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Chimpanzee population falls dramatically

http://www.iar.org.uk/globalnews/articles/2008/10/chimpanzee_population_falls_dramatically_568.html

Thu 16 October 2008 14:39 UK — Africa,Primates

Picture for article The Ivory Coast's West African chimpanzee
population has declined by 90 per cent in the past 18 years, according
to a new report in Current Biology.

The study disclosed that numbers of the rare chimps have fallen from
between 8,000 to 12,000 in 1990, to just 800 to 1,200, with the Tai
National Park identified as the only remaining refuge.

Scientists believe that this decline, in a country that had been
considered as one of the final strongholds for the subspecies, has
been caused by increased hunting and deforestation.

Genevieve Campbell, lead author of the report and doctoral candidate
at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, revealed
that researchers were not expecting such a drastic fall.

Ms Campbell also said that the alarming decline in numbers suggested
that the chimp's status should be raised to critically endangered.

In July, the Pan African Sanctuaries Alliance suggested that
chimpanzees will face extinction in fifty years if the current rate of
habitat destruction and hunting continues.