mongabay.com logo About  |   Contact  |  Mongabay on Facebook  |  Mongabay on Twitter  |  Free newsletter
Rainforests | Tropical fish | Environmental news | Blog | For kids | Madagascar | Photos | Non-English languages | Tropical Conservation Science
SHARE:
print


New plan to save the chimpanzee from extinction
Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com
June 21, 2010



Humankind's closest relative, the chimpanzee, is classified as Endangered by the IUCN Red List. Threatened by habitat and forest loss, hunting for bushmeat, trafficking for the illegal pet trade, mining, and disease, the species remains in a precarious position. Yet a new 10-year-plan with East and Central African hopes to ensure the chimpanzee's (Pan troglodytes) survival.

The plan, which focuses on one subspecies of four, the eastern chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii), pushes for the conservation of 16 core areas that would protect 96 percent of the eastern chimpanzee population.

Outlined during a workshop last summer in Uganda, which included over 30 experts covering the seven nations where the eastern chimpanzee is located, the program estimated population both in well-studied and un-surveyed areas. Estimations of eastern chimpanzee population ranged from 50,000 to 200,000 animals.


The eastern chimpanzee. Photo by: Andrew Plumptre/Wildlife Conservation Society.
"It is clear that we know about the distribution and abundance of only a quarter of the world population of the eastern chimpanzee," admitted Dr Liz Williamson, IUCN’s Species Survival Commission Great Ape Coordinator, in a press release.

Despite the species popularity and the fact that some chimp communities are well-studied, Williams says that "there are large areas of the Congo basin where we know very little about this ape." The experts hope over the next decade to fill-in the gaps in their knowledge.

"This effort to assess the status of eastern chimpanzees will help us to focus our conservation actions more effectively," explains Dr. Andrew Plumptre, the plan's lead author and director of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s (WCS) Albertine Rift Program. "In the next decade, we hope to minimize the threats to these populations and the ecological and cultural diversity they support."

Besides protecting 16 core areas of chimpanzee habitat, the plan also outlined goals to reduce poaching and trafficking of the eastern chimpanzee by half over the next ten years. In addition the plan made goals to reduce the rate of deforestation in chimpanzee habitat; better understand the threat of diseases to the chimpanzees; involve local communities in conservation efforts; and locate sustainable funding sources.

Dr. James Deutsch of WCS’s Africa Program estimated that 5 million US dollars will be needed annually to support viable chimpanzee conservation units.

"The conservation of wild populations is important not only for conservation, but also for the survival of chimpanzee cultures in the region that are invaluable to helping us define our own place within the natural realm," Deutsch says.




Wild eastern chimpanzee in Uganda feeding on fruit. Photo by: Rhett A. Butler.







Related articles

Protected areas vital for saving elephants, chimps, and gorillas in the Congo

(05/10/2010) In a landscape-wide study in the Congo, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) found that core protected areas and strong anti-poaching efforts are necessary to maintain viable populations of forest elephants, western lowland gorillas, and chimpanzees—all of which are threatened with extinction.


Jane Goodall renews her faith in nature and humanity during the "Gombe 50" anniversary, An interview with Dr. Jane Goodall

(04/12/2010) 2010 marks a monumental milestone for the Jane Goodall Institute (JGI) and its founder, Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE. Fifty years ago, Goodall, who is today a world-renowned global conservation leader, first set foot on the shores of Lake Tanganyika, in what is now Tanzania’s Gombe National Park. The chimpanzee behavioral research she pioneered at Gombe has produced a wealth of scientific discovery, and her vision has expanded into a global mission 'to empower people to make a difference for all living things.' Time, however, has not stood still for Gombe. The wild chimps of the area have suffered as the local human population has swelled. Gombe National Park is now a forest fragment, a 35-square-kilometer island of habitat isolated in a sea of subsistence farming. Because the problems facing Gombe—unsustainable land practices, overpopulation, and a cycle of poverty—are typical of many other areas, lessons learned by Dr. Goodall and her team provide valuable insights for solutions at Gombe and beyond.


