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Primate Declines Put Forest Ecosystems at Risk

November 01, 2009 05:19 AM; https://www.voanews.com/archive/

Monkeys and apes play a crucial role in dispersing the seeds of fruit trees in tropical forests. But
across the tropics, habitat loss and hunting are decimating local primate populations, and may be
putting many tree species at risk. Véronique LaCapra reports.How a plant spreads its seeds ? and
how far ? are key to its survival. Some species rely on wind or water to disperse their seeds, but for
trees in the tropics, animals often play a critical role. Primates in particular are one of the most
important seed dispersers in tropical forests.Kathryn Stoner is a research ecologist at the National
University of Mexico. She has been studying how certain monkeys contribute to seed dispersal in a
tropical forest in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas."They'll eat a fruit," says Stoner, "then they
move. They can move up to kilometers sometimes, seven or eight hours later before they actually
defecate the seed." Wherever the seed falls, it will germinate and grow to an adult tree.Stoner notes
that some species of primates may actually help degraded areas of forest to re-grow, by dispersing
seeds as they move between forest fragments.The role of primates as seed dispersers has been
observed throughout the tropics: in Latin America, in Asia and in Africa.For the past 17 years,
anthropologist Joanna Lambert has been studying seed dispersal in Uganda's Kibale National Park,
which is known for its unusual abundance of primates. In a presentation sponsored by the National
Science Foundation, she described the results of her research:"What I've found is that depending on
the species of tree and the fruit that's being consumed," Lambert said, "primates are responsible for
78-92% of the removal of the seeds, relative to [?] the major fruit-eating birds." Lambert adds that
on average, the monkeys and chimpanzees of Kibale move 34,000 seeds in a square kilometer in a
day. And many of those seeds grow into trees used by local people for fruit or for medicinal
purposes. According to Lambert, 42% of the fruit species dispersed by primates in Kibale have
resources that are used by people.But according to the International Union for Conservation of
Nature, close to one third of the world's primate species are in danger of extinction.In Asia and Latin
America, tropical forest clearing for human settlement, agriculture, and commercial logging are
destroying primate habitat.Hunting is also taking a huge toll on primate populations, as logging
operations open up new roads through previously inaccessible areas of forest, and rural subsistence
hunters exchange their traditional weapons ? bows and arrows, wooden traps, and blowpipes ? for
guns.In Western and Central Africa, hunting is largely being driven by demand from urban markets.
Known as "the bushmeat trade," the commercial hunting of primates and other wild game species
has eliminated all the large mammals from some areas of forest. Joanna Lambert says that the direct
consequences are obvious: "The direct consequences of a bushmeat trade or a bushmeat crisis are
the loss of species, the loss of actual animals in a forest."But, Lambert explains, for people with no
other way to earn a living, bushmeat hunting may seem like their only option.Both she and Kathryn
Stoner emphasize that hunting and habitat loss will affect more than just primate populations.
"We're actually in the very beginning stages of what we may see as a very large change in
composition and structure of tropical forests," Stoner warns, "as a consequence of elimination or
reduction of primate populations."The process may be already underway. As primate populations
decline, preliminary studies have found effects in tree seedlings, including a different mix of species
and less genetic diversity.
2.10-31-2019

Monkeys play an important role in bringing tropical forests back to

life
By Chrissy Sexton; Earth.com staff writer; https://www.earth.com/news/

Monkeys play an important role in bringing tropical forests back to life. A team of scientists led by
the German Primate Center (DPZ) has found that monkeys play a critical role in the regeneration of
degraded tropical rainforests. For more than two decades, the researchers observed two tamarin
species in the rainforest of Peru.The study was focused on an area in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest
which was cleared and used as pasture for water buffalos between 1990 and 2000. When the grazing
was abandoned, the rainforest slowly began to regenerate. The researchers noted that moustached
and black-fronted tamarins were temporarily in the early secondary forest.“We wanted to find out
whether the seed dispersal by monkeys has a demonstrable effect on the natural regeneration of
forests,” said study lead author Eckhard W. Heymann.After the tamarins feed on tropical fruits, the
seeds are excreted in their waste rather than digested. To investigate which seeds were dispersed
from the primary forest to the regenerating secondary forest, the researchers identified seeds from
the monkeys’ feces. A portion of these seeds germinated and the resulting seedlings belonged to
eight different plant species, seven of which could only be found as adult plants in the nearby
primary forest.The seeds of the neotropic tree Parkia panurensis were exclusively dispersed by
tamarins across the study area. To genetically confirm the significance of this seed dispersal, the
team performed DNA tests to compare the new trees in the secondary forest to the adult Parkia
trees. The tests revealed that half of the seedlings and young plants could be matched to parent
trees in the primary forest.“Our data show for the first time that the moustached and black-fronted
tamarins effectively disperse seeds from primary forest into secondary forest,” said Heymann. “We
were able to prove that the seeds germinate and form young plants, thus increasing the diversity of
species in the secondary forest. The tamarins have been shown to contribute to the natural
regeneration of areas destroyed by humans.”

