•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   

Seldom seen species of lemurs, monkeys and apes, including Sumatran orangutans, are among 25 primates facing near-certain extinction unless urgent measures are taken to protect them, said a report released on Thursday.

Close to half of the 634 known primate species are to some degree threatened with dying out, said the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and other conservation and research groups. And that percentage has risen quickly — only three years ago the IUCN put the ratio of vulnerable primates at one third.

“Primates are among the most endangered of all vertebrate groups,” said Russell Mittermeier, head of the IUCN’s primate specialist group.

Of the top 25, five are on the island of Madagascar, six on the African continent, three in South America and 11 in Southeast Asia.

The least likely to survive might well be the golden-headed langur of Vietnam, found exclusively on the island of Cat Ba in the Gulf of Tonkin. Only 60 to 70 individuals remain.

Two other species hover in number at around 100: the northern sportive lemur of Madagascar, and the eastern black crested gibbon of northern Vietnam. Human encroachment has reduced the population of cross river gorillas, found in the mountains along the Cameroon-Nigeria border, to less than 300.

The most threatened species are not always the rarest, experts point out. How well governments protect dwindling animal populations against deforestation and hunting is at least as critical.

More than 6,000 Sumatran orangutans, for example, are thought to survive on Indonesia’s largest island. But poor enforcement of conservation measures has led to plummeting numbers and an unenviable place on the list of most-critically endangered primates.

By contrast, China’s Hainan gibbon “is actually the world’s rarest primate,” said Simon Stuart, head of the IUCN’s Species Survival Commission.

“But the Chinese government has some very strict conservation measures, so it is not on the list because there is not much more that can be done,” he said.

Even so, he added, “it is one thing to stop a species from going extinct, and it is another thing to talk about recovery.”

Globally, habitat destruction, especially through the burning and clearing of tropical forests for agriculture, has been the main driver toward extinction.

But in Southeast Asia, hunting for food and traditional medicines made from animal parts — fueled by an illegal trade in wildlife — is an even greater threat.

“It comes out again and again from all our studies, tropical Asia is by far the worst place to be for any animal bigger than a rabbit,” Stuart said.



Agence France-Presse