African Great Apes – Endangered species
Gorillas and chimpanzees are fascinating primates, possibly because they remind us of ourselves in terms of emotion, intelligence and the way that they relate to one another in family groups. It is a huge concern that these creatures are on the brink of extinction due to poaching and the destruction of their habitats. Because of poaching activities in the past, these Great Apes of Africa tend to avoid human visitors to their habitats. Researchers have a need to habituate the groups they are studying, which takes dedication, trust and time. Visiting them in their natural environment is a privilege and tracking them takes stamina and patience since they live in the remote mountain forests of Central Africa.
Gorillas
Gorillas are one of the most feared animals in the world, thanks to movies like King Kong and Congo . While it is true that they are large, powerful creatures, they are also gentle and affectionate. Mountain gorillas are easygoing vegetarians who lead a peaceful, playful life. Large males patiently allow young gorillas to climb all over them without a murmur of protest, and they are not aggressive toward humans unless they are threatened.
Mountain gorillas are one of the most endangered animals in the world. Scientists estimate that there are about 600 individuals, living in 2 populations of about 300 each, separated by about 20 miles. Their entire world consists of 285 square miles of high-elevation rain forest in east-central Africa. They are endangered from habitat loss, poaching, and war.
Despite their endangered status, until recently mountain gorillas were one of conservation's brightest success stories. Decades ago they were on the brink of extinction, when conservation measures reversed the decline and started them on the road to recovery. Today, they face a new threat -- the aftermath of a tragic civil war that erupted in Rwanda in the early 1990s, claiming the lives of 500,000 people, and creating refugee camps with 750,000 people living in destitution on the borders of the gorillas' reserves. Continuing political unrest threatens to undo almost 20 years of remarkable conservation work.
Beginning early in the 20th century, collectors and hunters from Europe and the United States began to capture or kill mountain gorillas. In 25 years over 50 mountain gorillas were taken as trophies or for collections. Carl Akeley of the American Museum of Natural History shot five gorillas in 1921, but he was so impressed with these animals that he convinced the Belgian government, which at that time ruled what is now Zaire, to establish Africa's first national park for them in 1925.
The gorillas were relatively protected until 1960, when civil war broke out and park protection disappeared. Poachers set out snares to capture animals for food, and gorillas were caught in the snares. The gorillas also were killed intentionally for their meat and parts; gorilla hands and heads were sold as souvenirs to tourists.
In addition to being killed and captured, the gorillas have lost large amounts of habitat to agriculture. The countries in which they live have some of the highest human population densities in the world. Every acre that is not protected is farmed. In 1968, 40 percent of the remaining forest was turned over to a European-sponsored agricultural scheme.
Most people in western nations have only seen gorillas and chimpanzees in zoos. We tend to assume that there are plenty more apes out there, in the jungle somewhere. But a sad fact is that wild apes are now an endangered species.
Their extinction is a distinct possibility.
About eighty percent of the world's ape population lives in Western equatorial Africa - in Gabon and the Republic of Congo. It's estimated that their numbers dropped by more than half in the last twenty years. Until recent times the forest habitat in this region of Africa has been largely intact. But now with the increase in mechanized logging, hunters can use vehicles on logging roads to penetrate deep into remote areas.
Apes are not only being decimated by hunting, but also by disease. Like humans, apes are affected by the deadly Ebola virus. This virus is common in Africa and is spreading among the primates in the region. In developed countries, Ebola is uncommon and therefore few efforts to control it are underway.
Species are considered critically endangered when their rate of decline is eighty percent in ten years, or in three generations. If the ape numbers continue to decline at the current annual rate of almost five per cent, the ape population will drop another eighty percent in the next thirty years.
So next time you're in a zoo, take a good look at the apes. If we're not careful, they won't be around much longer.
Gorillas like to spend their days at home with the family. They live in close-knit groups of five to 30 gorillas led by a patriarch - the large,dominant male called a silverback because of the distinctive grey saddle pattern that grows in at maturity.
Even when they wander, gorillas rarely venture far - usually staying within a range of roughly 15 square miles in search of the shoots and berries they live on.
Their only natural enemy are people and human actions are placing gorillas in grave danger of becoming extinct. Conflict, poaching and logging are forcing gorillas off their land and threatening their survival.
Differing only slightly in size, build and colouring, there are actually three sub-species of gorillas - the Eastern Lowland Gorilla, the Western Lowland Gorilla and the Mountain Gorilla. All three inhabit the mountain and rainforests of western and central Africa.
