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Home , Ape, Arcus Foundation, Bornean orangutan, Chimpanzee, Eastern gorilla, Gibbon

ABOUTAPES WHO ARE THE ? Apes are a group of that includes , Why are they special to us? , , , , and All are important, regardless of their sentience, their relatedness to . All are long-lived social primates without tails. humans, or their emotional appeal. Yet Due to their behavioural and physiological similarity to some species are more able than others to draw attention and focus to the humans, non- apes often have been used as a conservation effort. These so-called proxy for humans in medical, psychological, , ‘charismatic mega-fauna’—including the great apes, , pandas, canids and other research studies. For simplicity and clarity we (wolves, foxes, and wild ), big cats, distinguish between humans and apes, although it is cetaceans (whales and dolphins), and other intelligent, emotionally appealing important to remember that humans are also apes. We —have frequently been used to also refer to apes other than gibbons as ‘great apes’. foster conservation efforts, funding, and public attention. Conservation programmes Apes are found in much of the tropical belts of for these species benefit entire ecosystems and local communities. and Asia, including southern , eastern India, and Apes are an excellent focal point for . Today, all non-human apes are at risk of species-based conservation and for , largely due to threats from humans, including conservation of critical tropical ecosystems. Humans have a unique rela- loss, , and disease. Conservation efforts tionship with apes that is different from to protect apes and their habitat date back to the 1920s. that with any other species. Due to our similarity to them, their , and Even so, agricultural expansion, , mining, and our ability to empathise with them, apes infrastructure development (such as urban centres, roads, have always stimulated our curiosity and drawn our attention. Indeed, studies of bridges, and dams) continue to put pressure on tropical chimpanzees in Africa have been able to and the many vulnerable species that make their contribute significantly to our understand- homes there. ing of human and behaviour.

