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Jane Goodall says commercial hunters threaten chimpanzees across central 
Africa


GEORGE MWANGI, Associated Press Writer
Tuesday, July 3, 2001
©2001 Associated Press

URL:
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2001/07/03/international0950EDT0541.DTL&nl=fix


(07-03) 06:50 PDT DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (AP) --

Commercial hunters abetted by wars and logging companies are a grave
threat to chimpanzees across central Africa, renowned chimp
conservationist Jane Goodall said Tuesday.

"The hunters are now able to go deep into the forest because they
ride on the logging trucks on the roads that have been built by the
logging companies," Goodall told a news conference. Chaos and armed
conflict in central Africa has made it difficult to enforce laws
protecting the animals, she said.

Hunters shoot chimpanzees and then smoke and sell the meat, "even
shipping it off to exotic restaurants," said Goodall, who has been
studying chimpanzees in northwestern Tanzania for 40 years.

Hunting and the destruction of forests for firewood and timber have
reduced the chimpanzee population in 21 African nations from 2
million a century ago to 220,000 today, she said.

Because they are very slow breeders and give birth only at five year
intervals, she said, the species could be on its way to extinction if
nothing is done to protect the animals and their habitat.

Goodall said when she arrived in Gombe National Park in 1960, 150
chimpanzees lived there. With the encroachment of refugees from Congo
who kill chimps for food and sometimes transmit human diseases to
them, the population has dwindled to 110.

People who live in the region traditionally have hunted chimpanzees
for food, but commercial hunting has greatly increased the numbers of
animals killed, she said.

"We are training young people to change their desire to eat
chimpanzees and develop an appetite for other meat like goat,"
Goodall said.

Trade in chimpanzee and gorilla meat is widespread throughout central
Africa, even though both are protected species in the countries where
they are hunted.

The World Wide Fund for Nature says chimpanzee and gorilla meat is
commercially available for sale in central Africa and is on
restaurant menus in Paris and Brussels. The meat is served dried or
smoked and as steak or in stews.

©2001 Associated Press
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