The study is published in the journal Scientific Reports.

3.Loss of monkeys and birds in tropical forests driving up carbon

emissions
Damian Carrington;@dpcarrington;Fri 18 Dec 2015 19.00 GMT;
https://www.theguardian.com/environment

Large fruit-eating monkeys and birds in tropical forests have been revealed
as surprising climate change champions, whose loss to over-hunting is driving
up carbon emissions. This is because their seed-spreading plays a vital role in
the survival of huge, hard-wooded trees.Tropical forests store 40% of all the
carbon on the Earth’s surface and the slashing of trees causes about 15% of
the greenhouse gases that drive global warming.Long-lived, thick and hard-
wooded trees are especially good carbon stores, but they have large seeds
that can only be dispersed via defecation by large animals. These big
creatures have suffered huge losses from subsistence hunters, meaning
hardwood trees are being replaced with softwood trees, which have smaller
seeds but store less carbon. “In much of the tropics these [large] animals are
pretty much gone, outside of protected areas and sometimes even inside
protected areas,” said Prof Carlos Peres, at the University of East Anglia, UK,
one of the international team behind the new study. “[Hardwood trees]
require these big beasts to disperse their seeds. This is what is being
lost.”“Policies to reduce carbon emissions from tropical countries have
primarily focused on deforestation,” Peres said. “But our research shows that
a decline in large animal populations poses a serious risk for the maintenance
of tropical forest carbon storage.”The new research was led by scientists at
São Paulo State University in Brazil and published in Science Advances. It
focused on the Atlantic rainforest of Brazil, where 95% of all trees rely on
animals to disperse seeds, and analysed the interactions between 800 animal
species and 2,000 tree species.It found losses of large animals like woolly
spider monkeys, tapirs and toucans leads to the loss of hardwood trees.
These are replace by softwood trees, whose smaller seeds (less than 12mm
long) are spread by small fruit-eating marsupials, bats and birds which are
not the target of hunters. The scientists estimated that 10-15% of the carbon
stored in the original mixed forest is lost. Peres said the same effects were
likely to apply to other tropical forests, including the Amazon. “This is a fairly
universal process,” he said. “It is happening across the tropics, in Africa,
southeast Asia, everywhere there are these species-rich forests.”The
scientists concluded: “Our result highlights the fragility of carbon storage
service in tropical forests under the current global change conditions. Halting
the ongoing, fast-paced [animal loss in] tropical forests will not only save
large charismatic animals and the plants they disperse but also have effects
on climate change, carbon markets, and reforestation.”In November, the first
comprehensive estimate of threatened species in the Amazon rainforest
found that more than half of the myriad species could be heading for
extinction. Among the species expected to suffer significant falls in numbers
are the Brazil nut, and wild cacao and açai trees, all important food sources.
4.What Monkeys Eat Matters To Our Forests
Frugivores and Seed Dispersal Series: Asmita Sengupta; Thursday, 29 August,
2019; https://www.natureinfocus.in

