As any orangutan who has looked a human straight in the eye would know, we have some, well, enough oranges about us.
Evidence increasingly points to great apes—orang-utans, gorillas and chimpanzees—that possess a range of ‘human’ traits, such as culture, emotion and complex social interactions, rather than being highly intelligent and something of a miracle to behold. not to mention. If we allow the great apes to go extinct, we will make a missing link in understanding who we are and where we came from.
But all three species of great apes are climbing the extinction risk scale, with most populations somewhere between ‘endangered’ and ‘critically endangered’. The bitter truth behind these tags is that the numbers are now falling rapidly. Unless we take action soon, every species of great ape will become extinct in the wild during the lifetimes of our children.
Gorillas live in ten African countries, orangutans on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra in Indonesia and East Malaysia, and chimpanzees in 21 countries in Africa. But by 2030, only 10% of virgin habitat for apes will still exist in Africa, and less than 1% for orangutans.
Destruction of forests is one of the reasons for the decline; Hunting for the bush-meat or live-animal trade is another. And the apes have the misfortune of living in war zones, which hinders conservation efforts. Even in remote areas, far from our number-one enemy – us – apes are being wiped out by the Ebola virus (see Nature 422, 551; 200310.1038/422551a).
On November 26-28 in Paris, representatives of African and Asian states with ape populations are to meet with scientists under the auspices of the United Nations’ Great Apes Survival Project (GRASP). They hope to devise a conservation strategy for the great apes, supported by everyone interested in their survival.
There is certainly no lack of interest. Many organizations exist to save them. On paper, the great apes are already protected by law in every country, national action plans exist, and the international ape trade is banned. But the number is going down.
The organizers of the meeting acknowledged that action was needed. Existing conservation efforts are insufficiently coordinated and too piecemeal, and projects are set up as funding becomes available, rather than as part of an overall strategy. The meeting will attempt to expand GRASP’s capacity to oversee and implement such a strategy.
Another proposal is to create an international great ape commission – recognized by established zoological bodies – to bring together affected countries, donors, scientists and non-governmental organizations, to generate publicity for the cause, and create common plans and more. To develop rigid systems. Evaluating best practice in conservation approaches.
The attention given to this issue in the meeting is welcome. The United Nations believes that a serious effort to lift the threat of immediate extinction looming over the great ape population would cost around US$25 million. It would be ironic if, when humans sequenced our own genome, we allowed extinction of a group of species that share almost 99% of it.