Great apes News

RSS
901 stories

New cluster of Tapanuli orangutans discovered in Sumatra peat swamp

Junaidi Hanafiah 17 Oct 2025
Jane with Uruhara pant-hooting, 1996. Photo by Michael Neugebauer

Jane Goodall (1934–2025): primatologist, conservationist, and messenger of hope

Rhett Ayers Butler 1 Oct 2025

Indonesia aims to redraw UNESCO site boundaries to allow geothermal projects

Hans Nicholas Jong 30 Sep 2025
The critically endangered western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) is found in both protected and unprotected forests in southeastern Cameroon. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay.

World Gorilla Day: What imperils our powerful cousins, and what brings hope

Shreya Dasgupta 24 Sep 2025
Augustin K. Basabose. Image by Allison Shelley for Wild Earth Allies

In eastern Congo’s war-torn forests, Augustin Basabose gave hope to gorillas and people

Rhett Ayers Butler 25 Aug 2025

Global brands join drive for deforestation-free palm oil in Indonesia’s Aceh

Hans Nicholas Jong 22 Aug 2025
Banner image of Kanzi by William H. Calvin via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Bonobos keep track of groupmates even when they can’t see them, study finds

Bobby Bascomb 20 Aug 2025
Banner image of an adult and baby orangutan at Betung Kerihun National Park in Indonesian Borneo, by Sabar Minsyah via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

World Orangutan Day: Ongoing threats & habitat loss haunt these great apes

Kristine Sabillo 19 Aug 2025
An adult Sumatran orangutan

Orangutans make up for lost sleep with daytime naps, study finds

Carolyn Cowan 24 Jul 2025
A family of chimpanzees. Image by Michele W via Flickr (CC BY-ND 2.0).

World Chimpanzee Day: the strength — and fragility — of chimp memory

Shreya Dasgupta 14 Jul 2025
A family of mountain gorillas resting together, in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda. Resting in physical contact is an indicator of close social relationships and tolerance in gorillas. Image credit: Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.

Friendship benefits male and female mountain gorillas differently, study shows

Liz Kimbrough 27 Jun 2025
Ndijingala, an eastern lowland gorilla, at the GRACE sanctuary before being reintroduced to the wild.

Signs of hope for rescued gorillas rewilded in DRC, but security concerns linger

Elodie Toto 25 Jun 2025
A Bornean orangutan. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay.

A new report lists the world’s 25 most endangered primates. Most people have never heard of them.

Rhett Ayers Butler 4 Jun 2025
Banner image of the Ekalakala bonobo group in the Kokolopori Bonobo Reserve in the DRC courtesy of Martin Surbeck/Kokolopori Bonobo Research Project.

Female bonobos wield power through unity: Study

Kristine Sabillo 3 Jun 2025
women working in a field in Uganda

Peril and persistence define the path of Africa’s conservationists

Orji Sunday 3 Jun 2025

Fighting back against Guinea-Bissau’s illegal chimpanzee trade

Yannick Kenné 29 May 2025
Banner image: The Madikwe Game Reserve in South Africa captured by the Pléiades Neo satellite. Image courtesy of the Airbus Foundation and Connected Conservation Foundation.

‘Satellites for Biodiversity’ upgrades with new projects and launches insight hub

Kristine Sabillo 26 May 2025
Chimpanzees in in Cantanhez National Park in southern Guinea-Bissau eating a fermented African breadfruit. Image by Bowland et al., 2025 (CC BY 4.0).

Chimpanzees filmed sharing alcoholic fruits for the first time

Shreya Dasgupta 9 May 2025
Madame Berthe’s mouse lemur (Microcebus berthae) is endemic to Madagascar. Image courtesy of Matthias Markolf.

Top 25 most threatened primates highlighted in new report urging action

Malavika Vyawahare 8 May 2025
A western lowland gorilla in Cameroon.

In Cameroon’s forgotten forests, gorillas and chimps hang on

Spoorthy Raman 7 May 2025
A chimpanzee of Mikeno Lodge in Virunga National Park, DRC. Image by Joseph King via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).

Poaching intensifies in M23-occupied areas of Virunga National Park

Mongabay.com 30 Apr 2025
A Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) hangs from the trees. Fewer than 100,000 orangutans remain on Borneo. Photo by Rhett A. Butler.

Orangutan habitat under siege as palm oil company clears forest in Borneo

Hans Nicholas Jong 29 Apr 2025
Ex-captive orangutans at Camp Leaky in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Photos by Rhett A. Butler

An interview with orangutan conservationist and advocate Gary Shapiro

Rhett Ayers Butler 25 Apr 2025
Bonobos in the DRC’s Kokolopori Bonobo Reserve. Image courtesy of Maud Mouginot.

Bonobos combine calls in ways that resemble human language, study finds

Shanna Hanbury 8 Apr 2025
Kanzi, the bonobo, died aged 44 in March 2025. Image ©️Ape Initiative.

Kanzi the bonobo redefined what it means to be human

Rhett Ayers Butler 4 Apr 2025
The Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli) is considered one of the most threatened primate species on the planet. Image by Julie Langford via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Mongabay investigation finds gorilla trade more widespread than previously thought

Mongabay.com 1 Apr 2025
Banner image of Kanzi by William H. Calvin via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Famous bonobo Kanzi, known for smarts & gaming, dies at age 44

Kristine Sabillo 27 Mar 2025
A young orangutan grasps and hangs on to a woody liana.

As apes adapt to human disturbance, their new behaviors also put them at risk: Study

Charles Mpaka 24 Mar 2025

Global outcry as petitioners demand no mining expansion in orangutan habitat

Hans Nicholas Jong 19 Mar 2025
Image of a male western chimpanzee

When a chimp community lost its males, it also lost part of its love language

Ryan Truscott 11 Mar 2025
New study assesses threat to wildlife from cacao expansion in Congo Basin.

The environmental toll of the M23 conflict in eastern DRC (Analysis)

Fergus O’Leary Simpson, Joel Masselink, Lara Collart 7 Mar 2025
Western lowland gorilla.

‘Some people will die’: Conversations with Nigeria’s gorilla hunters

Orji Sunday 27 Feb 2025

you're currently offline