The first comprehensive review in five years of the world’s 634 kinds of primates found that almost 50% are in danger of going extinct, according to the criteria of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Humanity’s closest relatives, the world’s monkeys, apes and other primates, are disappearing from the face of the Earth, with some literally being eaten into extinction.
Issued at the 22nd International Primatological Society Congress in Edinburgh, Scotland, the report by the world’s foremost primate authorities presented a chilling indictment on the state of primates everywhere. In Asia, more than 70 percent of primates are classified on the IUCN Red List as Vulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered – meaning they could disappear forever in the near future.
Most primate populations are in developing counties where human life, let alone that of other animals, is cheap. Not only are habitats being destroyed to make way for industry, but primates are also being killed for food.
It is the responsibility of ourselves and our governments in rich countries to enable their protection.
Primates in danger. Learn more about how they live and what we can do to protect them.
See Conservation International press release here.
See BBC report here.
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