BY VALERIE ORLEANS
From Dateline (October 14, 2004)
Chimps Could Be Extinct in the Next
Few Decades
He’s traveled to 21 counties, most recently
West Africa, studying the great apes and specifically, chimpanzees.
What Norm Rosen, an anthropology research associate and part-time
faculty member, has discovered is that chimps – human’s
closest relatives – are in danger. In fact, there is concern
that chimps could be extinct within the next 50 years.
“The situation is much more critical than we
thought,” said Rosen, coordinator of a study researching chimps
in West Africa.
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What have you found out
during your travels and study? |
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A: |
Overall, we’ve seen a
40 to 50 percent decline in chimps over the past decade. It’s
hard to come up with exact numbers because chimps tend to
move deep into the forest where it’s not easy to find
them. The research I’ve conducted runs parallel to studies
performed by Jane Goodall. We’re both coming up with
the same results: chimps are in grave danger.
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Q: |
Based on this information,
it looks like chimps could face extinction? |
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A:
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They will if nothing changes.
The bushmeat crisis – the hunting and eating of apes
– has had the greatest impact on the decline of chimps.
You find this not only in Africa but in parts of South America
and Asia as well. And, of course, the loss of the rainforest,
chimps’ natural habitat, due to logging, also creates
significant problems.
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Q: |
Why has this reached crisis
levels? |
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A: |
Well, you have many in Africa
who are surviving on a subsistence level. Of course, they
have done that for years. They go after the apes for the meat
– the protein. But now villagers aren’t hunting
simply to feed their families. There’s a profit motive.
A virtual cottage industry has developed with villagers hunting
apes so they can sell the meat to others. We believe that
each year, two million metric tons of bushmeat is traded.
Since there is little industry in West Africa, you can see
why people live off the forest. However, it’s not sustainable
and with guns, the kill rate is much higher. You are now threat-ening
the entire species.
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Q: |
What happens to the
social structure of chimp groups when one is killed? |
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A: |
Chimps tend to congregate in
families and large groups. Hunters tend to focus on the females
– particularly mothers. When you shoot the mother, you
get the meat and you also get the babies that are then sold
as pets. Also, when you shoot the females, the males come
rushing in to protect them and they can be shot too. Some
of the orphaned babies, of course, die or are found and taken
to a chimp sanctuary. |
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Q: |
A chimp sanctuary? How many
are there? |
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A:
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Each year there are more because
the problem is growing. I’m currently an adviser to
the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance – a group of 19 sanctuaries
– that conducts research and meets regularly. We believe
that for every baby chimp that is cared for in a sanctuary,
five to 10 are killed or die in the wild. It’s a mathematical
guesstimate, but to give you an idea of the scope of the problem,
in 2001, there were 400 chimps in sanctuaries; today there
are 700. If that number keeps growing at the same rate, you
can see it’s only a matter of time before chimps become
extinct. |
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Q: |
That’s frightening. |
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A: |
Yes, it gets even
worse. Many dis-eases are first identified in chimps. And
because we are such close relatives, we can pass diseases
back and forth. Chimps have something called SIV – simian
immunodeficiency virus – that’s very close to
HIV. Chimps and gorillas also are carriers of Ebola. However,
chimps have something that allows them to carry SIV without
dying. We want to study chimps to see what’s going on
because it could help AIDS research with humans.
However, people who eat bushmeat taint-ed by
SIV develop HIV. Eating bushmeat worsens the AIDS crisis in
Africa. |
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Q: |
So what is the solution? |
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Well, you can look at other areas
of Africa and see what they’re doing. In many places
tourism has become a profitable business. By protecting the
land and animals, people are able to survive. In Kenya, for
instance, 37 percent of the country’s income is derived
from tourism. Uganda and Rwanda have programs to help people
see mountain gorillas. And in Tanzania, there are tours so
people see the beauty of the rainforest – and chimps!
In many parts of Africa there also has to be more attention
on protecting national parks and reserves. Protecting these
areas simply isn’t a priority for many nations. Until
it becomes a priority, hunting will continue in the parks.
Of course, the bigger problem is develop-ing an appreciation
of conservation. But as we witness global warming, continued
deforestation and the extinction of plants and animals –
many of whom may carry the keys to helping us prevent or cure
disease – we will continue to see species threatened. |
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