Commercial logging and increased agriculture in these areas are reducing the forest homes of the great apes. No longer protected by the dense foliage, it is easier for hunters to trap and kill the animal and the gorillas are more susceptible to poaching.
Often portrayed as violent and dangerous, gorillas are really gentle, intelligent creatures. Displays of aggression occur when the family unit, particularly babies, is in danger. The silverback male will rise up on his hind legs, pound his chest and bare his teeth. Unfortunately, these very actions to protect themselves also make gorillas an easy target for poachers.
Unrest in the Great Lakes region of Africa has proved disastrous for gorillas and humans alike. During the 1990s, violent conflict in Rwanda large numbers of people to fled their homes and sought refuge in Virunga National Park. Refugees were forced to harvest firewood from the national forest and also killed gorillas in their own struggle for survival.
The Mountain Gorilla population suffered greatly with the killings of four silverbacks as well as other members of the group. The national park was looted, and equipment and infrastructure destroyed. Even though the refugees left in 1996, residual conflict and the presence of armed groups in the area have limited conservation efforts.
Even before these tragic events in Rwanda, gorilla numbers were down. By the time conservation efforts began in earnest during the 1970s some gorilla populations had dropped below 300 individuals. Today, it is difficult to estimate the actual numbers killed because poachers often butcher and eat gorillas on the spot, leaving no remains.
Diane Fossey's Mountain Gorilla Project brought gorilla tourism to Rwanda and educated local people on the economic benefits of saving the primates. Focussed on park protection, tourist development and conservation education, the program was so successful that gorilla tourism became the third largest earner of foreign currency in Rwanda. Poaching decreased and the gorillas began to make a comeback.
However, even as gorilla tourism has raised awareness about the plight of the great apes, there are drawbacks. Gorillas are susceptible to human ailments such as mange, measles and intestinal parasites, and as they spend more time in proximity of humans, the risk of disease increases.
The United Nations Environment Programme ( UNEP ) launched the Great Apes Survival Project ( GRASP ), an alliance of conservation and research organizations, to help governments, wildlife departments, academics, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and UN agencies work together to halt the decline of the great ape populations.
As part of a global effort to protect the planet and the animals that inhabit it, UNEP administers one of the world's largest conservation agreements, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora ( CITES ).
Gorilla meat, or bushmeat, which trades domestically, does not fall under the mandate of CITES, but is considered illegal practice. A working group is looking at the trade of bushmeat, locally and internationally, in hopes of finding an agreeable solution for all involved parties.
To date, 160 governments are bound to the Convention, which offers varying protection to more than 35,000 species of animals and plants. Not a single species protected by CITES has become extinct since the agreement started
in 1975
Mountain Gorillas of Uganda
Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park covers an area of 32,000 hectares (125 sq. miles) in southwestern Uganda and is a densely forested region of steep hills and narrow valleys. This region of dense jungle has an extremely high biodiversity with over 160 species of tree, 100 species of fern and is home to over half of the last surviving mountain gorillas in Africa. The Park has been proclaimed a UNESCO World Heritage Site, offering maximum protection to the occupants and environment.
Bwindi’s population of 320 gorillas is mostly completely wild, with only 57 habituated to humans. To ensure minimal disruption to both gorillas and environment, a restriction of only 6 visitors per day is imposed on tracking the habituated gorillas. Visitors are further restricted in the time spent with the gorillas to only 1 hour per day. This necessitates the sale of permits to regulate the numbers of visitors.
Tracking the gorillas is a strenuous but exciting experience. They live in mountainous jungle covered terrain, often steeper than a flight of stairs. Tracking will start early in the day with a strenuous hike through the forest to where the gorillas had been spotted the day before. The gorilla groups cover large distances each day and the jungle hike can vary from a few hours to eight hours a day. Once found, time spent observing them as they cavort, play, groom and curiously gaze back, is limited before returning to camp. Strict rules protect the gorillas and any sick visitor will not be permitted to participate in tracking them, since even a common cold can endanger a gorilla’s survival.
Gorilla tracking is not the only eco tour activity available at Bwindi and hikes offer up a number of surprises, depending on the route chosen by your guide. The area around Buhoma is very good for bird watching and for spotting mischievous and often noisy chimpanzees. A diverse eco system of mammals, including forest elephants, birds (including African grey parrots) and butterflies brings the forest to life.