Have you ever fed a monkey? Or, technically speaking, ‘provisioned’ one?
You may have lovingly thrown a biscuit or two at them and watched them
devour it in a matter of seconds. Or, you may have discarded that ice-cream
you could not finish and moments later seen a monkey retrieve it and lick
away.Provisioning of non-human primates (primates henceforth) by humans
is a socio-religious practice in many Asian countries. The effects of such
anthropogenic food subsidies on primates are diverse and may range from
changes in body size and fertility at the individual level to modified foraging
and ranging behaviours at the population level. Although the importance of
food resources as drivers for primate ecology and behaviour is well-
documented, few studies have dealt with the influence of provisioning on
primate ecological functions – and that is what Prof. Sindhu Radhakrishna, Dr
Kim McConkey and I set out to understand. The Rhesus Macaque (Macaca
mulatta) has the largest geographical range among primates. At the Buxa
Tiger Reserve, India, we observed a group of forest-dwelling Rhesus
Macaques (Troop C) which was highly frugivorous and acted as seed
dispersers all year-round. Overall, the macaques dispersed the seeds of 43
species, either by defecation or spitting. The majority of the handled seeds
were undamaged, and for many species, seeds handled by the macaques had
enhanced germination. Almost 50% of the monitored seeds germinated in
situ (on the site itself) and 22% established seedlings at the end of a year,
showing that Rhesus Macaques can be important seed dispersers in tropical
forests. A year later, we observed another group of Rhesus Macaques (Troop
D) in the same reserve. This group was provisioned by tourists for a part of
the year, but when the reserve was closed to visitors during the monsoon,
the macaques would consume natural food. The presence of a primate group
that was provisioned for only a part of the year provided us with a quasi-
experimental setup, wherein we tested the effects of provisioning on the role
of primates as seed dispersers.
We found that irrespective of natural fruit availability, fruit consumption by
the macaques reduced by 42% when they were provisioned by people. The
number of seed dispersal events also decreased by about 50% during this
period. A considerable proportion of seeds were also deposited by the
macaques on tarmac traffic-heavy roads which precluded seed germination;
the macaques spent more time here as they were often thrown food by
tourists in vehicles passing by. While fruits comprised over 79% of the diet of
Troop C across the year, fruits constituted only 46% of the diet of Troop D.
Unlike Troop D, which often deposited seeds on roads, all the seeds handled
by Troop C were deposited on the forest floor. The mean travel distance of
Troop C was also 2.5 times greater than that of Troop D; this indicates that
seeds were dispersed to shorter distances by Troop D. In theory, the greater
the distance between the parent tree and the seed deposition site, the
greater the chance of seed survival. The data distinctly shows how
provisioning can detrimentally affect the role of Rhesus Macaques as seed
dispersers.The Rhesus Macaques are known to be highly resilient and will
survive in the Anthropocene. But whether they will have any seeds to
disperse in the future depends on whether we choose to keep our forests
undisturbed and stop interfering with their ecology. Also, will the forests
survive if these primates are not feeding on fruits and dispersing its seeds?

5.

A barrel of monkeys: They’re magnificent, mischievous, and sometimes

mysterious—monkeys! They have many different adaptations, depending on
their habitat. Most are arboreal. Others, like macaques, baboons, and some
mangabeys, are more terrestrial. All monkeys can use their hands and feet
for holding on to branches, but some arboreal monkeys can use their tails,
too. Tails that can grab and hold are called prehensile. These special tails are
ridged on the underside and very flexible, so much so that they can grab a
tree branch or pick up something as small as a peanut!

Monkeys are found in two main regions of the world, so scientists have
grouped them as either Old World monkeys or New World monkeys. Old
World monkeys are found in Africa and Asia. Some examples are guenons,
mangabeys, macaques, baboons, and colobus monkeys. New World monkeys
are found in Mexico, Central America, and South America. Some examples
are woolly monkeys, spider monkeys, howler monkeys, capuchin monkeys,
and squirrel monkeys. Marmosets and tamarins also live where New World
monkeys are found but are different enough to be in their own different
scientific grouping.

