Poaching and the loss of rain forest habitat are fast endangering some of the world's best loved primates, the gorilla, the chimpanzee, and the orangutan, commonly called the great apes. The great apes of Africa and Southern Asia are facing varying degrees of threat to their existence from man. The rare pygmy chimpanzee has almost no protected habitat, and the mountain gorilla is in danger of extinction.
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The Dwindling Forests: As Africa's population increases in some cases as rapidly as 3 percent a year more forest is cleared for cattle grazing, logging, and crops. The local farmers use the slash and burn method of deforestation (forest clearing). Some conscientious logging companies take only the trees they need and allow the forest to retain to its natural state. Gorillas will return to selectively logged forests after a regrowth period of about 6 years, as they favor less dense forests with bushy undergrowth.
For chimpanzees, particularly the rare pygmy chimpanzee, ran forest left untouched by man are their only guarantee of finding enough food to survive. These dense and humid rain forests support a multitude of juicy fruits, which chimps need in order to get enough water. Secondary forest, where some clearing has accurred and regrowth is resent, contains less fruit, and chimpanzees must forage over a wider range.
The orangutan is also suffering from deforestation is Southern in Southern Asia, as is the Javan gibbon, which has lost over 95 percent of its range. Scattered attempts to rescue chimps from pet traders and return them to the wild have proved only moderately successful. This process also risks sending new disease into the wild.
Poachers at large: Poaching in Africa and Southeast Asia is widespread. A while range of wild animals are hunted for meat or trophies despite laws forbidding hunting in most countries. Many of the poachers accidentally catch chimpanzees and young gorillas in their wire traps. In Africa, poachers deliberately trap of shoot gorillas. Both western and eastern lowland gorillas are poached for their hands, which are cut off to see as ashtrays, or for their heads, which are sold as trophies to tourists. In Nigeria, more western lowland gorillas are killed each year than are born; at this rate they will become extinct in as few as 15 years.
Central African natives, who do little cattle farming, depend on ape meat for protein. In West Africa, highly organized poaching gangs are hunting the chimpanzee to the brink of extinction. Another species facing imminent extinction is the mountain gorilla. ( Please watch the movie Gorilla's in the Mist) It was sighted in 1901, but it may become extinct with a century after its discovery. A rare mountain gorilla with young in a national park. Here, the wardens keep a constant watch for poachers.
The Chimpanzee Trade: Of all living species, the chimpanzee has a genetic make up that is most similar to man's. Because of this chimpanzees are regularly taken to be used for testing in scientific and medical institutions. Results from this research are of great medical value, BUT, the chimps are often mistreated. Chimpanzees are also captured to provide entertainment for tourists. the females are killed and their young are STOLEN from them. Tourists who pay to have their pictures taken with a chimpanzee are usually unaware that it will be killed when it is older.
Today, almost all countries have banned or strictly regulated the live export trade, but such bans are hard to enforce. Saved from the clutches of the export traders, a chimp waits to be sent back to the wild.
What can be done? The apes are best protected by the establishment of national parks and reserves within their natural habitats. These areas must be large enough to support the different ape troops, each of which needs it won territory., The Virunga Reserve in Rwanta, Uganda, and Zaire has been a highly successful gorilla reserve since the early 1980s. But money is needed to establish more parks and reserve. Funds raised the independent wildlife organizations worldwide could be used to promote wider protection for the apes. At the Karisoke Research center, Rwanda, rescued gorillas are cared for and then "rehabilitated" into the reserve. The unacceptable, irreversible destruction of the forest and the apes.
Better land use: The apes are being forced out of their natural habitat by the encroachment of poverty stricken farmers who, out of desperation, seize the land to grow crops and raise cattle. Local education and selective logging and reforestation practices are two answers. Without them, the forest will be lost. The loss of the rain forests will adversely affect man and ape both, destroying a vital source of food and water.
What you can do:
Support national and international wildlife organizations
that have a special interest in primates;
Get involved in fund raising activities for forest
prevention.
Try to buy only those make up products that have
not been tested on animals.
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