our children may live in a world without wild apes

[Guest guest]

Hunting, Ebola virus threaten Africa's wild apes

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UK: April 8, 2003

 

 

LONDON - Western equatorial Africa's wild apes are being killed off by

hunting and the Ebola virus and could be pushed to the brink of extinction,

scientists said.

 

 

 

" The stark truth is that if we do not act decisively, our children may live

in a world without wild apes, " cautioned Peter Walsh of Princeton University

in the United States.

 

Gabon and the Republic of Congo are thought to be the home of 80 percent of

the world's gorillas and most of the common chimpanzees, but a survey by

Walsh and colleagues in Africa, Europe and the United States, reveals their

numbers dropped by more than half between 1983 and 2000.

 

They believe the animals should be elevated to critically endangered status

because without protected areas and research into Ebola they fear human's

closest relatives could disappear.

 

" We are going to put ourselves in a situation where extinction is highly

likely, " Walsh said in an interview.

 

The animals are currently classified as endangered on the Swiss-based World

Conservation Union (IUCN) list of threatened species.

 

If ape numbers decline at an annual rate of 4.7 percent, populations will

drop by an additional 80 percent within 33 years, the researchers predicted

in a letter published online by the science journal Nature.

 

Under IUCN criteria a species should be considered critically endangered if

it is expected to suffer a decline of 80 percent within the next 10 years or

three generations, according to the researchers.

 

" We're really concerned about the situation, " Walsh added.

 

The IUCN says it is aware of the dangers to the apes and chimpanzees and

regularly updates the list which includes 11,167 endangered plants and

animals.

 

" Our primate specialist group will be well aware of what is happening with

the primates in that area, " Caroline Pollock, a researcher at IUCN's office

in Cambridge, England, told Reuters.

 

" We're updating the list every year now but that doesn't mean all species

are being updated every year. "

 

Walsh and his colleagues said the plight of the apes had not been

appreciated because the forests of western equatorial Africa, which are a

primary determinant of ape abundance, are largely intact.

 

But Ebola is spreading, mechanised logging has increased and hunters are

using logging roads and vehicles to penetrate deep into remote areas.

 

Walsh is floating the idea of the U.S. government doing an emergency

appropriation of $10 million for Ebola research in the field and would like

the European Union to match it.

 

" Funds to pay for hunting and Ebola control efforts must be generated in

developed countries where apes are cherished as a vital element of our

natural heritage, " Walsh said.

 

He is also urging charitable foundations or a private individual to take a

leadership role in saving the world's apes.

 

In addition, Walsh and his colleagues believe aid and debt relief should be

linked to conservation performance so national governments have economic

incentives to tackle the problem.

 

 

 

Story by Patricia Reaney

 

 

 

REUTERS NEWS SERVICE