HABITAT AND DIET

Most monkey species live in the tropical rain forests of Asia, Africa, and
Central and South America, or the savannas of Africa. Geladas and golden
monkeys are mountain dwellers, and Japanese macaques live in parts of
Japan where it snows; these are the monkeys you may have seen on TV that
find hot springs and spend a lot of time in the winter sitting in the warm
water—kind of like a macaque Jacuzzi! Baboons live in savannas, open
wooded areas, and rocky hillsides; although they are able to climb trees, they
spend most of their time on the ground.Many monkey species are known for
their tree-swinging leaps that put human acrobats to shame! Many monkey
species use the “arm over arm” technique you may have seen children
practicing on the “monkey bars” at the playground! Colobus monkeys, unlike
other monkey species, have hind legs that are much longer than their
forelimbs, making for incredible leaping ability with great speed. Monkey
feet are as flexible as their hands, which also help them travel through small
branches high up in the rain forest canopy. Monkeys play an important role
in the wild by pollinating flowers and dispersing seeds as they travel. Some
monkeys can swim; their webbed toes help them paddle through the water,
and they may swim across a stream or river to avoid predators or get to food.

Night or owl monkeys are strictly nocturnal, using their enormous eyes to see
well in the dark. They communicate with one another through scents and
calls, including a series of grunts that resonate in the forest.

Prehensile tails come in handy for holding on while the monkey collects food:
flowers, fruits, nuts, leaves, seeds, insects, birds’ eggs, spiders, and small
mammals. Old World monkeys fill up their large cheek pouches with fruits,
leaves, and insects as they forage during the day, stopping to chew and
swallow their food when they find a safe spot to rest. Baboons are also
known to eat meat when they can catch it, including young antelope, rabbits,
and birds like guinea fowl.Leaves are the food of choice for some monkey
species. Colobus monkeys and langurs have chambered stomachs that carry
bacteria, which help ferment and digest leaves. Geladas prefer to graze on
grass!Monkeys at the San Diego Zoo and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park are
offered a variety of vegetables, special herbivore biscuits, and a variety of
leafy branches (mulberry, willow, hibiscus, and ficus) to munch on.

FAMILY LIFE

Groups of monkeys, called troops, travel together by day to find food. A

troop can number from a few individuals to a thousand or more, depending
on the species.

Within huge troops, the animals form smaller groups, called harems, which
include an adult male, several adult females, and their offspring. Unattached
adult males, called bachelors, may form their own group. To keep family
bonds, monkeys engage in daily mutual grooming.

One exception to social living is the gray titi monkey, native to the tropical
forests of Bolivia. These small monkeys, which only weigh about 2 pounds
(0.9 kilograms), live in small, monogamous family units made up of the
parents and their immature offspring.

Some monkey species give birth to babies that are a completely different
color from the parents. For example, adult colobus have black hair, but a
newborn is white; langur babies are orange while their parents are black. It’s
thought this color distinction makes it easier for the whole troop to identify
and look after the infants. The youngster’s color usually changes within the
first six months, when the juvenile becomes an almost perfect copy of the
adults.

Infants are helpless at birth, so they get rides by clinging to their mothers.
But marmosets and tamarins are different—the fathers have almost all the
responsibility! They carry the babies on their back and watch over them, only
giving them to Mom for nursing. Another difference—they regularly have
twin or triplet, not single, births. Is that because Dad helps out so much?

When the troop is not traveling, monkey babies are very active, spending
much of their waking hours playing. These fun activities help young monkeys
develop physical and social skills they need for adult life.
Monkeys are very social animals, so it is important that they communicate
well in order to get along in their large groups. They use vocalizations, facial
expressions, and body movements to get their messages across. Staring, for
instance, is a threat in monkey society. Monkeys look down or away to avoid
threatening other monkeys, thus preventing fights. Species with long tails
use them to communicate with others and indicate their mood. Loud
vocalizations can mean, "stay out—this is my territory.” Using vocalizations
instead of fighting is a much safer way to communicate. Monkeys use barks,
screams, grunts, squeaks, hoots, wails, and moans to communicate with one
another.

Grinning, or pulling the lip up to show the teeth, may seem like a smile to us.
But for monkeys, this is a sign of aggression or anger, because biting is one of
the ways monkeys fight and defend themselves. Other signs of aggression
include head bobbing, yawning (again, to show the teeth), and jerking the
head and shoulders forward. Cotton-topped tamarins raise and lower a crest
of fluffy white hair on their head to emphasize their facial expressions.

Monkeys also express affection and make peace with others by grooming
each other. Although grooming helps monkeys keep their fur clean of dirt,
dead skin, and parasites, it also helps them build and maintain good social
relationships. Grooming seems to be a way to make up after fighting or to
make friends with other troop members.

