Asia, the world's largest and most populated continent, now leads the planet in a somewhat more ignoble category: endangered primates. According to a recent report released by CI and IUCN-The World Conservation Union, nearly 45 percent of the most endangered primates are native to Asia.
The study, entitled "The World's Top 25 Most Endangered Primates," found that one in three of the world's primates, which include apes, monkeys and lemurs, are now endangered with extinction. Of the top 25 most endangered, 11 are found in
Asia, eight in
Africa and three each in
Madagascar and the Neotropics (
Central and
South America).
Primates in China and Vietnam are the worst off. Vietnam hosts 20 percent of the most endangered primates and
China harbors another 16 percent.
"Several primates in China and Vietnam now number only in the dozens or hundreds of individuals," says co-author and CI President Russ Mittermeier. "Vietnam is at risk of undergoing a major primate extinction spasm within the next few years if rapid action is not taken."
Twenty-three of the most endangered primates are found in the world's 25
biodiversity hotspots. These biologically diverse regions cover a mere 1.4 percent of Earth's land surface but harbor more than 60 percent of all terrestrial plant and animal diversity.
"It is important to point out that the list is just the tip of the iceberg and it is a call for more conservation action," says co-author Bill Konstant. "For each primate listed, several other equally threatened species might have been chosen."
Habitat loss due to deforestation remains the most prominent factor in the declining number of primates. Hunting also is a factor, as the market for primates continues to be a serious threat to some species.
Primates are considered a flagship order because of their influence on the health of surrounding ecosystems. Through the dispersal of fruit seeds and other foods they consume, they help support a wide range of plant and animal life that make up the Earth's forests. Nonhuman primates are our closest living relatives, and their loss is directly linked to the global extinction crisis.
The news is not all bad. Certain species, such as the golden lion tamarin, have
benefited from conservation efforts and have been removed from the list. In addition, CI's work in Brazil's Atlantic Forest played a critical role in the creation of a 2,365-acre private reserve that is protecting half of the roughly 300 northern muriqui monkeys left in the wild.