Almost half the world's monkeys and apes are facing a worsening threat of extinction because of deforestation and hunting for meat, an international report published today said.
"We have solid data to show that the situation is far more severe than we imagined," said Russell Mittermeier, president of Conservation International and head of the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) primate specialist group.
An assessment for an IUCN "Red List" of endangered species found that 48 per cent of the 634 known species and sub-species of primates - humans' closest relatives such as chimpanzees, orang-utans, gibbons and lemurs - were at risk of extinction.
In a previous report five years ago, using different yardsticks, just 39 per cent of primates were judged at risk. The IUCN includes governments, scientists and conservation groups.
Habitat destruction, led by burning and clearing of tropical forests for farmland, and the hunting of monkeys and apes for their meat were the main threats. Some species were "literally being eaten into extinction," a statement said.
"Gorilla meat, chimpanzee meat and meat of other apes fetches a higher price than beef, chicken or fish" in some African countries, Mr Mittermeier said.
He added that deforestation was aggravating hunting. Roads cut to help loggers and burning of forests to create farmland were opening previously inaccessible regions to poachers.
Primates were suffering most in Asia, with 71 per cent of all species at risk, against 37 per cent in Africa.
Among species most at risk, or "critically endangered", were the Bouvier's red colobus, an African monkey which has not been seen in 25 years, and the greater bamboo lemur of Madagascar totalling only about 140 in the wild.
"If you took all the individuals of the top 25 most endangered species and assigned each of them a seat ... they probably wouldn't fill a football stadium," Mr Mittermeier said.
Mr Mittermeier said that the outlook was not all gloom, however. In Brazil, the black lion tamarin and the golden lion tamarin were downlisted to endangered from critically endangered after conservation efforts.
"There's no question that we can win the battle," he said.
Reuters