Chimpanzee population plummets 90 percent in supposedly strong region

(05/06/2009) Chimp populations continue to decline in Africa. A new survey of our closest relatives in the Cote D’Ivoire found that the population fell from an estimated 8,000 to 12,000 individuals to a paltry 800 to 1,200, a decline that took place in less than twenty years.






CITATION:
Jeremy Hance
mongabay.com (June 21, 2010). New plan to save the chimpanzee from extinction. http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0622-hance_eastchimp.html


Tags:
chimps apes ape primates primate africa central africa east africa mammals wildlife animals endangered species in-situ conservation saving species from extinction hunting poaching jeremy hance green environment wildlife trafficking wildlife trade tropical forests rainforests rainforest animals rainforest protected areas pet trade happy-upbeat environmental conservation finance conservation community-based conservation congo

print



Environmental news index | RSS | News Feed | Twitter | Home


Advertisements:





Mongabay Store
Wildlife of Madagascar T-shirt
Wildlife of Madagascar T-shirt
Bold and Dangerous - Pygmy tyrant t-shirts
Bold and Dangerous - Pygmy tyrant
Love me before I'm gone - Gladiator frog t-shirts
Love me before I'm gone - Gladiator frog
Licking this frog may make you crazy t-shirts
Licking this frog may make you crazy




DON'T LIKE ADS? Become a mongabay supporter


WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
Email:


RECENT FEATURES
As Amazon deforestation falls, food production risesAs Amazon deforestation falls, food production rises
Biggest environmental news stories of 2011Biggest environmental news stories of 2011
The year in review for rainforestsThe year in review for rainforests
Our top nature pictures of 2011Our top nature pictures of 2011


POPULAR PAGES
Rainforests
Rain forests
Amazon deforestation
Deforestation
Deforestation stats
Why rainforests matter
Saving rainforests
Amazon rainforest
Congo rainforest
Deforestation data
Rainforest canopy

Special sections
New Guinea
Finding new species
Sulawesi
Madagascar
Borneo
REDD

News
Most popular articles
Worth saving?
Forest conservation
Cell phones in Africa
Seniors helping Africa
Saving orangutans in Borneo
Palm oil
Amazon palm oil
Future of the Amazon
Cane toads
Dubai environment
Investing to save rainforests
Visiting the rainforest
Biomimicry
Defaunation
Blue lizard
Extinction debate
Extinction crisis
Industrial deforestation
Save the Amazon
Rainforests & REDD
Brazil's Amazon plan
Avatar story
Amazon ranching

News topics
Amazon
Biofuels
Brazil
Carbon Finance
Conservation
Climate Change
Deforestation
Energy
Happy-upbeat
Indonesia
Interviews
Oceans
Palm oil
Rainforests
Wildlife
MORE TOPICS



Non-English Sites
Chinese
French
German
Indonesian
Italian
Portuguese
Spanish
Other languages

Nature Blog Network







Photos
Brazil photos
Brazil

China photos
China

Colombia photos
Colombia

Costa Rica photos
Costa Rica

Deforestation photos
Deforestation

Gabon photos
Gabon

India photos
India

Indonesia photos
Indonesia

Kenya photos
Kenya

Madagascar photos
Madagascar

Peru photos
Peru

Peru photos
Rainforest



ABOUT
Mongabay.com seeks to raise interest in and appreciation of wild lands and wildlife, while examining the impact of emerging trends in climate, technology, economics, and finance on conservation and development (more)

Help support mongabay.com when you buy from Amazon.com


CALENDARS



BOOKS BY MONGABAY AUTHORS
Rainforest book for kids Conservation in an age of mass extinction


FREE WEEKLY NEWSLETTER



HIGH RESOLUTION PHOTOS / PRINTS








Copyright mongabay 2010

Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions generated from mongabay.com operations (server, data transfer, travel) are mitigated through an association with Anthrotect,
an organization working with Afro-indigenous and Embera communities to protect forests in Colombia's Darien region.
Anthrotect is protecting the habitat of mongabay's mascot: the scale-crested pygmy tyrant.