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|  Primate Threats Hunting Disease Loss of Habitat Agriculture Logging Roads Development Fires Capture HUNTING Although illegal in many regions, hunting of primates for bushmeat occurs on all continents with non-human primate populations. Hunting primates for food has been an aspect of many native cultures for centuries; but with the earth's human population passing the six billion mark, this practice is now posing a significant threat to the continued existence of prosimian, monkey, and ape populations. In many regions, human famine is a problem that coincides with insufficient numbers of guards to protect endangered animals, and as a result, hunting is becoming the leading contributor to monkey and ape endangerment. Although unsustainable commercial and sustenance hunting of wild animals is happening across the globe, West and Central African nations - areas rich in primate diversity - are regions where experts believe the problem has risen to crisis levels. As much as an estimated one million metric tons of wild animals per year are hunted for food in the Congo Basin alone, and with growing populations, the demand for bushmeat is projected to increase by two-to-four percent yearly. One example of this growing problem is the plight of the mountain gorillas. Fewer than 650 of these apes are believed to exist in the world today, and unless poaching can be curbed, the outlook for this species is questionable. Gorillas, along with the other great apes of Africa (chimpanzees and bonobos) are being hunted to dangerous levels. Gorilla and chimpanzee steaks can be found on the menu of some of the finest restaurants in Central Africa, and gorilla hands are considered a delicacy in some cultures. The poaching of these apes is perpetuated by high market demand and the lure of easy cash generated through this illegal trade; And because apes have low reproductive rates, every gorilla, chimp, or bonobo killed brings them that much closer to extinction. Gorillas and other primates are also unintended victims of hunting efforts targeting other species. Hunters that lay snares or traps intended for non-primate species can end up trapping and sometimes killing monkeys and apes. Because snares kill indiscriminately, rare species can be caught just as effectively as common ones, causing further stress on already imperiled populations. Food is not the only reason primates are hunted and killed. Primate skins and body parts can fetch large amounts of money when sold at local and international markets as trophies and ingredients for traditional medicines. For example, black and white colobus monkeys are often hunted for their fur; Many Africans use their skins for traditional clothing and, as recently as the 1970’s, their hides were being widely sold as coats and rugs in places such as Europe and Japan. However, since international treaties have emerged banning the sale of endangered species and species parts, the exportation of colobus furs has dropped dramatically. Conservationists are also working on introducing fake furs to local populations in Kenya to provide a culturally acceptable alternative to the real ones. Such creative solutions will hopefully serve as models for slowing, and ultimately stopping, the unsustainable trade in bushmeat throughout Africa and other parts of the world. DISEASE Humans and non-human primates are all susceptible to disease and illness; And because they are evolutionarily related to humans, non-human primates have a similar physiology and can exchange diseases with humans. Today, ecotourism and human expansion are allowing non-human primates to be exposed to local and international people and the diseases they carry. As a result, primate populations prone to human encounters are at risk of contracting potentially fatal human diseases for which apes and monkeys have no defense systems - not to mention the risks humans take of contracting ape and monkey diseases. So while natural diseases have always threatened primate populations, recent exposure to diseases traditionally unique to humans, pose a new threat to apes and monkeys. One of the most well-known documented cases of a primate population contracting a "human illness" was in 1966 when Jane Goodall sadly witnessed many of the chimpanzees she was studying at Gombe, as well as local humans, become plagued with polio. This epidemic, likely introduced by humans, is believed to be responsible for the death or disappearance of ten chimps and the crippling of five others within Goodall's study group. Such tragic cases could increase as humans continue to encroach on primate habitat. LOSS OF HABITAT As the human population increases, so does our need for materials and space; Areas required for habitation and land use are expanding at exponential rates, and every day humans claim more terrain and natural resources across the planet. Consequently, people are rapidly encroaching and destroying other animals' habitats for their own needs. Non-human primates are just one of the many creatures that are threatened by human sprawl and resource exploitation. The following are examples of a few typical ways humans are causing the loss of crucial habitat for apes, monkeys, and prosimians. Agriculture and Livestock Approximately 26 percent of the world's land area -- including one-third of tropical and temperate forests, and a quarter of natural grasslands -- have been converted for the use of agriculture and livestock. And scientists estimate that currently, annual conversion of wild lands for agriculture continues to reduce 1.5 percent of the total rain forest on earth. These staggering figures demonstrate how significant an impact human food consumption and farming practices are having on wildlife habitat. But while some types of farming and grazing practices are less harmful than others, certain types of agricultural clearing methods such as "slash and burn" or "shifting cultivation" are being used in inappropriate climates resulting in highly unsustainable farming efforts and significant losses to biodiversity. These methods of land clearing burn down forests to create new fields for agriculture. However, in tropical climates, the nutrients from the burns can only sustain healthy crop yields for a limited time before the farmers are forced to burn more forest and start over on a new piece of fertile land. Although slash and burn agriculture has been found inefficient and destructive for large populations in tropical areas, the process is still frequently practiced. On the island country of Madagascar, Africa, the continued use of slash and burn clear-cutting is speeding up erosion processes and eating away jungle forests that provide the only known homes for many species of lemurs; Between 1950 and 1985, one half of Madagascar's forests were depleted, and only about ten-to-twenty percent of the county's original forest cover exists today. With 150,000 to 200,000 hectares still cleared on the island annually for farming, the amazing prosimians of Madagascar are in great danger of disappearing. Reflecting an increase in demand similar to the market for food