Save the Great Apes

The great apes of Africa and Southeast 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.

The Dwinding Forests

As Africa’s population in-creases-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 return to its natural state. Gorillas will return to selec-tively logged forests after a regrowth period of about 6 years, as they favor less dense forests with bushy under-growth.

For chimpanzees, particu-larly the rare pygmy chim-panzee, rainforests left un-touched by man are their only guarantee of finding enough food to survive. These dense and humid rainforests support a multi-tude of juicy fruits, which chimps need in order to get enough water. Secondary forest-where some clearing has occurred and regrowth is recent- contains less fruit, and chimpanzees must forage over a wider range.

The orangutan is also suffer-ing from deforestation in Southeast 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 success-ful. This process also risks send-ing new diseases into the wild.

Poachers at large

Poaching in Africa and South-east Asia is widespread. A whole range of wild animals are hunted for meat or trophies despite laws forbid-ding hunting in most coun-tries. Many of the poachers accidentally catch chimpan-zees and young gorillas in their wire traps.

In Africa, poachers deliber-ately trap or shoot gorillas. Both western and eastern lowland gorillas are poached for their hands, which are cut off to sell 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, de-pend on ape meat for protein.

In West Africa, highly organized poaching gangs are hunting the chimpanzee to the brink of extinction. An-other species facing imminent extinction is the mountain gorilla. It was first sighted in 1901. but it may become extinct within a century after its discovery.

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 institu-tions. Results from this research are of great medical value, but the chimps are often mistreated.

Chimpanzees are also captured to provide entertain-ment for tourists. The females are killed and their young are taken 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.

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 its own terri-tory. The Virunga Reserve in Rwanda, Uganda, and Zaire has been a highly successful gorilla reserve since the early 1 980s.

But money is needed to establish more parks and reserves. Funds raised by independent wildlife organi-zations worldwide could be used to promote wider protection for 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 reforesta-tion practices are two answers. Without them, the forests will be lost. The loss of the rainforests will ad-versely affect man and ape both, destroying a vital source of food and water.

What you can do

• Support national and international wildlife organi-zations that have a special interest in primates; get in-volved in fund-raising activi-ties for forest preservation.

• Try to buy only those make-up products that have not been tested on animals.