Chimpanzees and other primates of Uganda
The equatorial rain forest known as Kibale Forest National Park in Uganda can with confidence claim to have the highest primate density in the world. It is home to 12 different species who share the forest with hundreds of bird species and 144 butterfly species.
Amongst others, the black and white and red colobus, l’hoest’s monkeys, bush babies and galagos monkeys can be seen swinging through the trees; however the main attraction is undoubtedly the 500 plus strong population of chimpanzees often found on fig trees feasting on the sweet fruit. Forest walks guided and led by expert rangers seek out the whereabouts of the chimps that have become quite accustomed to humans, having been slowly habituated since 1992.
Gombe National Park, Tanzania
Made famous by the conservation efforts of Dr. Jane Goodall, Gombe National Park is located on the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika and is only accessible by boat. It is the smallest of Tanzania’s national parks. Although most of the research and conservation was directed at the chimps, baboons and monkeys are also found here. Gombe was established to protect the primates that inhabit the Mahale Mountains. With no electricity, roads or telephones, Gombe is truly a natural sanctuary for the chimpanzees, monkeys and baboons that call this mountain park their home. Baboons are often seen playing in the water of Lake Tanganyika, even sometimes submerging themselves completely in the water.
May through October provide the best times for forest walks whilst March through May are rainy and wet making the forest very slippery and not easily accessed.
Mahale National Park, Tanzania
South of Gombe is the remote Mahale National Park, accessible by boat since there are no roads. All exploring from the camp is done on foot. Adventure activities here include snorkeling and dhow trips on Lake Tanganyika but the most exciting is to track the habituated groups amongst the almost 2,000 chimpanzee residents of this sanctuary. It is one of the best places in Africa to view these primates.
In the 1960’s a group of chimpanzees were slowly habituated by researches from the University of Kyoto in Japan. This group of chimpanzees is known as the "M" group and formed part of the longest running chimpanzee study in the world. Today it is possible to get close enough to watch them play, forage, hunt and interact. Locating the chimps is dependent on the skill of the local Tongwe guides, with their intimate knowledge of the chimpanzees and the forest. Walks can take from less than an hour, if the chimpanzees are near the water of Lake Tanganyika, to a full day’s excursion if they are on the inland ridges.
There are two chimpanzee species in Africa today, the pygmy chimpanzee (Pan panicus) and the "common" chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes). Both are
heavily threatened by habitat destruction, population fragmentation, disease, and human persecution.
Three subspecies of chimpanzee are recognized: Pan troglodytes verus, generally found in the western region of Africa; Pan troglodytes troglodytes, found in central Africa; and Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii, found in the eastern region of Africa. The overall coloring of the chimpanzee is dark, varying from light brown to deep black. Their arms are longer than their legs, and they "knuckle-walk," an adaptation to ground-dwelling. When erect, male chimpanzees can be as tall as 6 feet. Hair around the face ranges from light brown to black and grays with
age; baldness often occurs in older chimpanzees. Beards are gray regardless of age and white tail tufts mark infants.
The spectrum of habitats traditionally occupied by chimpanzees runs the gamut from dense forest to open savanna. However, these habitat areas are quickly disappearing due to human activities. Mining has destroyed chimpanzee habitat in the diamond districts of Sierra Leone and the iron districts of Liberia. Timber exploitation is a major threat mainly in Uganda, and crop cultivation is the major threat in Rwanda and Burundi.
The two populations surviving in Tanzania, both on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, are the best protected in the eastern region but are completely surrounded by expanding human settlements. By all accounts, the explosion of human populations in the tropical realm is the main threat to chimpanzees as well as other wildlife.
The population of captive chimpanzees currently is about 5,000 worldwide.
From: http://www.geocities.com/endangeredsp2/AfricaM15.html
There are approximately 2,400 chimpanzees in the United States. 1,700 of these chimps are used for biomedical testing, 500 live in zoos, and about 200 are used for entertainment.
Some chimpanzees have learned to 'talk' using American Sign Language, symbols, and computer graphics. Some have even combined signs to come up with new words. When the famous sign language chimpanzee, Washoe, first saw a swan, she called it a 'water bird'. Another chimp, Moja, described Alka Seltzer as a 'listen drink'.
... Like humans, chimpanzees have emotions similar to those we call joy, anger, grief, sorrow, pleasure, boredom, and depression. They also comfort and reassure one another by kissing and embracing.