CONSERVATION

Unless human behavior changes, monkeys face an uncertain future. Many

live in areas where people live. Monkeys are often considered pests by
farmers and are killed. Some are killed for their fur and for meat, which is
known as bushmeat; some are hunted for medicinal concoctions. Monkeys
are also trapped and sold as pets. People need to remember that monkeys
are wild animals, and they do not make good pets. They are loud, messy,
difficult to care for, and can be aggressive. Monkeys can also become very
sick from not getting the right food, and they lead unhappy and short lives
from not living in the right conditions.
Over the past decade, San Diego Zoo Global has been working with our
colleagues in Southeast Asia, especially China, on activities collectively
known as “The Asian Leaf-eating Monkey Program,” designed to address
collateral conservation research, training, and education issues in areas
harboring endangered leaf monkeys. To date, substantial progress has been
made in all areas and we are continuing our efforts there. In 2011, we
installed 40 remote camera traps to monitor habitat use and movement
patterns of the last remaining population of Guizhou snub-nosed monkeys in
China, estimated at about 750 individuals.

San Diego Zoo Global’s Central Africa Program runs three permanently
manned field stations in the Ebo forest, in the heartland of biodiverse
Cameroon, Africa. Nine species of day-living monkey species live in the Ebo
forest, some of which (like the Preuss’s red colobus) are critically
endangered. Many monkey species have been poorly studied, and
researchers are only gradually uncovering their social, dietary, and
behavioral habits. In Cameroon, hunting to supply the commercial trade in
bushmeat destined for big Africa cities is one of the major threats to
monkeys, and our research stations are providing a safe haven for many of
these species simply because the presence of researchers in the forest deters
hunters, and our community outreach efforts in local villages help get the
conservation information to the people who live close to these species.

San Diego Zoo Global has also partnered with Nature and Culture
International to preserve tropical forest habitat in Mexico and South
America. Our scientists are also joining them in biological studies of the
animals and plants in the Cazaderos region of Ecuador and in northwestern
Peru. Our team has documented several mammal species there, including
black howler monkeys, and we see tremendous potential to help save large
areas of forest that otherwise might well be lost.

You can help protect monkeys and monkey habitat! Do not buy anything
made from monkey body parts. Be careful about buying items made from
rain forest trees, unless that wood is certified. Some rain forest products,
such as Brazil nuts, actually help protect monkey habitat, because they can
only be harvested from healthy rain forests. This type of product usually has
a label describing how it helps protect the rain forest. Read the labels!
Recycling and buying recycled products also helps save all animal habitats by
reducing the amount of resources we take from the Earth.

Join us! You can help us bring monkey species back from the brink by
supporting the San Diego Zoo Global Wildlife Conservancy. Together we can
save and protect wildlife around the globe.

6.Extinction Threat To Monkeys And Other Primates Due To Habitat

Loss, Hunting
Date:August 5, 2008;Source:Conservation International

Mankind's closest relatives – the world's monkeys, apes and other primates –
are disappearing from the face of the Earth, with some literally being eaten
into extinction.The first comprehensive review in five years of the world's
634 kinds of primates found that almost 50 percent are in danger of going
extinct, according to the criteria of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Issued at the 22nd International Primatological Society Congress in
Edinburgh, Scotland, the report by the world's foremost primate authorities
presented a chilling indictment on the state of primates everywhere. In Asia,
more than 70 percent of primates are classified on the IUCN Red List as
Vulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered – meaning they could
disappear forever in the near future. The main threats are habitat
destruction, particularly from the burning and clearing of tropical forests that
also emits at least 20 percent of the global greenhouse gases causing climate
change, and the hunting of primates for food and an illegal wildlife trade.

