the article notes.
In the West African country of Gabon, the 1.4 million people
consume an estimated 3,600 tonnes of game annually. Butchers
habitually supplement their stores with game meat.
John Tuxill, who wrote the article, acknowledges strides made in
Rwanda toward protecting the gorilla population, as well as the drop
in the number of monkeys, especially chimpanzees, used in medical
research.
Because Rwanda's government has decided to cash in on
eco-tourism, the article notes, the gorilla population has risen
from 250 to 320 since the early 1980s, according to the article.
The number of monkeys used in medical research has dropped from
some 100,000 in the 1950s to about 40,000 today, most of which are
raised in captivity rather than caught in the wild.