Conservation of Apes

Ape Species
Currently, four4 of the six6 great ape species are considered critically endangered (Eastern Formatted: Font color: Auto
Lowland Gorilla, Western Lowland Gorilla, Bornean Orangutan, and Sumatran Orangutan). The
other 2 great ape species are threatened of being endangered. Only one subspecies of ape has
increased in population over the past 20 years. That subspecies that has grown is the Mountain
Gorilla and there are currently only 880 Mountain Gorillas.
Eastern Lowland Gorillas
: The Eastern Lowland Gorilla is found in the rainforests of eastern Democratic Republic
of the Congo (DRC). Eastern Lowland Gorillas have large bodies, large hands, and short
faces. In 2016, the Eastern Lowland Gorilla was listed critically endangered by the IUCN
Red List of Threatened Species. The Eastern Lowland Gorilla has seen a population
decline of 70 per cent in 20 years. The Eastern Lowland Gorilla is made up of two2
subspecies. One subspecies of Eastern Lowland Gorilla, Grauer’s Gorilla, has lost over 77
per cent of its population since 1994. The Grauer’s Gorilla population went from 16,900
apes to 3,800 from 1994 to 2015. The other subspecies is the Mountain Gorilla, which
actually had a population increase in the recent years, but the population is still very low
at only 880 apes. There are currently fewer than 5,000 Eastern Lowland Gorillas in the Formatted: Font color: Auto
world and the geographic range of their population is only 13 per cent of what it used to
be. The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Director General, Inger
Andersen, spoke on the issue of lowering ape populations saying:
“To see the Eastern Lowland gorilla – one of our closest cousins – slide towards
extinction is truly distressing. We live in a time of tremendous change and each
IUCN Red List update makes us realize just how quickly the global extinction crisis
is escalating. Conservation action does work, and we have increasing evidence of
it. It is our responsibility to enhance our efforts to turn the tide and protect the
future of our planet.”
-Inger Andersen, IUCN Director General
Western Lowland Gorillas
: Western Lowland Gorillas are found in the lowland forests of central Africa. The
Western Lowland Gorilla is smaller and lighter than the other gorilla species. It has short
hair, a wide skull, and a pronounced brow ridge. The Western Lowland Gorilla is the
most populous of the gorilla species. The Western Lowland gorilla population has
declined by over 60 per cent over about 20 to 25 years. Even if all threats against the Formatted: Font color: Auto
Western Lowland Gorillas were gone, it is still estimated that it would take about 75
years for the population to recover from the severe population loss. The current
population is about 100,000 apes.
 Formatted: Indent: Left: 0"

Bornean Orangutan
: Bornean Orangutans live in the lowland rainforests, tropical swamps, and mountain
forests of the island of Borneo and some parts of Sumatra. The Bornean Orangutans
have broad faces, shorter beards than Sumatran Orangutans, and a darker color than
Sumatran Orangutans. There are three subspecies of Bornean Orangutans that live in
different parts of the island of Borneo. There are Northwest Bornean Orangutans,
Northeast Bornean Orangutans, and Central Bornean Orangutans. The population of the
Bornean orangutans
has halved in the past
60 years. The habitat Formatted: Font color: Auto
of the Bornean
orangutans has been
reduced by 55 per cent
over the past 20 years.
One subspecies of
Bornean orangutans,
Northwest Bornean
orangutans, has been
severely hurt by
logging and hunting.
Currently, the
subspecies only has 1,500 apes in its population. The current population of all Bornean
orangutans is about 104,700.

This is the current spread of the Bornean Orangutan population

that once covered the entire island.
This is the current spread of the Bornean Orangutan population that once covered the
entire island.

Formatted: Indent: Left: 0"

Sumatran Orangutan
: Sumatran Orangutans live among trees in the tropical rainforests of Sumatra.
Sumatran Orangutans have close social ties due to large amounts of fruit on fig trees
where the Sumatran Orangutans eat together. Sumatran orangutans used to live on the
entire island of Sumatra and a bit of Java, but now their habitat is reduced to just the
 north of Sumatra. There is a total of nine9 Sumatran orangutan populations still in
existence. Seven7 of these populations have more than 250 orangutans and only three3
have more than 1,000. 70 orangutans live in the Tigapuluh National Park and they are
reproducing. The total population of the Sumatran orangutans is 14,613.

Bonobo
: Bonobos are smaller and leaner than other ape species. Bonobos have more peaceful
social life and are lead by females. Bonobos maintain relationships and settle conflicts
through sex. Bonobos are the first ape mentioned here that is not critically endangered.
However, Bonobos are still endangered, their population has been declining for the past
30 years, and the decline in population is expected to continue for the next 50 years.
The population is somewhere between 10,000 and 50,000.

Chimpanzee
: Chimpanzees are human’s closest relative, sharing 98 per cent of their genes with
human’s. Chimpanzees have arms that reach beyond their knees, opposable thumbs,
and a prominent mouth. Chimpanzees have complex social structures run by male
chimps and they join social groups based on reproductive opportunities. Like the
Bonobos, Chimpanzees are endangered, but not yet critically endangered. The
chimpanzee population has seen a decline of 90 per cent over the past 20 years. The
current Chimpanzee population is between 150,000 and 250,000.

