Pygmy Chimps Far Worse Off Than Thought - 1/5 Of Est. Population Remains

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JOHANNESBURG - "Pygmy chimpanzees, one of humanity's closest living relatives, have been pushed to the brink of extinction in the war-battered Democratic Republic of Congo, conservation group WWF International said on Thursday.

WWF said recent surveys in Africa's Congo basin revealed that perhaps only 10,000 of the primates, also known as bonobos, remain in the wild compared to previous estimates of around 50,000. "There may be as few as 10,000 bonobos left ... These initial results concern us greatly," said Dr. Peter J. Stephenson, WWF's African Great Apes Programme Coordinator.

The survey was conducted in the Democratic Republic of Congo -- the only country where bonobos are found -- in the 36,000 square kilometre Salonga National Park, a protected area the size of Holland. "The first data in from about a third of the park show evidence of very few bonobos living there. No bonobos were encountered, and sightings of nests and dung were only made in a quarter of the area surveyed, at lower densities than previously measured," Swiss-based WWF said in a statement.

"In contrast, there was abundant evidence of human encroachment into the park and of poaching," it said, blaming the decline of the species on illegal hunting for food -- or "bushmeat" -- by militias and hungry local peasants. The findings add to a grim body of evidence that the great apes are in serious trouble -- with Congo one of their most blighted spots on earth at the moment."


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http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/28495/story.htm