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A third of the world's primate species now face extinction. Scientists warn that our closest relatives, the great apes, could be extinct in 20 years' time. The commercial bushmeat trade, human population growth, the tropical hardwood industry, war, deforestation and habitat loss all threaten their survival.
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| Orang-utans |
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|  | Orang-utans are the only great apes to live outside Africa.
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| | There are thought to be fewer than 30,000 orang-utans left in the wild. The majority are spread over the three or four subspecies in Borneo. A tiny proportion live in Sumatra.
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| | The Bornean orang-utan is listed as endangered by the IUCN.
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| | The Sumatran orang-utan is the more threatened of the two species, listed as critical rather than endangered by the IUCN. This means it is 'facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate future.'
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| | These solitary apes require a huge amount of space to survive. The national parks that should be safe havens are reportedly being logged illegally.
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| | The forests where they live are also threatened by growing demand for palm oil, the world's best selling vegetable oil. Clearing land to grow palm plantations is lucrative. Palm oil is in numerous everyday items – one in ten items in a supermarket, including foods and cosmetics, may contain it.
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| | 80% of orang-utan habitat has already been designated for timber concessions or is vulnerable to illegal logging or habitat conversion.
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| | In November 2002, researchers from Nature Conservancy discovered a new population of orang-utans in East Kalimantan, Borneo. The group numbers between 1,000 and 2,500 and the discovery has raised hopes that the species can be saved.
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| More about orang-utans |
| | The facts and figures from ARKive |
| Gorillas |
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| | The IUCN (The World Conservation Union) classifies the cross river and mountain gorillas as critically endangered. Aproximately 280 cross river gorillas remain, spread between ten areas on the Nigerian and Cameroon Borders.
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| | Following the Rwandan civil war, a million refugees settled in camps on the edge of the Virunga National Park. Besides being a disaster for the people involved, this crisis put considerable pressure on natural resources and disrupted wildlife.
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| | Gorilla conservation programmes focus on education and rural development activities that promote the sound use of natural resources. Gorilla-based tourism, for example, provides a valuable source of revenue and is carefully monitored.
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Hunting, logging and the Ebola virus are the other significant threats to gorillas.
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| More about gorillas |
| | The facts and figures from ARKive
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| Chimpanzees and bonobos |
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| | All four subspecies of chimpanzee are listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as endangered: the western chimpanzee and the Nigerian chimpanzee are the most threatened.
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| | The forest home of the now famous Gombe chimpanzee's in Tanzania has become an island as neighbouring villages gradually chop into the forest edges for firewood and agricultural space.
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| | Bonobos are found only in the Democratic Republic of Congo south of the Congo River, and are also endangered. The bonobo population has decreased dramatically in recent years although civil unrest has meant that few surveys have been done.
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| | The human population in DRC is growing at an increasing rate, (the highest in Africa), which is putting ever increasing pressure on bonobo habitat.
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| | Though eating apes is taboo to many Africans that live near chimp populations, people displaced from other countries are moving in with no such taboo. Chimpanzees are being hunted for meat where previously they might have been ignored.
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| More about chimpanzees and bonobos |
| | The facts and figures from ARKive |
| | Chimps at risk from their human cousins |
| | Releasing orphaned chimps into the wild
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| Gibbons |
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| | Gibbons are currently found in small populations in China, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Bangladesh, NE India, Myanmar, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The forests they live in are being logged illegally.
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| | Seven subspecies of gibbon are registered as critically endangered. Besides habitat loss, they are also threatened by the illegal wildlife trade. Often body parts are sold for use in traditional medicines.
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| | One of the gibbon species most at risk is the moloch or Javan gibbon. It feeds on ripe fruits in the upper canopy of the rainforests in Java.
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| | Fewer than 1,000 Javan gibbons survive in the wild. Java is one of the most densely populated islands in the world, so its natural rainforest habitat is disappearing rapidly due to logging and agricultural demands.
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| More about gibbons |
| | The facts and figures from ARKive
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