Primate – See Animals Wild

September 1, 2022August 31, 2022

In April, for only the second time a group of Bonobos torn from the wild was rereleased: future?

I have written about Bonobos in the past, I hope that readers are aware of this species. In brief, Bonobos (often known as Pygmy chimpanzees) are a separate great ape species. These two species split about 1 million years ago as the Congo river formed and became an impenetrable boundary between them intermixing again.

Looking very like Chimpanzees, these animals behave in a very different way

Found only in the DRC and the last of the great ape species to be discovered, Bonobos should be of great interest to humans.

November 6, 2021June 30, 2022

The Tapanuli Orangutan is still threatened with extinction, despite only recently being discovered

The Tapanuli Orangutan lives on Sumatra but are thought to be more closely related to Bornean Orangutans. Numbering around 800 members, they had a far wider ranging habitat until recently. They are now restricted to about 1000 square km – about 2.5% of their former range.

While looking very similar to other orangutans, this sub species has not interbred with any other orangutans for over 1 million years and despite living in Sumatra, are more closely related to the Borneo Orangutan

What is harder, is that these Orangutans are not naturally mountainous animals, but have been driven there by the hunting that has so decimated their numbers.

October 20, 2021June 30, 2022

First alpha female for 70 years in a Japanese reserve

As with most primate species males are usually the dominant animal in a group setting. The one notable exception is bonobos which are a female led society.

Yakei, the first dominant Japanese macaque for a long time

August 21, 2021June 30, 2022

Delacour’s langur is a critically endangered monkey with just 300 of these remain in the wild, but now 80% are protected

Delacour’s langur is a severely endangered primate fewer than 300 of these remain in the wild

Delacour Languars are critically endangered, but their future is slightly more secure

What is gratifying about this situation, is that more than 80% of the remaining langurs live within a community reserve that has been set up by the locals being supported by various conservation bodies particularly in Germany.

This reserve has been recognised in an international survey of protected areas that have done the best work for saving wild species.

Indeed it is a perfect example of what can happen with local conservation.

Indeed it is these sort of projects that we wish to support through the in the shadow of mankind project that we are running on the website.

April 6, 2020May 13, 2020

Corona-virus threat to primate species

Humans have pushed the majority of wild primates into small spaces, where the total population might number only a thousand or far less.

Cross-river Gorilla: as a species close to extinction it is in particular danger

March 25, 2020May 13, 2020

How should we react to viruses such as covid 19? Will this finally put pressure on governments to stop poachers harvesting wild meat

In many parts of Africa and Asia and South America poor communities get virtually all their protein from wild mammal species that live nearby. As the human population increases and as people organise themselves to sell excess meat in markets this can become a threat to human life as has been shown through covid 19.