"We've raised concerns for years about primates being in peril, but now we
have solid data to show the situation is far more severe than we imagined,"
said Russell A. Mittermeier, president of Conservation International (CI) and
the longtime chairman of the IUCN Species Survival Commission's Primate
Specialist Group. "Tropical forest destruction has always been the main
cause, but now it appears that hunting is just as serious a threat in some
areas, even where the habitat is still quite intact. In many places, primates
are quite literally being eaten to extinction."The review funded by CI, the
Margot Marsh Biodiversity Foundation, Disney's Animal Kingdom and the
IUCN is part of an unprecedented examination of the state of the world's
mammals to be released at the 4th IUCN World Conservation Congress in
Barcelona in October. With the input of hundreds of experts worldwide, the
primate review provides scientific data to show the severe threats facing
animals that share virtually all DNA with humans. In both Vietnam and
Cambodia, approximately 90 percent of primate species are considered at
risk of extinction. Populations of gibbons, leaf monkeys, langurs and other
species have dwindled due to rampant habitat loss exacerbated by hunting
for food and to supply the wildlife trade in traditional Chinese medicine and
pets."What is happening in Southeast Asia is terrifying," said Jean-Christophe
Vié, Deputy Head of the IUCN Species Program. "To have a group of animals
under such a high level of threat is, quite frankly, unlike anything we have
recorded among any other group of species to date."Elsewhere, species from
tiny mouse lemurs to massive mountain gorillas face challenges to survive. In
Africa, 11 of the 13 kinds of red colobus monkeys assessed were listed as
Critically Endangered or Endangered. Two may already be extinct: Bouvier's
red colobus (Procolobus pennantii bouvieri) has not been seen in 25 years,
and no living Miss Waldron's red colobus (Procolobus badius waldroni) has
been seen by a primatologist since 1978, despite occasional reports that
some still survive."Among the African species, the great apes such as gorillas
and bonobos have always tended to grab the limelight, and even though they
are deeply threatened, it is smaller primates such as the red colobus that
could die out first," said IPS President Richard Wrangham.As our closest
relatives, nonhuman primates are important to the health of their
surrounding ecosystems. Through the dispersal of seeds and other
interactions with their environments, primates help support a wide range of
plant and animal life in the world's tropical forests. Healthy forests provide
vital resources for local human populations, and also absorb and store
carbon dioxide that causes climate change.Meanwhile, scientists continue to
learn more about primates and their role in the world. Since 2000, 53 species
of primates previously unknown to science have been described – 40 from
Madagascar, two from Africa, three from Asia and eight from Central and
South America. In 2007, researchers found a long-rumored population of
Critically Endangered greater bamboo lemurs (Prolemur simus) in a wetland
400 kilometers (240 miles) from the only other known home of the species.
In total, the species numbers about 140 individuals in the wild.The IUCN Red
List sets a series of criteria for a species to be categorized as threatened. In
cases lacking the necessary information, the species can be listed as Data
Deficient, which applied to nearly 15 percent of the primates in the new
review. Many of those species, particularly newly discovered ones, are
expected to eventually be classified as threatened.Despite the gloomy
assessment, conservationists point to a notable success in helping targeted
species recover. In Brazil, the black lion tamarin (Leontopithecus
chrysopygus) was downlisted to Endangered from Critically Endangered, as
was the golden lion tamarin (Leontopithecus rosalia) in 2003, as a result of
three decades of conservation efforts involving numerous institutions.
Populations of both animals are now well-protected but remain very small,
causing an urgent need for reforestation to provide new habitat for their
long-term survival."If you have forests, you can save primates," said CI
scientist Anthony Rylands, the deputy chair of the IUCN Primate Specialist
Group. "The work with lion tamarins shows that conserving forest fragments
and reforesting to create corridors that connect them is not only vital for
primates, but offers the multiple benefits of maintaining healthy ecosystems
and water supplies while reducing greenhouse gas emissions that cause
climate change."Researchers also considered reclassifying the mountain
gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) to Endangered from Critically Endangered
due to increasing populations in their only habitat – the protected mountain
jungles of Rwanda, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo. However, the
slayings of eight mountain gorillas in 2007 and continuing political turmoil in
the region delayed the planned reclassification.

7. Gorillas, monkeys and other primates must be saved from

'impending extinction', urge 31 scientists

Ian Johnston,Environment
Correspondent;@montaukian;Wednesday 18 January 2017;
https://www.independent.co.uk/environment

Thirty-one leading scientists have issued an urgent plea to save

humanity’s closest biological relatives, saying scores of different
species of apes, monkeys and other primates are all now facing
“impending extinction”.

Despite gorillas, orangutans and lemurs being among the most

popular wild animals, a factor that helps fund conservation efforts,
their main threats are almost entirely caused by human beings.