Threats apes increasingly encounter humans, and habitat overlaps extensively with Apes are threatened, like most species, both and the spread of disease that of many other species and of inter- first and foremost by the loss and increases. Furthermore, fragmentation nationally recognised priority areas, fragmentation of their —forests of habitat results in isolation of small such as Key Biodiversity Areas, Import- that are also home to a diversity of other groups of apes, reducing the gene pool ant Biodiversity Areas, and Alliance species. These forests protect our climate, and making them yet more susceptible to for Zero Extinction areas. Great apes ensure adequate rainfall, conserve disease outbreaks and other threats to are sometimes described as keystone soil, and form the lungs of the world. their numbers. species, meaning they play a key role in maintaining the health and diver- According to the Food and Agriculture Apes mature late and have few offspring sity of the ecosystems in which they Organisation of the United Nations, by relative to other species. These factors live. They play important roles as far the greatest driver of make them a priority for conservation, dispersers, and many ape species have is agriculture, followed by urban growth, because even a slight decrease in popu- a role in structuring forests as they infrastructure expansion, and mining. The lation size can have catastrophic impacts trample, break, and bend vegetation rate of loss exceeds 15.4 million hectares on the species. of forest each . while travelling, , and building Why conserve apes? . Their activity also produces This loss is highest within the range of light gaps that facilitate germination the great apes—in Southeast Asia and There are numerous compelling reasons of sun-seeking plants, contributing to sub-Saharan Africa. Large-scale indus- to ensure the survival of apes. Some of forest regeneration. Apes are also often trial agriculture, such as , cocoa, these include: thought of as flagship species, because and rubber , requires the n They are our closest relatives: they can be used to bring attention and clearing of enormous tracts of land and Humans have a unique relationship action to areas of high biodiversity and is thus highly destructive, as are logging with great apes that is different from need. For example, orangutans have practices. Slash-and-burn agriculture that with any other species. We share been used to publicise the damaging by itinerant farmers exacerbates forest 98.4 percent of our DNA with chim- impacts of industrial-scale oil palm fragmentation and is particularly dam- panzees, 97.5 percent with gorillas, plantations, causing the world to aging because poor forest soils quickly and 96.5 percent with orangutans. reconsider its consumption and its become exhausted, leading to more forest With that genetic similarity come regulations governing the production clearance for new land. In areas with many parallels between our social of palm oil. more productive land, human population structures (which most closely n Helping local economies: Ape con- density is typically higher. Along agri- resemble chimps’ and bonobos’). servation can contribute significantly cultural margins, there are also frequent Other similarities include creation and to employment, local income, and human-wildlife interactions and crop passing down of cultures, the ability projects benefiting vulnerable people, raiding, which can lead to conflict. to innovate (such as making and using as has been the case with mountain to obtain food), and the care of Another threat to apes is hunting for gorillas in and . It has our loved ones. What often resonates food, the trade, and medicinal or with people observing wild apes is the other purposes. Capture of young apes for way in which they care for their young, the illegal pet trade involves the killing of keeping them close for many . at least one, and more often three to five, (Chimpanzees do not reach puberty adults from the same group. Once cap- until around 13 years of age and are tured, many young apes die en route to weaned only at 3 or 4). Their playful market. All hunting, capture, and killing young often mimic games like peeka- of apes is illegal throughout their ranges; boo and chase, which we would expect however, enforcement is inadequate, and to see only in our own offspring. compliance is lacking. n Protecting apes protects many The spread of disease from species to other species: Great apes and species and sometimes from humans gibbons currently inhabit 33 countries, to apes has also led to dramatic losses. ranging from West to East Africa to Because of their relatedness to us, they India, China, and Southeast Asia. are highly susceptible to many of the Global tropical forests contain 90 same diseases that humans contract; percent of the world’s terrestrial yet, due to their relatively infrequent biodiversity, and the forests in which contact with these diseases, they have apes live are among the richest in not built up resistance to these diseases. biodiversity in the world. As habitats become more fragmented, been estimated that tourism are both listed as Endangered. bonobos are co-dominant with males and generates more than US$30 million per For the , the only small ape, the can form alliances against certain males year in local income. These benefits, picture is no better. Of the 20 recognised within the community. The mother-son in turn, provide motivation to commu- species of gibbon, 4 are listed as Critically bond is the strongest, which enhances the nities to protect their wider habitat, Endangered, 14 as Endangered, and one social status of the son. which protects numerous other species as Vulnerable. ( troglodytes) and local resources, such as plants The following data on species are sourced from used for medicine or building materials. Rainer, H., White, A., Lanjouw, A., Eds. (2018). State Status: All four are Endan- Protecting apes and gibbons helps of the Apes: The Impact of Infrastructure on Ape Conservation. Cambridge University Press. gered (IUCN Red List) conserve the entire habitat, as well as Population: Four subspecies each face local communities. BONOBO (Pan paniscus) varying levels of threat and decline: Species under Status: Endangered (IUCN Red List) there are approximately 140,000 central chimpanzees (Pan t. troglodytes); 18,000 threat of extinction Population: Only 30 percent of its his- to 65,000 western chimpanzees (Pan toric range has been surveyed; however, Four of the six great ape species, the t. verus); 181,000 to 256,000 eastern estimates from the four geographically , , Bornean chimpanzees (Pan t. schweinfurthii); and distinct Bonobo strongholds suggest a , and , are probably fewer than 6,000 to 9,000 minimum population of 15,000 to 20,000 listed as on the - chimpanzees. International Union for Conservation of individuals. Their numbers are decreasing. Geographic Distribution: Chimpanzees (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Geographic Distribution: Democratic are widely distributed across equatorial Species, while the chimpanzee and Republic of the (DRC) Africa, with discontinuous populations Threats: Activities causing population from southern to western Uganda decline include poaching (mainly for and . commercial wild meat trade and for some Threats: Poaching for the commercial medicinal purposes), which has been wild meat trade is the main threat to exacerbated by the ongoing effects of chimps, along with habitat loss and frag- civil warfare (use of modern weaponry mentation, and disease. Chimpanzees are and ammunition; military-sanctioned also captured for the illegal wildlife trade, hunting); habitat loss and degradation; which often leads to numerous adult apes disease; and lack of awareness that hunt- being killed for the capture of each live ing and eating bonobos are unlawful. young chimp. Little-Known Facts: Chimpanzees and Little-Known Facts: Chimpanzees can bonobos are our closest living relatives, live for more than 50 years. They have sharing 98.4 percent of our DNA. However, a tremendously varied diet in the wild, chimpanzees and bonobos differ in their relying on as many as 200 food items, social structures, with bonobo sometimes including other primates. being primarily matriarchal and chimpanzee Chimps can engage in cooperative hunting. societies being male-dominated. Female GORILLA (Gorilla species spp.) parts of their range. The eastern gorilla is (Pongo tapanuliensis) has a total distri- also threatened by civil unrest. bution of about 1,100 square kilometers Status: Critically Endangered (110,000 hectares) and a population (IUCN Red List) Little-Known Facts: The gorilla is size of fewer than 800 individuals, which the world’s largest , sometimes Population: There are two species of places it under severe threat of extinction. weighing more than 200 kilograms. gorilla (western and eastern), each with Mature males are known as ‘silverbacks’ Geographic Distribution: Orangutans two subspecies (western lowland and because they develop a gray saddle with are now limited to the forests of Suma- Cross River; mountain and Grauer’s). maturity. Despite their size and appear- tra and , but these great apes Population estimates for the western ance, gorillas are much less aggressive were once present throughout much of gorilla range between 150,000 and than is often assumed and are unlikely southern Asia. 250,000, while as few as 250 to 300 to become physically aggressive to Cross River gorillas remain. The most Threats: The primary threat to orangutans one another. recent population estimate for the Grau- is habitat loss and fragmentation, driven by er’s gorilla is 3,800, which shows a 77 ORANGUTAN (Pongo spp.) large-scale logging and agricultural devel- percent loss since 1994. The estimated opment, particularly for palm oil and wood population is approxi- Status: Critically Endangered pulp production. Other important threats mately 880 individuals. (IUCN Red List) include killings (arising from human-ape conflict), hunting, and the international Geographic Distribution: The western Population: There are three species pet trade. The is also gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) is distributed of orangutan. The Sumatran orangutan threatened by forest fires and a lack of throughout western equatorial Africa. population is estimated at 14,500 awareness that they are protected by law. The eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei) is individuals. The Bornean orangutan is found in DRC, Uganda, and Rwanda. estimated to have a population of Little-Known Facts: Fully mature males 104,700 individuals. In 2017, a new develop a short beard and protruding cheek Threats: Poaching for the commercial species of orangutan was described in pads, termed ‘flanges’. Some male orang- wild meat trade is considered one of three forest fragments of ’s utans experience ‘developmental arrest’, the greatest threats to gorillas, as it is Central, North, and South Tapanuli maintaining a female-like size and appear- for chimpanzees, together with habitat districts, which are part of the Batang ance for many years past sexual maturity; destruction and degradation. Disease has Toru Ecosystem. The Tapanuli orangutan they are termed ‘unflanged’ males. also led to severe population declines in GIBBONS threats to gibbons. In addition, hunting including apes, that live in those forests. Moreiras/FFI Pablo ©Juan bottom: Lanjouw; ©Annette Asselin, ©Mathieu Campbell, ©Clare London, of Pengfei/Zoological ©Fan right: to left 6 top Page Laman; ©Tim Hilton, ©Paul Photography, Walmsley ©Andrew bottom: for food, the pet trade, and medicinal Effective and long-term conservation is Status: All assessed species, where data purposes is a major threat. dependent, however, on the reduction of are available, are Threatened, Vulnera- threats to the forests and wildlife. Threat ble, Endangered or Critically Endangered Little-Known Facts: The most agile and reduction requires an understanding of the (IUCN Red List) graceful of the apes, gibbons can move Photography: complex drivers and dynamics of forest and through the forest at up to 35 miles per Population: There are four genera of natural resources exploitation. Extraction hour through (using only their gibbon: Hoolock spp., spp., of resources, whether timber, minerals, Davidson; 2: ©Isla Page Randjelović; ©Slobodan Wajdowicz, ©Jurek Payne, © Photography, Walmsley ©Andrew Elzafon, ©Sylvia Davidson, ©Bruce clockwise: left top from cover Front arms to swing through ). These small spp., and Symphalangus spp.— meat, or parts such as ivory or

