FWD: Valuing our apes

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This article is from The Star Online (http://thestar.com.my)

URL:

http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2004/2/19/features/7346495 & sec=f\

eatures

 

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Thursday February 19, 2004

Valuing our apes

By MICHAEL CHEANG

 

THE past few years have seen a dramatic crash in the great apes population, with

gorillas facing extinction, and orang utans and chimpanzees becoming

increasingly threatened.

 

To address this problem, the Great Apes Survival Project (Grasp) was launched

in 2001 to bring diverse stakeholders to address the crisis facing the great

apes and their habitat. The goals of Grasp is to lift the immediate threat of

extinction facing these great apes, to raise funds, to come up with a global

strategy to halt the decline of the population of great apes worldwide, and to

ensure their long-term survival.

 

Grasp’s Ian Redmond, who has conducted field work with the mountain gorillas

for the past 20 years, said there are currently 23 range states (countries with

great apes population) including Malaysia, but more than half of these countries

are listed among the poorest in the world.

 

“The reasons for the ape population decline differ from country to country, but

we have to encourage development opportunities within the range states that are

either compatible or even dependent on the sustained population of great apes,”

he said.

 

In Africa, the main threats are poaching, habitat loss and political

instability within a range state. The African bushmeat (meat of wild animals)

trade is also a major threat.

 

Currently, the population of the mountain gorilla numbers 670 individuals, and

is considered to be relatively stable, although it is still highly vulnerable to

poaching and political instability. The Eastern Lowland gorilla, however, is a

highly endangered species, also due to political instability as well as the

bushmeat trade which caused a dramatic decline in their population. Chimpanzees

are also under threat from the bushmeat and pet trade, habitat degeneration and

loss, as well as the Ebola outbreak, as are the bonobos (pygmy chimpanzees).

 

Redmond also stressed the need for a legal, sustainable and disease-free

solution to the bushmeat trade. “However, we shouldn’t demonise the local

people who eat great ape meat because to them, it is perfectly normal as they

have been doing so for generations now,” he said. “Instead, we have to educate

them and tell them to either stop eating it now, or stop eating it in 10-20

years' time when all the apes are extinct.

 

Meanwhile, the orang utan in South-East Asia has seen a dramatic decline in its

sub-species population due to loss of habitat from forest fires, logging,

conversion of their natural forest habitat into oil palm estates, as well as the

illegal trade in live orang utan infants. Many experts have predicted that the

orang utan will be extinct in 5-20 years' time if the current rate of decline

continues.

 

Redmond, who has been developing sustainable tourism opportunities involving

mountain gorillas to minimise the impact on the apes, reckons that Malaysia has

underestimated the value of its orang utans and is underselling them. Ape

tourism in Uganda and Rwanda is big money, and tourists pay almost US$100

(RM380) just to see chimpanzees in their natural habitat, and up to US$250

(RM950) to see gorillas in the wild.

 

“Tourists pay large amounts of money because to them, watching a great ape in

its natural habitat is a very moving experience. The high price also limits the

number of tourists.” he said.

 

“In Malaysia, anyone can just pay a minimal price to visit the orang utan

reserve, which leaves the door open to floods of tourists, thus exposing the

apes to riskof infection. Also, the experiences here are akin to that of a zoo

visit. It would be more meaningful to watch an orang utan swinging among the

trees in the wild rather than through a cage or controlled area.”

 

Redmond also stressed the importance of maintaining rigid control over tourist

activities to minimise the impact on the apes. In Africa, the number of tourists

visiting apes is kept to a minimum, and visitors have to keep a safe distance to

avoid infecting them with human diseases.

 

He hopes that in future, Malaysia can be a leader in the conservation of great

apes, as it is one of the most developed among the 23 range states.

 

However, much still needs to be done. The current enforcement of laws is

inadequate, as evidenced from the number of orang utan babies that are being

confiscated from illegal smugglers.

 

“Great apes are popular animals with a very high profile and are much-loved all

over the world. If we cannot even save these high-profile species, what hope do

we have of saving the other lesser known and less popular species in the world?”

added Redmond.

 

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