crops, livestock products and production have tripled since 1970. As a result, clearing forests for animal husbandry is occurring worldwide. One prominent example is seen in Central America. This area of the world, where ranching has been practiced since colonial times, is host to 23 species and subspecies of primates. With American markets in search for cheap beef, many Central American ranchers have capitalized on this opportunity by expanding their operations and moving into the humid forests of the Atlantic watershed. The livestock land area of Central America is estimated to have grown from 3.9 million hectares in 1955 to 13.4 million hectares in 1995. Much of this expansion was at the expense of the area’s tropical forests, the primary habitat for indigenous primates. Logging Wood products, specifically hardwoods and other woods of the tropics, are in great demand from international markets; In 1997 alone, the world consumed 3.4 million cubic meters of wood. Because non-human primates are primarily found in tropical regions of developing nations with vast forested areas, the impact from logging on these species is particularly high. And while many forests are cut under legal government concessions to timber companies, illegal logging still occurs in areas designated as protected parks. For instance, in 1999, the not-for profit conservation watchdog group Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) exposed massive illegal logging operations in Indonesian parks. Indonesia hosts about eighty percent of the remaining wild orangutans in the world, with one of the largest remaining populations in Tanjung Putting National Park. EIA found that the illegal logging business in Indonesia is now greater than the extraction of legal timber projects. Illegal logging currently accounts for seventy percent of the timber processed in Indonesia. With approximately eighty percent of the orangutan's habitat having already been lost in the past two decades, illegal clearing of timber in the remaining protected areas will be devastating to surviving orangutan populations. Roads Development projects and natural resource extraction efforts require infrastructure to support construction and personnel; This usually translates into creating roads in previously undisturbed areas. With roads come direct loss of habitat, erosion, pollution, and the threat of easy-access for poachers, farmers, and illegal harvesters of plants and animals, as well as the increased chance of disease transmission, introduced predators, and fire. All this enhanced activity heightens threats to primates and other denizens of the jungle. Roads also create the possibility of primates being hit by fast moving vehicles. Luckily, concerned citizens are trying to lessen the impact of "road-kill" losses on primate populations in some parts of the world by looking for creative solutions. For example, in Kenya, conservationists are acting to reduce the number of black and white colobus monkey deaths caused from cars by putting up "reduce speed" signs and building small bridges over roads so arboreal colobus will not have to descend the trees and cross dangerous streets. Development Projects Development projects, such as mines and damns, can pollute, damage, and destroy significant amounts of primate habitat. Mining operations require large tracts of land to dump materials and waste, as well as the construction of roads for transporting resources and personnel. Similarly, the process of constructing dams creates pollution and waste, while the dam itself alters natural riparian zones and can flood out potential primate habitat. And both types of development projects bring temporary human populations to the region - carrying with them the threats of disease transmission and bushmeat hunting. Coltan mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo illustrates the many ways development projects can negatively impact resident primate populations. Coltan is a metallic mineral used in products such as cell phones - however, the mining of this substance creates serious implications to the welfare of resident gorilla populations. In May 2001, a report generated by the Born Free Foundation and Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund created a laundry list of environmental damages resulting from coltan mines in this area. Some of these damages included: "Forest clearance and use of timber and poles to build camps to accommodate workers; Forest clearance to expose substrate for mining; Pollution of streams by silt from washing process; Erosion of unprotected earth during rains leading to land-slips; Cutting of firewood for warmth and cooking in camps; Hunting of animals for bushmeat to feed miners and camp followers; Animals maimed or dying after escaping from snares." And these are just some of the many negative impacts that come about as a result of development efforts in regions containing primate populations. Fires Bush fires can occur naturally or as result of a human activity, such as slash and burn clearing practices. In either case, fires can be detrimental to primates by posing a direct threat to individuals, destroying vast areas of habitat, and potentially leaving orphaned babies and adolescent primates uncared for if the fire kills adult primates. For example, in 1997 and 1998, bush fires in Indonesia destroyed approximately 10 million hectares of forest and did tremendous damage to orangutan populations and their habitat. As habitat loss is one of the greatest existing risks to orangutans -- whose populations have fallen by 50 percent in the last decade -- another series of wildfires could push the species even closer to extinction. CAPTURE Many primates have been, and continue to be, taken from the wild for use by the illegal pet trade. Baby primates are considered the most desirable catch, and poachers will often kill the mother and other primates to get their young. If primates taken for the pet trade survive being orphaned and smuggled out of the forest, they are then sold to local or international markets where the continued demand fuels the existing trade. Chimpanzees are one type of primate that have long been a victim of illegal trade; In September 2000, a smuggler was caught with two baby chimpanzees at Doha Airport in Qatar. The criminal placed the chimps in plastic cylinders inside a shipment of exotic birds. When the chimps were found, the babies - which were intended for a pet shop - were reported to have been sickly and starving. Factoring other chimps killed during confiscation, and the individual chimpanzees that do not survive being smuggled out of the jungle or country, it is estimated that at least ten chimps die for each baby that is captured and successfully delivered overseas. Other primates that are frequent victims of the pet trade include gorillas, orangutans, spider monkeys, gibbons and macaques, to name a few. Until the demand to purchase these animals as pets is squelched, the illegal primate pet trade will most likely continue to flourish, to the detriment of remaining wild populations. | ||||||||||||||
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