Nearly One Third of All Primates Endangered

Conservation International wants to cause an international stir by publicizing a startling fact: 114 of the world's 394 primates -- 29% -- are threatened with extinction.

Its new report, "Primates in Peril: The World's 25 Most Endangered Primates--2006--2008," compiles research by 60 scientists in 21 countries.

No primate has gone extinct in a century, but the 21st century could see a wave of extinctions in our closest animal relatives, as hunters continue to kill primates for food, loggers and farmers clear their habitat and human wars heighten their peril.

The loss of these large primates would signal serious problems in their forests. Most fill important niches, and their loss would have a cascade of effects on other wildlife.

Here is the list of the 25 most endangered primates:

1. Greater bamboo lemur (Prolemur simus), Madagascar
2. White-collared lemur (Eulemur albocollaris), Madagascar
3. Sahamalaza Peninsula sportive lemur (Lepilemur sahamalazensis), Madagascar
4. Silky sifaka (Propithecus candidus), Madagascar
5. Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli), Nigeria, Cameroon
6. Roloway monkey (Cercopithecus diana roloway), Ivory Coast, Ghana
7. Rondo dwarf galago (Galagoides rondoensis), Tanzania
8. Tana River red colobus (Procolobus rufomitratus), Kenya
9. Miss Waldron's red colobus (Procolobus badius), Ivory Coast, Ghana
10. Kipunji (Rungwecebus kipunji), Tanzania
11. Pennant's red colobus (Procolobus pennantii pennantii), Equatorial Guinea (Island of Bioko)
12. Variegated spider monkey (Ateles hybridus), Colombia, Venezuela
13. Brown-headed spider monkey (Ateles fusciceps), Colombia, Ecuador
14. Peruvian yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Oreonax flavicauda), Peru
15. Western Hoolock gibbon (Hoolock hoolock), Bangladesh, India, Myanmar
16. Horton Plains slender loris (Loris tardigradus nycticeboides), Sri Lanka
17. Western purple-faced langur (Semnopithecus vetulus nestor), Sri Lanka
18. Pig-tailed langur (Simias concolor), Indonesia (Mentawai Islands)
19. Siau Island tarsier (Tarsius sp.), Indonesia
20. Delacour's langur (Trachypithecus delacouri), Vietnam
21. Golden-headed langur (Trachypithecus poliocephalus poliocephalus), Vietnam
22. Grey-shanked douc (Pygathrix cinerea), Vietnam
23. Tonkin snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus avunculus), Vietnam
24. Hainan black-crested gibbon (Nomascus hainanus), China (Hainan Island)
25. Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii), Indonesia (Sumatra)

COMMENTS ()