Primates are hunted for meat and body parts or captured for life as
pets; their habitats are destroyed as industrial-scale farms to make
foodstuffs like palm oil take over previously wild land, dams are
built or mining, oil and gas companies move in; and new threats
like climate change and the spread of human diseases to animals
are also emerging. Of the 504 primate species, about 60 per cent
are threatened with extinction and 75 per cent have declining
populations. However, the researchers, who published the findings
of a major review of primates in the journal Science Advances,
insisted they could still be saved.“Despite the impending extinction
facing many of the world’s primates, we remain adamant that
primate conservation is not yet a lost cause, and we are optimistic
that the environmental and anthropogenic pressures leading to
population declines can still be reversed,” they argued.But they
said this would only happen if effective measures were taken
“immediately”. “Unless we act, human-induced environmental
threats in primate range regions will result in a continued and
accelerated reduction in primate biodiversity,” the scientists
said.“Primate [populations] will be lost through a combination of
habitat loss and degradation, population isolation in fragmented
landscapes, population extirpation by hunting and trapping, and
rapid population decline due to human and domestic animal-borne
diseases, increasing human encroachment, and climate
change.”They said that “perhaps the starkest conclusion of this
review” was the collective failure to preserve primate species and
their habitats. We have one last opportunity to greatly reduce or
even eliminate the human threats to primates and their habitats, to
guide conservation efforts, and to raise worldwide awareness of
their predicament,” the researchers added.“Primates are critically
important to humanity. After all, they are our closest living
biological relatives.” This truly is the eleventh hour for many of
these creatures,” he said.

“Several species of lemurs, monkeys and apes — such as the ring-

tailed lemur, Udzunga red colobus monkey, Yunnan snub-nosed
monkey, white-headed langur and Grauer's gorilla — are down to a
population of a few thousand individuals.“In the case of the Hainan
gibbon, a species of ape in China, there are fewer than 30 animals
left.” The critically endangered Sumatran orang-utan lost 60 per
cent of its habitat between 1985 and 2007, Professor Garber added.

And he said at times humans were exploiting forest habitats “in

needlessly destructive and unsustainable ways”.The biggest
problem was the increasing amount of land being used for
farming.“Agricultural practices are disrupting and destroying vital
habitat for 76 percent of all primate species on the planet,” he
said.“In particular, palm oil production, the production of soy and
rubber, logging and livestock farming and ranching are wiping out
millions of hectares of forest.” And that meant many primates were
now “clinging to life” in the forests of China, Madagascar,
Indonesia, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo and other
countries.“Sadly, in the next 25 years, many of these primate
species will disappear unless we make conservation a global
priority,” Professor Garber said.“This, by itself, would be a tragic
loss. Now, consider the hundreds of other species facing a similar
fate around the world, and you get a sense of what's truly at stake.
8. Monkey Habitat

https://www.monkeyworlds.com/monkey-habitat/

Monkey Habitat and Distribution

The distribution for the Monkey covers many regions around the
world. They tend to live in forest regions where they have lots of
trees around them. Some of them live in the savannahs though or
in the mountain regions. There are species of Monkeys that only
live in trees. Others live in the trees as well as on land.

Monkeys move around their home range a great deal. They travel
daily to look for food. They won’t stay in a nest for very long so
they don’t create anything elaborate. They use their bodies to help
them move rapidly around looking for sources of food. As they do
so they spread seeds from plants, flowers, and fruits. This enables
their environment and natural habitat to continue rejuvenating.

The evergreen forests are home to a variety of different species of

Monkeys. The Mangrove forest regions can also be where they are
found. Studies show that the amount of habitat that these animals
have has been cut by at least 30% in the past 25 years. That is an
alarming rate and means that they really have no where to go.
Since Monkeys are very intelligent they are able to continue to
adapt to changes in their environment. This is why places where
they were once found are now empty. They have had to venture
further to find food an shelter in order to survive. The introduction
of new species of Monkeys to new locations though can upset the
balance of an ecosystem that already exists there so the issues are
very complicated to solve.