An estimated 100,000 to 200,000 chimpanzees remain in the wild.
Most mothers give birth to one young an average of every five to six years in the wild. Young chimps stay with their mothers for up to 10 years.
Chimpanzees used to live throughout equatorial Africa from southern Senegal through Central Africa to western Tanzania. This is an area almost the size of the United States and includes 25 countries.
Today, chimpanzees are extinct in 4 of them, and are down to such low numbers (100-200) in 5 more that their disappearance is inevitable. Another 5 countries have small, scattered populations of a few hundred. Only 10 countries have chimpanzee populations that exceed 1000. There are estimated to be about 200,000 chimpanzees left in Africa. Only 50 years ago there were probably several million.
Deforestation and commercial hunting for bushmeat are taking a terrible toll on most chimpanzee populations.
All four subspecies of chimpanzee are listed in the 2000 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species TM as Endangered: the western chimpanzee and the Eastern Nigerian-West Cameroon chimpanzee are the most threatened.
Conservation Efforts
Legal controls on exportation and importation of animals Public education and awareness of chimps and chimp needs Reintroduction and rehabilitation programs Sanctuaries for orphans
The three greatest threats to the continued existence of chimpanzees (and gorillas and bonobos) in Africa are habitat loss, hunting for meat, and the shooting of mothers to take infants for the live animal trade. In the past many young chimps were exported to United States and other countries for entertainment or biomedical research. Increased legislative restrictions and penalties have reduced the export of young chimpanzees, but the threat has by no means vanished.
Habitat loss
Habitat loss is linked to increasing demands for land by the ever-growing human population. Africa currently has one of the highest growth rates in the world, its population doubling every 24 years. The total population of the continent in 1990 was approximately 600 million people, leading to a greater demand upon the natural resources. Wood is cut for firewood, charcoal, and building poles. Forests are clear cut for living space, crop growing and grazing for domestic livestock. Forest concessions are sold to timber companies from the developed world, some of which practice clear cutting, turning forest land into desert.
Unless we can find some way to slow down population growth - to voluntarily optimize the population - the stresses and strains on the natural resources will be too great to bear. Deforestation drives the chimpanzee species toward extinction. Many populations have become fragmented. Very small relict groups will not be viable once they are cut off from other groups and no longer able to exchange genetic material.
Hunting
What has caused this change? The logging companies have made, and continue to make, roads deep into the last great African rain forests. Hunters, often professionals from the towns, hitch rides on the trucks to the end of the road, shoot everything they see, put it on the trucks (often smoked or sun dried) and take it to the towns for sale at the markets. There, one can find the meat of all forest creatures - including chimpanzee, gorilla, and bonobo - priced higher than meat from domestic animals. Some restaurants even have dishes from these apes on the menu, along with other endangered species. This trade threatens the very existence of many endangered species in the foreseeable future unless some way can be found to stop the practice.
Some mother chimpanzees are shot so that their infants can be stolen and smuggled out of the country by dealers. The buyers use the infants for the international entertainment or medical research industries. Fortunately, chimpanzees are now classified as endangered and this trade is illegal. Nevertheless, it still continues. It has been estimated that approximately 10 chimpanzees die for every infant that safely reaches its final destination. Thus a mother may be wounded and creep off into the forest, only to die later along with her infant. The screams of mother and child may alert other community members who race to their help, only to be shot themselves. Many infants die, through lack of proper nourishment or lack of love, before they even leave Africa. Various parts of the apes, such as heads, hands, and penes, are sold as magic potions. Parts of a hand, for example, if ground up into a powder and sprinkled in a baby's bath water, is believed to give the child the strength and courage of a chimpanzee.
In 1975, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora was created. The United States was one of the first 10 nations to ratify it, putting enforcement of the treaty under our Endangered Species Act, created in 1973. Canada followed suit by ratifying the Convention in 1987. Chimpanzees were listed in Appendix I of the CITES treaty, signifying that they are in danger of extinction. This means they cannot be traded between countries if the motive is primarily commercial, or if taking them from the wild would threaten the survival of the species. Currently under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, wild chimpanzees in Africa are classified as Endangered and captive chimpanzees in the United States are classified as threatened, a loophole that allows for their transport and sale between states for the purposes of medical research testing.
More: http://www.hsengine.com/s_list+of+international+ngo+agencies.html
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