Nearly half of all primate species are now threatened with extinction, according to an evaluation by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
The 2007 IUCN
"red list" has 39% of primate species and sub-species in the three
highest threat categories - vulnerable, endangered and critically endangered.
In today's revised list, 303 of the 634 species and sub-species - 48% - are in
these most threatened categories.
“We hope it will focus
people’s attention on these lesser-known primate species, some of which most
people will probably have never heard of” said Christoph Schwitzer, a leading
primatologist and director of conservation at Bristol Zoological Society in
Britain, said in a statement.
This includes the Lavasoa
dwarf lemur – a species only discovered two years ago – and the Roloway monkey
from Ghana and the Ivory Coast, which experts say “are on the very verge of
extinction”.
There are 703 species and
sub-species of primates in the world. Madagascar and Vietnam are home to large
numbers of highly threatened primate species, the statement said.
In Africa, the red colobus
monkey was under particular threat, as were some of South America’s howler
monkeys and spider monkeys, it added. “All of these species are relatively
large and conspicuous, making them prime targets for bushmeat hunting,” the
statement said.
Russell Mittermeier, chair of
the species survival commission of the International Union for Conservation of Nature,
said he hoped the report would encourage governments to commit to “desperately
needed biodiversity conservation measures”.
The endangered golden lion tamarin
The study, which drew
on the work of hundreds of scientists and is the most comprehensive analysis
for more than a decade, found that the conservation outlook for monkeys, apes
and other primates has dramatically worsened.
In some regions, the
thriving bushmeat trade means the animals are being "eaten to extinction".
The two biggest
threats faced by primates are habitat destruction through logging and hunting
for bushmeat and the illegal wildlife trade.
The population crunch is the
result of large-scale habitat destruction – particularly the burning and
clearing of tropical forests – as well as the hunting of primates for food and
the illegal wildlife trade.
Species long known to be at
risk, including the Sumatran orangutan, have been joined on the most endangered
list for the first time by the Philippine tarsier and the Lavasoa dwarf lemur
from Madagascar, scientists meeting in Singapore said.
"We've raised
concerns for years about primates being in peril, but now we have solid data to
show the situation is far more severe than we imagined," said Dr Russell
Mittermeier, the chairman of the IUCN Species Survival Commission's primate
specialist group and the president of Conservation International.
"Tropical forest
destruction has always been the main cause, but now it appears that hunting is
just as serious a threat in some areas, even where the habitat is still quite
intact. In many places, primates are quite literally being eaten to
extinction."
The picture in
south-east Asia is particularly bleak, where 71% of all Asia primates are now
listed as threatened, and in Vietnam and Cambodia, 90% are considered at risk.
Populations of gibbons, leaf monkeys and langurs have dropped due to rapid
habitat loss and hunting to satisfy the Chinese medicine and pet trade.
"What is happening in south-east Asia is terrifying," said Dr
Jean-Christophe Vié, the deputy head of the IUCN species programme. "To
have a group of animals under such a high level of threat is, quite frankly,
unlike anything we have recorded among any other group of species to
date."
In Africa, 11 of 13 kinds of red colobus monkey have been listed as critically endangered or endangered. Two - Bouvier's red colobus and Miss Waldron's red colobus - may already be extinct.
In Africa, 11 of 13 kinds of red colobus monkey have been listed as critically endangered or endangered. Two - Bouvier's red colobus and Miss Waldron's red colobus - may already be extinct.
Mountain Gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei)
Overall, 69 species
and sub-species (11% of the total) are considered critically endangered,
including the mountain gorilla in central Africa, Tonkin snub-nosed monkey in
Vietnam and grey-shanked douc langur from Asia.
In the endangered
category are another 137 species and sub-species (22%) including the Javan
gibbon from Indonesia, golden lion tamarin from Brazil and Berthe's mouse lemur
from Madagascar. Species are judged to be in these categories if they have a
small population size, are suffering rapid population declines and have a
limited geographic range.