apes are—unusually—monogamous and Davidson; © Bruce photos: 5 top Page McArthur; ©Jo-Anne Davidson, ©Bruce Haven, ©Chimp Haven, ©Chimp right: to left 4 top Page Foundation; Wildlife ©African bottom 3-4 Pages and 20 recognised species of gibbon. rhino horn, is often fuelled by demand far communicate through elaborate songs There are three species of hoolock removed from the source. Simply increasing and vocalizations (including complex gibbon. The western hoolock comprises armed protection of the forest will not stop duets). Female gibbons have a single an estimated 2,500 individuals. The east- demand. To ensure conservation, humans offspring just once every two and a ern hoolock has a much larger population need to understand and experience the half to three years. (293,200 to 370,000 individuals). The benefits of a healthy ecosystem and all population of Gaoligong the diverse that exists in a forest. is not yet known. Conservation of apes Local communities must have a say in the Various approaches can be used to protect There are currently nine species included management and protection of resources. and manage the habitats where apes in the Hylobates , numbering an Global extraction, exploitation, and trade are found and to ensure the long-term estimated 360,000 to 400,000, with the in commodities from ape habitats must conservation of populations of wildlife, least abundant species being the moloch be done in a manner that doesn’t destroy gibbon and most abundant considered, forest, ecosystems, and vulnerable wildlife collectively, the ‘gray gibbons’ (Müller’s, populations. This will require a significant Abbott’s, and Bornean gray gibbons). shift in the way business is conducted. Effective conservation approaches There are seven species in the Nomascus integrate work at the local level with genus, including some of the world’s most communities living in or near the forest threatened primates. There are merely with work at the regional, national, and 130 Cao Vit gibbons and 23 Hainan international levels. The work needs to

gibbons left in the wild. / www.designEWS.com / NYC Studios Wajdowicz ©Emerson, Design: be based on sound science and linked to Geographical Distribution: Gibbons clear economic and social development are widespread, found in , objectives. It also needs to reflect ethical southern China, and Southeast Asia. principles and compassion for both people and the non-human species affected by Threats: As with all apes, habitat loss global systems. and fragmentation are the primary

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