Conservationists working with African countries in the range of eastern chimpanzees,
(Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) have developed a ten year conservation plan to save the remaining endangered eastern chimpanzees. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Wildlife Conservation Society released the plan last week according to
ENS. Preservation of 16 areas could conserve 96% of the estimated number of chimpanzees-- put at 50,000 primates. Little is known of some chimps living in the still vast Congo basin, so the number could be as high as 200,000. The plan calls for surveys to be conducted to obtain a more accurate population count. It is thought that human encroachment and poaching has resulted in significant population reduction. The causes of chimpanzee population declines are well known, but not easily reversed. The plan envisions 30 to 40 more years of losses, but through international cooperation among the 16 range states it hopes to minimize threats to their survival and ensure viable populations. Saving chimpanzees is proper in its own right, but the morality of the issue becomes even clearer when one considers their obvious intelligence, social and emotional lives, and their rudimentary cultures. Chimpanzees make their own tools, including weapons, and prefer their food cooked. Given time they may even find a use for fire.
image credit: sciencenews.org
