Chimps Could Be Extinct in 50 Years - Study

[Khephra]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Humanity's closest relative the chimpanzee could be extinct in around 50 years because it is hunted for meat and threatened by deforestation and disease, researchers said on Tuesday.

Only 8,000 remain of the most vulnerable chimpanzee subspecies, the Pan troglodytes vellerosus, which is found predominantly in Nigeria, and it could be extinct in two decades, according to a study.

The study was presented at a conference of The Pan African Sanctuaries Alliance (PASA) in Johannesburg. PASA sanctuaries care for orphaned or injured great apes.

"It is believed that the illegal hunting and eating of apes -- known as the bushmeat crisis -- has had the greatest impact on the rate of decline, along with deforestation, human encroachment and disease," PASA said in a statement.

more..................

http://reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=scienceNews&storyID=5368863

[Justice]

1. Serious Article, but

whn I first read the title, I thought you were talking about bush*

[qb]

2. Ditto. There's only one chimp I'd like to see extinct.

*

[ncrainbowgrrl]

5. Ditto.

I thought that this was parody of some sort until I saw that it was in LBN.

[daa]

11. You will - November nt

[gatlingforme]

3. that would be a tragedy.

[nonbelief]

4. Extinct in the wild...BUT

Unless I'm mistaken, chimps do quite well in captivity, repoductively speaking.

[blindpig]

8. captive breeding is no substitute for wild populations

particularly with a species in which so much behavior is learned. Captive bred chimps released into the wild with an incomplete and/or inappropriate survival skill set have doubtful survival potential.
Human mentoring of released young orangutans has been done with some successes and failures but it is very labor intensive and only time will tell whether it works long term.
As far as I'm concerned chimps and all great apes are sentient creatures like us(?) and their extinction is the equivalent of genocide.

[KamaAina]

15. Then I guess Bush* isn't a chimp after all

As far as I'm concerned chimps and all great apes are sentient creatures like us

Bush*: Evil? Absolutely. Sentient? No way!

[blindpig]

19. it's a good thing chimps don't hire lawyers

a lot of folks around here would be in the world of trouble! sounds like libel to me.

[Shadder]

6. Just one, please. In November.

That's not too much to ask for, is it?

[The Stranger]

7. All focus, resources, power, and money is now devoted to "terrorism."

Indeed, in a perverse, yet indirect way, it will be the end of us all, including other species of animals from whom we have stolen the right to exist. Someone explain "terrorism" to the Chimpanzee.

[mmm]

18. There is wisdom there

You have written a book with just three sentences.

[Jim__]

9. The fate of our nearest relative ...

... and still, we don't see the obvious.

[Ripley]

10. LOL!

known as the bushmeat crisis... See, we knew he was a Chimp, they even call it BUSHmeat.

Sorry, I know it's a terrible thing. Damn, the tigers are disappearing too.

[hatrack]

12. Concerned? Don't Get That New Cell Phone You're Thinking Of

Why? Simple - one of the key materials in cell phone production is coltan, a mineral containing substantial amounts of two rare earth elements, Niobium and Tantalum.

The biggest global deposits of coltan are in east-central Congo. These areas have seen a coltan mining boom in the last decade as cell phone demand soars.

They've also seen absolute slaughter of gorillas, chimps, forest elephants and hundreds of other species as growing populations of miners strip the forest of anything edible.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

20. Thank you for this info!

Do you have any links?

[hatrack]

21. Here you go!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2036217.stm

http://www.american.edu/TED/ice/congo-coltan.htm

http://www.cellular-news.com/coltan/

[Peregrine]

13. Increase in disease crossing species

the thing about extinction (one of them) is that every animal has specific diseases related to it. As their numbers dwindle, you see more diseases crossing over to another species. I predict that there will be new diseases discovered in humans that can be traced back to the eating of chimps.

I actually believe that humans are a third species of chimp, not a separate family.

[TolstoyAndy]

14. Humans should go first

then the rest of the planet could live.

So sad.

[maxsolomon]

16. lets relocate them to america!

give them refugee status & establish a breeding population in say, the smoky mountains! perhaps somewhere warmer? central america?

crazy i know, but they're doomed in africa regardless.

[phrenzy]

17. Gone wild

Somebody on DU posted this a long time ago - A real screen cap. I love it.