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Loss of habitat threatens one-third of all primates

Almost a third of all apes, monkeys and other primates are in danger of becoming extinct because of rampant destruction of their tropical habitat, the commercial sale of bush meat and the trade in illegal wildlife, a report released yesterday said.

Twenty-five of the most endangered primates are singled out in the report, which was to be presented at the International Primatological Society in Hainan, China.

Among those most at risk are the Miss Waldron's red colobus of Ivory Coast and Ghana, the Golden-headed langur of Vietnam and China's Hainan gibbon, whose numbers have dwindled to 17. The Horton Plains slender loris of Sri Lanka has been sighted just four times since 1937.

"You could fit all the surviving members of the 25 species in a single football stadium; that's how few of them remain on Earth today," said Conservation International president Russell Mittermeier, who also chairs the World Conservation Union's (IUCN) Primate Specialist Group which prepared the report with the International Primatological Society and Conservation International.

"The situation is worst in Asia, where tropical forest destruction and the hunting and trading of monkeys puts many species at terrible risk," he said. "Even newly discovered species are severely threatened from loss of habitat and could soon disappear."

Overall, 114 of the world's 394 primate species are classified as threatened with extinction by the IUCN. The 25 most endangered primates include 11 from Asia, seven from Africa, four from Madagascar and three from South and Central America.

The list includes well-known primates as well as lesser known species. Six species are on the biannual report for the first time, including a recently discovered Indonesian tarsier that has yet to be formally named and the Kipunji from Tanzania, which was discovered in 2003.

Habitat loss due to the clearing of tropical forests for agriculture, logging and the collection of fuel wood continues to be the major factor in the declining number of primates, the report said. In addition, climate change is altering the habitats of many species, leaving some of them more vulnerable.
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