The apparent jump in
the numbers of threatened primates from 39% to 48% has not in reality happened
in the course of one year. The major new analysis has filled in missing data
that was not available previously, according to Michael Hoffman at Conservation
International. The last major assessment was carried out in 1996.
"The situation
could well have been as bad as this, say, five years ago, we just didn't know.
But now we have a much better indication of the state of the world's primates -
and the news is not good," he said.
The review, which is funded by Conservation International, the Margot Marsh
Biodiversity Foundation, Disney's Animal Kingdom and the IUCN is part of an
unprecedented examination of the state of the world's mammals to be released at
the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Barcelona in October.
However there was
some good news for primates. In Brazil, the black lion tamarin has been brought
back from the brink of extinction and shifted from the critically endangered to
endangered category. This is the result of a concerted conservation effort
which has also benefited the golden lion tamarin - it was downlisted to
endangered in 2003.
"The work with
lion tamarins shows that conserving forest fragments and reforesting to create
corridors that connect them is not only vital for primates, but offers the
multiple benefits of maintaining healthy ecosystems and water supplies, while
reducing greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change," said Dr
Anthony Rylands, the deputy chair of the IUCN primate specialist group.
The scientists also
came close to downlisting the mountain gorilla to endangered following
population increases in their forest habitat that spans the borders of Rwanda,
Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo. However, political turmoil in the
region and an incident in which eight animals were killed in 2007 led to the
decision to delay the planned reclassification.
Primates under threat
There are 634 species
and sub-species of primate including apes, monkeys, tarsiers and prosimians. Of
these, 69 are now categorised as critically endangered, 137 as endangered, 97
as vulnerable and 36 as near threatened.
In Africa, 63 species or
subspecies are in the top three categories (37% of African primates). The new
assessment moved L'Hoest's monkey (Cercopithecus
l'hoesti), which is found in Nyungwe National Park, Rwanda, from
vulnerable to endangered, for example.
L'Hoest's monkey (Cercopithecus l'hoesti)
L'Hoest's monkey (Cercopithecus l'hoesti)
In Asia, 120 species or
sub-species are threatened (71%). The grey-shanked douc langur (Pygathrix cinerea) in
Vietnam has been moved from endangered to critically endangered.
In Madagascar, 41 species
and sub-species are threatened (43%). The black-and-white ruffed lemur, (Varecia variegata) for
example, was endangered and is now considered critically endangered.
Black-and-white ruffed lemur, (Varecia variegata)
In Mexico, south and central America
79 species and sub-species are listed as threatened (40%). The cotton-top
tamarin (Saguinus oedipus)
is now critically endangered, but was endangered.
The cotton-top
tamarin (Saguinus oedipus)
is now critically endangered
List of the world’s top 25 most endangered primates for 2014-2016
Estimated numbers remaining in
the wild 2014-2016
Source: IUCN, Bristol
Zoological Society, International Primatological Society and Conservation
International and updated every two years:
- Lavasoa dwarf lemur - unknown
- Lac Alaotra bamboo lemur - about 2,500-5,000
- Red ruffed lemur - unknown
- Northern sportive lemur - around 50
- Perrier’s sifaka - 1,700-2,600
- Rondo dwarf galago - unknown but remaining habitat is just 40 square miles
- Roloway monkey - unknown but thought to be on the very verge of extinction
- Preuss’s red colobus monkey - unknown
- Tana River red colobus monkey - 1,000 and declining
- Eastern lowland gorilla - 2,000-10,000
- Philippine tarsier - unknown
- Javan slow loris - unknown
- Pig-tailed langur - 3,300
- Cat Ba langur (golden-headed langur) - 60
- Delacour’s langur - 234-275
- Tonkin snub-nosed monkey - less than 250
- Kashmir grey langur - unknown
- Western purple-faced langur - unknown
- Hainan gibbon - 25
- Sumatran orangutan - 6,600
- Ka’apor capuchin - unknown
- San Martin titi monkey - unknown
- Northern brown howler monkey - less than 250 mature animals
- Colombian brown spider monkey - unknown
- Ecuadorian brown-headed spider monkey - unknown
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