Extinction threat for Primates

Extinction threat for Primates

The first comprehensive review of the world’s 634 kinds of primates in five years has found that almost 50

percent of species are in danger of going extinct, according to the 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species™. In Asia, more than 70 percent of primates are classified as threatened, meaning they could disappear forever in the near future. “Tropical forest destruction has always been the main cause, but now it appears that hunting is just as serious a threat in some areas” says Russell A. Mittermeier, Chair of IUCN’s Primate Specialist Group. As our closest relatives, apes, monkeys and other primates are important to the health of surrounding ecosystems. The forests they live in provide vital resources for humans and also absorb carbon dioxide that causes climate change.

Source: http://cms.iucn.org/about/work/programmes/species/index.cfm?uNewsID=1391