Home / Environment / News Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read | Comment
Extinction threat growing for world's primate species
Adjust font size:
Mankind's closest living relatives -the world's apes, monkeys, lemurs and other primates - are under unprecedented threat of extinction, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) said on Friday.

 

In a new report, the Swiss-based organization said that nearly one-third of the world's 394 primate species are now in danger of going extinct, mainly due to destruction of tropical forests, illegal wildlife trade and commercial hunting.

 

The report provided a list of the world's 25 most endangered primates. It noted that one of the 25 primate species, red colobus of Ivory Coast and Ghana, is already feared extinct, while the golden-headed langur of Vietnam and China's Hainan gibbon number only in the dozens.

 

"You could fit all the surviving members of these 25 species in a single football stadium; that's how few of them remain on Earth today," said Russell Mittermeier, chairman of the IUCN's Primate Specialist Group.

 

"The situation is worst in Asia, where tropical forest destruction and the hunting and trading of monkeys puts many species at terrible risk. Even newly discovered species are severely threatened from loss of habitat and could soon disappear," he said.

 

As "flagship species" and mankind's closest living relatives, primates are important to the health of their surrounding ecosystems, according to the IUCN.

 

Through the dispersal of seeds and other interactions with their environments, primates help support a wide range of plant and animal life that makes up the Earth's forests.

 

"By protecting the world's remaining tropical forests, we save primates and other endangered species while preventing more carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere to warm the climate," Russell Mittermeier noted.

  

(Xinhua News Agency October 27, 2007)

 

Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read
Comment
Pet Name
Anonymous

China Archives
Related >>
Most Viewed >>
Air Quality 
Cities Major Pollutant Air Quality Level
Beijing particulate matter II
Shanghai particulate matter III1
Guangzhou sulfur dioxide II
Chongqing particulate matter III2
Xi'an particulate matter III1
Most Read
- White paper on energy
- Endangered monkeys grow in number
- Yangtze River's Three Gorges 2 mln years in the making
- The authorities sets sights on polluted soil
- China, US benefit from clean energy
NGO Events Calendar Tips
- Hand in hand to protect endangered animals and plants
- Changchun, Mini-marathon Aimed at Protecting Siberian Tiger
- Water Walk by Nature University
- Green Earth Documentary Salon
- Prof. Maria E. Fernandez to Give a Lecture on Climate Change
More
Archives
UN meets on climate change
The UN Climate Change Conference brought together representatives of over 180 countries and observers from various organizations.
Panda Facts
A record 28 panda cubs born via artificial insemination have survived in 2006.
South China Karst
Rich and unique karst landforms located in south China display exceptional natural beauty.
Saving the Tibetan Antelopes
The rare animals survive in the harsh natural environment of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
More
Laws & Regulations
- Forestry Law of the People's Republic of China
- Meteorology Law of the People's Republic of China
- Fire Control Law of the People's Republic of China
- Law on Protecting Against and Mitigating Earthquake Disasters
- Law of the People's Republic of China on Conserving Energy
More
Links:
State Environmental Protection Administration
Ministry of Water Resources
Ministry of Land and Resources
China Environmental Industry Network
Chengdu Giant Panda Research Base