CONSERVATION OF AFRICA'S GREAT APES The great apes of Africa face extinction in the next few decades if more is not done to conserve them. All four species - the chimpanzee, bonobo, western gorilla and eastern gorilla - are threatened primarily by hunting but they also have to contend with habitat loss, diseases such as ebola, and conflict with people living alongside them. Urgent action is required to develop the capacity of African countries for conservation, improve the effectiveness of protected areas, stop the illegal trade in ape products and increase people's support for ape conservation. A western lowland gorilla Photo: WWF-Canon/Martin Harvey AFRICA'S GREAT APES UNDER eastern Nigeria and western Cameroon. The THREAT total population is thought to be about 4,000 to 7,000 individuals though estimates are difficult Africa's Apes to make as its precise geographic range is poorly known. African great apes are regarded as ‘flagship The largest populations of the central species’, providing a rallying point to raise chimpanzee (P.t troglodytes - Endangered) occur awareness and stimulate action and funding for in Gabon, Cameroon, and the Republic of broader conservation efforts for the tropical Congo, with smaller populations in the Central forests in which they occur. Since great apes are African Republic (CAR), Equatorial Guinea, biologically closer to humans than are any other Angola (Cabinda), south-east Nigeria and animals they are important for scientific research possibly the coastal extension of the Democratic to better our understanding of, for example, Republic of Congo (DRC). Its total population human evolution and human diseases; to many is thought to be between 47,000 and 78,000. people in west and central Africa they are However, outbreaks of ebola haemorrhagic important as sources of protein. fever, combined with on-going poaching for bushmeat, may have reduced populations in Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) recent years. Chimpanzees are found in savanna woodlands, The eastern chimpanzee (P. t. schwein- grassland-forest mosaic and tropical moist furthii - Endangered) occurs in Burundi, CAR, forests, from sea level to about 3,000 m DRC, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. elevation. The four subspecies are widely With an estimated total population of 75,200 - distributed in 21 countries. 117,000, this is the most numerous chimpanzee, The western chimpanzee (P.t. verus - and has the largest range. IUCN Status: Endangered) once ranged over 13 countries, but it has become extinct in four. It Bonobo (Pan paniscus) now occurs from south-east Senegal eastwards The bonobo is endemic to the Democratic to the Niger River in nine states: Côte d’Ivoire, Republic of Congo. It is found in the central Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Congo Basin, south of the Congo River, in Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Nigeria west of the grassland-forest mosaic, lowland forest and Niger river. Its distribution is extremely patchy, swamp forest habitats at altitudes of between reflecting the fragmentation of its habitat. The about 300 and 500 m. Distribution within the total population of western chimpanzee is range is very patchy, and total population thought to be between about 21,000 and 55,000 estimates vary widely (from 25,000 to 50,000) individuals, with the most significant numbers reflecting our poor understanding of this ape. being found in Côte d’Ivoire and Guinea. There is only one national park within its range - The Nigeria chimpanzee (P.t.vellerosus - Salonga. Endangered) has the most restricted range of all the chimpanzee subspecies; it is found only in Conservation of Africa's Great Apes - WWF, November 2003 Western gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) in eastern DRC. The population may have been The western gorilla is found in seven countries around 17,000 but numbers have declined by 80- in western central Africa where it occurs in 90 per cent in the last 5 years, largely due to lowland forest, swamp forest and montane increased poaching in Kahuzi-Biega National forest from sea level to about 1,600 m. There are Park, the ape's main stronghold. There may now two subspecies. be fewer than 3,000 animals remaining. The largest populations of western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla - Endangered) are in Gabon and the Republic of Congo; other range states are Angola (Cabinda), Cameroon, CAR and Equatorial Guinea. It is now probably absent from its former range in western DRC. Where surveys have been conducted, it has been found that western lowland gorillas can occur in higher densities than the other African apes (up to 5.4 individuals per sq km). Numbers were thought to be around 110,000 but, as with central chimpanzees, recent outbreaks of ebola Infant chimpanzee with mother haemorrhagic fever, combined with on-going Photo: WWF-Canon/Martin Harvey poaching for bushmeat, may have reduced populations levels severely in Gabon and the Republic of Congo. The Threats Facing Apes in Africa The Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli - Critically Endangered) is the most Illegal Hunting and Trade threatened African ape - fewer than 250 Bushmeat or wild meat is the main source of individuals remain. It exists only in lowland and protein for many rural Africans and in urban sub-montane forests in hills on the border areas it is often preferred even where meat from between Cameroon and Nigeria in an area of domesticated livestock and poultry is readily maybe no more than 200 km2. The small available and cheaper to purchase. Although all population is fragmented into at least six sub- African great ape species are legally protected in populations, some of which are completely their range states, the resources and will to isolated. enforce the law are lacking in many countries. As a result, chimpanzees, gorillas and bonobos are Eastern gorilla (Gorilla beringei) killed for meat in many areas of west and central Separated from western gorillas by about 900 km Africa, and their body parts are used in some of Congo Basin forest, eastern gorillas inhabit traditional medicines. Five African great apes submontane and montane forests in eastern (western and eastern chimpanzee, bonobo, central Africa. There are two subspecies. Grauer’s gorilla, mountain gorilla) inhabit areas The mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei currently afflicted by war or civil unrest, where beringei - Critically endangered) is restricted to firearms are ubiquitous and law enforcement is two populations. Between 359 and 395 animals weak or non-existent. For example, even the occur in an area of about 375 km2 in the Virunga well-protected mountain gorillas in the Virungas mountains on the border of DRC, Rwanda and have been affected by the region's problems, and Uganda, at altitudes ranging from 2,300 to 4,500 12-17 individuals (3.7-5.2% of the population) m. A separate population of about 320 died as a direct result of military activity between individuals occurs in an area of 215 km2 in the 1992 and 2000. In DRC, bonobos are being Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda, hunted by poachers and army deserters with at elevations of 1,500 to 2,300 m. The Virunga automatic weapons. In many range states ape population has increased by about 17 per cent in populations are declining through illegal killing the last 15 years thanks largely to a collaborative even within protected areas, such as the western effort between WWF and other conservation chimpanzee in Marahoué National Park, Côte agencies to support the three range states in d’Ivoire, and Grauer’s gorilla in Kahuzi-Biega protecting these apes. The Bwindi population, in National Park, DRC. Indeed, in 96% of spite of conservation projects, appears to remain protected areas with research projects, apes are stable. declining. This underlines the need to ensure Grauer’s gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri - protected areas are managed effectively to avoid Endangered), sometimes known as the eastern the loss of biodiversity. Outside protected areas, lowland gorilla, has a discontinuous distribution apes fair even worse. Logging concessions are 2 Conservation of Africa's Great Apes - WWF, November 2003 often associated with an increase in poaching populations. For example, in Gombe Stream due to the demand of the workers and the National Park in Tanzania over three decades increased access provided by logging roads and human diseases such as scabies, pneumonia and vehicles. Similarly, mining can open up remote gut parasites caused a chimpanzee population areas to poaching. decline of nearly 40 per cent. Groups of In many places hunting apes, even on a primates habituated for tourist viewing are subsistence basis, is unsustainable at current particularly at risk: the mountain gorillas in human population densities. Precise levels of Virunga have contracted a number of diseases. exploitation are unknown but estimates are Disease transmission from humans may be one disturbing and across Africa some 3,000-6,000 of the most severe threats faced by habituated great apes may be killed per annum. Although apes, and is also a risk where ape populations the numbers killed are low relative to numbers live in close proximity to densely settled human of other wildlife (monkeys, duikers, cane rats, communities. etc.), great apes have a low reproductive rate and In late 2002 an epidemic of ebola extended period of infant dependence making haemorrhagic fever spread across the Republic them vulnerable to even low levels of mortality. of Congo killing more than 90 people and The loss of a single adult female from a countless western lowland gorillas and central population thus has great demographic and chimpanzees. The human cases almost certainly social repercussions. In addition, because apes arose from consuming ape meat. In parts of are highly intelligent social animals, stress caused Gabon and the Republic of Congo, up to 90 per by hunting may result in disruption and cent of ape populations have been decimated by disturbance of normal foraging and ranging ebola, leaving them more vulnerable to hunting behaviour.