Another problem is that with many Monkey species the males have
to leave when they reach the age of maturity. In some instances
the females do as well. This is all part of nature to make sure that
inbreeding isn’t taking place regularly in the groups. However,
where are those that leave their place of birth going to go? They
have too much competition from aggressive groups that won’t
accept anyone else coming in. Too often they die due to predation
or a lack of food in the regions where they end up.

The Monkey habitat out there has continued to be depleted by

large chunks all over the place. Humans have built roads in the
center of forests, they have cut them down completely for logging.
The need for land to be used for agriculture, building homes, and
businesses has also resulted in many locations being completely
stripped away. As a result many species of Monkeys are in dire
need of conservation efforts. They have been hunted and they are
being destroyed by poachers. Sometimes they are stolen and then
sold for money. Regardless there needs to be tough laws in place to
protect them in their natural habitat. If we don’t get such methods
in place then many of the Monkey species out there won’t be able
to survive much longer.

Most species of Monkeys do very well in captivity. They are able to

thrive there with the right conditions. They need to be around
others though so that their need for socialization can be met. They
also need to have challenges that will keep them mentally busy.
Otherwise they can become aggressive and they can destroy things
around them.

Yet the answer to helping the Monkeys to survive isn’t just to put
them all in cages at the zoos. There are some refugee locations that
have protected lands. The Monkeys can live there and not be
harmed. Even so it is hard to get funding for such establishments.
The ongoing cost of maintaining the home for the Monkeys is
extremely high.

9. Why We Should Care About Saving Monkeys

Feb 23, 2012 · by Wildlife Margrit; https://www.nikela.org/

Does it matter if we lose a monkey species here or an ape
sub species there?
It sure does. As Nikela Volunteer Maggie Sergio is
personally delivering a donation check to Karin Saks who
rescues orphaned, injured and abused primates in South
Africa, we thought we should look into why saving vervet
monkeys, baboons and other species matters. Nikela guest
blogger Paul Michael Reynolds educates us as to why we
should care about saving our planet’s primates:
Primates are found more or less on every area of land on
the planet, however, if we remove Homo sapiens (Humans)
from the picture, the distribution of primates becomes far
more localised. The non-human primates are localised
primarily to tropical/sub-tropical forests and woodland,
although a few species have adapted to Savannah and
montane habitats. Primates can be split up into four main
groups;
1. New world monkeys
2. Old world monkeys
3. Apes (greater and lesser)
4. Prosimians
So the question at hand is why should we conserve them?
Primates are the most threatened to extinction than any
other mammal species on the planet which is echoed in a
report from the IUCN in 2000, which revealed that primates
are experiencing the greatest change in regards to
becoming more endangered than any other group of
mammals.
The total number of primate taxa currently recognised is
621, according to Conservation International. Of these, 52
are considered critically endangered; 92 are endangered;
and 80 are vulnerable. Primates are by their very scientific
classification related to humans and for this reason alone
they deserve greater attention in regards to conservation.
Understanding Ourselves…
The chimpanzee, a fellow great ape, shares 98.5% of our
DNA and they are our closest living relative, with both
humans and chimpanzees separating from a common
ancestor just 6 million years ago (a relatively small time
frame in evolutionary terms). The research potential for
humans in unlocking our own evolutionary past through the
study of primates is unparalleled and essential to our
understanding of our own species.
Growing Trees and Shrubs…
Primates also play key roles in ecology as seed dispersers
for many important tree/shrub species and account for
25%-40% (biomass) of all frugivorous (fruit eating) species
found within tropical rainforests. Their ecological role is
essential for the functioning of many key ecosystems which
humans rely on both within and outside forested areas.
Part of Our Heritage…Primates are also important as part of
the natural heritage of many countries and form an
important component of this planets biodiversity and the
biodiversity of many individual countries. With an ever
increasing focus on the importance of biodiversity both
ecologically and economically, there is a great need to
reverse the downward trend in species loss, especially for
keystone species such as a the great apes whose loss has a
significantly negative impact on both the ecology of their
home ranges and the humans who rely upon their
ecological functions. The very simple message everyone
needs to understand is increased biodiversity equals
increased benefits for humans in every area, from health to
economy, with the reverse equalling great losses for
humans.
More stories and information available in the the eBook
“Why is Smart to Save Our Planet’s Monkeys and
Apes”Information provided by Nikela Volunteer Paul
Michael Reynolds