Causes of Population Decline

Poaching
: A large part of the Eastern Lowland Gorilla moving from endangered to critically
endangered and all great apes having declining populations in general is poaching. Even
though killing and capturing great apes is illegal, poaching is still the greatest threat to
apes. Poachers hunt apes for their bushmeat and then sell the bushmeat to make a
large profit. The bushmeat trade is a very large business in Africa.

Civil Wars
: The conservation of apes is difficult, because the areas where most great apes live are
in countries that suffer from many civil wars. Because of these civil wars, enforcement
of rules against people hunting apes is not very severe. The governments of these places
have many concerns that they must deal with and the conservation of animals tends to
be left to wayside. The biggest of these conflicts is the civil war in the Democratic
Republic of the Congo, which suffers from attacks from rebel groups. This conflict has
stopped most conservation efforts from making much progress in the area. The
Democratic Republic of the Congo accounts for a large portion of the ape population.
 Habitat Loss
: Many rural people in Africa use slash and burn farming techniques and this has caused
a lot of damage to the forests of Africa, destroying the habitat for many ape species. The
orangutan, which lives in Asia, is also suffering from habitat loss. This is because the
already sparse rain forests in Indonesia and Malaysia are being destroyed by illegal
logging, palm oil plantations, and forest fires (often started by plantation owners).
Indonesia has such a large problem with illegal logging that in 2006 it was found that 73
to 88 per cent of timber in Indonesia was illegally sourced.

Disease
: Because apes are so genetically similar to humans, apes are susceptible to many
human diseases. The clearing of their habitat also makes it so apes are closer to human
populations and are more likely to be infected. These diseases are even more dangerous
to apes because apes do not have built-up immunities for the diseases and do not have
medicine to treat the diseases. Ebola has hit ape populations very hard and killed large
portions of the population. Also, since apes are genetically similar to us, a lot of testing
has been done on apes for experimental Ebola vaccines and this testing has been
dangerous.

Conservation Goals
Improve the Protection and Management of Great Apes
: To achieve this goal, the governments of the area should create more nature reserves
and national parks that have international conservation groups that help to protect the
reserves from poachers and loggers. The land used for reserves should be government
property and should only have nature experts that study the apes and initiate
reproduction between the apes if needed for dire situations. The governments should
also have goals of population growth for each species of ape and international
communities should reward these governments for reaching these goals.

Stop Illegal Trade of Bushmeat

: To stop illegal trade, the law enforcement of the area need to be stricter on the buyers
and sellers of bushmeat. The punishment for buyers should be nulled if they give
information about the poachers themselves. To help with the crack down on poachers,
international law enforcement groups and conservation groups should work together in
those areas. The people of the area should also be informed of the dangers caused by
purchasing bushmeat to both them and the ape populations. They should be informed
of the risk of getting diseases from bushmeat, the risk of getting arrested for buying
bushmeat, and the risk to the ape populations if they continue purchasing bushmeat.
 Establish Relevant Conservation Policies and Laws that Stop Unsustainable Forest
Practices
: The governments of the area should enact permanent laws that prevent certain forests
being cut down and limit the size of plantations. Law enforcement should be stricter of
illegal logging that happens. There should be mass replanting projects funding by
conservation groups and donors to bring back some of the habitats for the apes. Certain
land should be reserved for forests and land that was previously deforested illegally
should protected during and after replanting efforts. Also, the public should be informed
of FSC-certified products and encourage people to only buy wood from sustainable
sources.

Increase People’s Support for Ape Conservation

: Advertising campaigns should be used around the world to get money and volunteers
to help fund and join conservation groups. Celebrities and politicians should inform the
public of the apes’ declining populations and called to action by donating or helping
conservation efforts. The problem should also be spread from person to person by
getting communities involved in discussion about the problem. The public should also
be informed about not buying products made from poaching or from unsustainable and
illegal logging.

Call to Action
Share: Awareness for a cause is a big help towards funding and support for the cause
and then a solution to the problem. Sharing on social media is an easy way to spread the
word about the cause. Talking to people about the problem with people that you know
also can help the cause. People can also help by starting local groups in their schools or
workplace that organize events that raise money or more support for the cause.
Donate: Most conservation organizations’ only source of income is from donations and
they need constant donations to achieve their goals. Donations can be made personally,
or they can be from charity events where people come together and donate. Many
people also go door to door or go on the street asking for donations.
Volunteer: Most conservation organizations also need more people to work for them.
There are many ways one can help these organizations. You can work at home making
calls, plan charity events, help create advertising campaigns, design websites, etc. There
are many ways people can help from many different skill sets, backgrounds, and time
availabilities.
Participate in Local Government: Whether or not someone lives in areas with great
apes, they can still help the conservation of apes through their local governments.
Calling up congressmen to fund international conservation groups, getting your mayor
to raise awareness for the issue by making a donation event, and voting for candidates
with strong views for conservation are all ways one can help save ape population even
from their own local governments.