Pan troglodytes Blumenbach, 1799
THREATS
The main threats to the chimpanzee are habitat loss, hunting of adults for bushmeat, capture of infants to supply the pet trade and entertainment industry, and the international biomedical trade. The relative severity of these threats differs from region to region.10
The Committee for the Conservation and Care of Chimpanzees, a US-based NGO, estimates that approximately 1,000 wild-caught animals are exported from Africa each year. This figure may be far greater than the exploited populations can sustain, given that at least ten chimpanzees may die for every one that survives delivery to overseas destinations.6,7 The reduction of wild populations by commerce alone has been substantial: between 40,000 and 90,000 chimpanzees were exterminated in Africa over 20 years.3 Not all international trade is for biomedical purposes, some chimpanzees are destined for the traditional entertainment industry.10 One market is Spain and the Canary Islands, where they are used by beach photographers to attract foreign tourists. It is possible that some of these chimpanzees may be sold to East European medical laboratories.18 However, the capture and export of chimpanzees for medical experimentation has almost disapapeared as the great majority of chimps used in laboratories are captive-bred.24
Game meat is often the primary source of dietary protein in Central and West African countries. Large species such as the chimpanzee are more desirable and more easily spotted by hunters. Trade in infant chimpanzees is often coupled with direct hunting of bushmeat and other chimpanzee products sold in local and regional markets. Chimpanzee skulls have been reported for sale in Kenya, Burundi and Zaïre.1 However, in recent years hunting for "bushmeat" has become heavily commercialized. Today it is on the menu in cities from Cameroon to the Congo and as far away as Paris or Brussels. In Ouesso, the largest town in northern Congo, around 5,700 kg are consumed every week. In Yaoundé, gorilla is served smoked, or as steak or stew. According to a study by the World Society for the Protection of Animals, an estimated 800 western lowland gorillas are killed annually for the bushmeat trade in one district of Cameroon.24
Increased contact with human beings has facilitated disease transmission between human and chimpanzee populations. Researchers in Gombe Stream National Park recorded at least four major epidemics between 1960 and 1987, including poliomyelitis and influenza, which adversely affected the chimpanzee population. It is highly probable that these were contracted from neighbouring human settlements.9 Researchers from the World Health Organisation have reported that the deadly Ebola virus could easily be carried by chimpanzees (although it is unlikely that apes are the primary hosts as the virus kills apes as well as humans). In 1996, 12 chimpanzees died from the Ebola virus in Côte d'Ivoire, as did some humans who ate chimpanzee meat in Gabon.24
Forestry, mining, farming, and other forms of land development are significant factors in the loss or degradation of habitat, and are contributing to the decline of forest primates throughout tropical Africa. Those habitat patches which remain are often small and unconnected, leaving chimpanzee populations isolated. Logging operations often attract agricultural encroachment and commercial hunting of wildlife. Deforestation is most advanced in West Africa, where only remnant tracts of primary rainforest remain in all countries. In Sierra Leone, for example, only 4% of the original canopy forest still stands, confined mostly to the Gola Forest Reserves.9 The fragmented populations of the eastern and western subspecies are primarily located in remnant forest, game reserves and national parks. In many such "protected areas", poaching for meat and live infants is common, as is unauthorized logging, mining and farming.9
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