Little-known gibbons face imminent extinction

By Jeremy Hance, www.mongabay.com September 19, 2010 It’s not easy to be a gibbon: although one of the most acrobatic, fast, and marvelously loud of the world’s primates, the gibbon remains largely unknown to the global public and far less studied than the world’s more ‘popular’ apes. This lack of public awareness, scientific knowledge, and, […]

Poaching causes orangutan populations to collapse in pristine forest areas

By Rhett A. Butler, www.mongabay.comAugust 12, 2010 Orangutan encounter rates have fallen six-fold in Borneo over the past 150 years, report researchers writing in the journal PLoS One. Erik Meijaard, an ecologist with People and Nature Consulting International, and colleagues compared present-day encounter rates with collection rates from naturalists working in the mid-19th Century. They […]

In Congo forest, bushmeat trade threatens Pygmies

By TODD PITMAN, Associated Pressupdated 7/3/2010 9:39:02 PM ET THE ITURI FOREST, Congo — They emerge from the stillness of the rainforest like a lost tribe of prehistoric warriors forgotten by time — a barefoot band of Mbuti Pygmies wielding iron-tipped spears. The men come first, cloaked head to toe in coiled hunting nets shaved […]

New plan to save the chimpanzee from extinction

  By Jeremy Hance, www.mongabay.comJune 21, 2010 Humankind’s closest relative, the chimpanzee, is classified as Endangered by the IUCN Red List. Threatened by habitat and forest loss, hunting for bushmeat, trafficking for the illegal pet trade, mining, and disease, the species remains in a precarious position. Yet a new 10-year-plan with East and Central African […]

Rainforest destruction continues in Madagascar despite ‘ban’ on timber exports

www.wildmadagascar.org June 21, 2010 New eyewitness reports indicate continued logging of Madagascar’s Masoala National Park for rosewood despite a government “moratorium” on logging and timber exports. A source near Marofinaritra, a town between Masoala and Antalaha, reports heavy night-time movement of trucks carrying illegally logged timber from the park. The wood is believed to be […]

Five tons of bushmeat smuggled into Paris each week

By Maria Cheng And Christina Okello, Associated Press WritersThu Jun 17, 7:56 pm ET PARIS – The traders sell an array of bushmeat: monkey carcasses, smoked anteater, even preserved porcupine. But this isn’t a roadside market in Africa — it’s the heart of Paris, where a new study has found more than five tons of […]

Climate change made apes vanish in ancient Europe

By Katia Moskvitch Science reporter, BBC News Page last updated at 4:14 GMT, Monday, 7 June 2010 5:14 UK Great apes were wiped out in ancient Europe when their environment changed drastically some nine million years ago, scientists say. A study of fossil teeth from grazing animals sheds light on what Europe was like during […]

Third of plants and animals ‘at risk of extinction’

  By Matthew MoorePublished: 1:25PM BST 09 May 2010 The world’s biodiversity is threatened by the economic growth of countries like China, India and Brazil, the study will say. While Western countries are increasingly aware of the need to protect endangered species, the developing world’s appetite for raw materials is destroying vulnerable ecosystems, the report’s […]

U.N. helicopters fly baby Congo gorillas to safety

By Thomas Hubert; Editing by Tim Cocks, David Lewis and Mark TrevelyanKINSHASAWed Apr 28, 2010 3:09pm EDT (Reuters) – United Nations peacekeepers in Congo have used helicopters to airlift endangered baby gorillas to a sanctuary after they were rescued in a conflict zone where they faced being captured or eaten. The animals ferried to safety […]

Eco-certified paper made from razed orangutan rainforest

  By Jennifer Hattam, Istanbul, Turkey  on 04.10.10 European consumers of Golden Plus and Lucky Boss brand copy paper got an unpleasant surprise this week when a federation of EU environmental groups announced that the products they thought were made from sustainable sources have in fact been having “devastating impacts on Sumatran rainforests, causing deforestation, […]

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