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ANTH-2281-402-sp18
Melissa Schaefer
Primates in Peril
Every year more and more primates become endangered and some are close to extinction.
They’re one of the most endangered animals in the world. Every two years, the list of
endangered primates is updated. The most recent edition of this list is the Primates in Peril: The
World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates 2014-2016. In the reading, it compares the 2014-2016
list to the 2012-2014 list. Since there are so many species of primates, some get taken off the
current list that was on the previous list, and some are added to the new list. Roughly 8 species
on the list get replaced with 8 new ones. Some primates are considered but aren’t as highly
threatened as the others. Each area that has primates lists five primates that are endangered.
Primates main locations are Africa, Madagascar, Asia, and the Neotropics. Just to name 4 out of
the 25 most endangered primates, in Africa, there’s the Grauer’s Gorilla. In Madagascar, there’s
the Red Ruffed Lemur. In Asia, there’s the Sumatran Orangutan. In the Neotropics, there’s the
One primate thats endangered and is well known to the Dominican Republic of Congo
endangered. Threats to these gorillas intensified enormously throughout the 1990’s to the 2000’s.
(Nixon and Williams, 2010,2012, 2014, 24) It’s the largest Gorilla of the four subspecies. It has
a stocky body, large hands, and short muzzle. Theses features help distinguish it from other
Gorillas. They can grow up to 440 pounds and can be as tall as 6 ft when standing on two legs.
They mainly feed on herbs, leaves, bark, lianas and vines, seasonal fruit, insects, and in higher
elevations bamboo. Eastern Lowland Gorillas make their home in the tropical rainforest in
eastern DRC. Mainly in central and eastern Africa. Gorillas move around in families. A
dominant male leads the family for years. The family can range from individuals to more than 40
members. Poaching, diseases like Ebola, and habitat destruction remains a huge threat for
gorillas. Most of them live outside of protected areas. Gorilla are a quickly disappearing
subspecies. Groups like WWF are helping to protect theses gorillas by monitoring them and
expanding protected areas. People can help by adopting a gorilla or donating money to the
foundation.
peninsula in northern madagascar (petter and petter-Rousseaux 1979; tattersall 1982). its fur
varies in color patterns.the length of this lemur is 50-50 cm and a body mass of 3.0-3.6 kg
(Geoffroy 1812, 33; Vasey 2013). It feeds mainly on fruit, supplemented with flowers, nectar,
and leaves. They’re most active during the hot rainy season. The red ruffed lemur is classified as
critically endangered and has a suspect population reduction of 80% within 3 generations. The
main threat to this species is habitat loss and hunting. The only area thats protected where they
They have a slow reproduction rate. Females give birth to one infant every eight or nine years. If
orangutans were to disappear,several tree species would disappear because they are important to
seed distribution. Habitat loss is a huge threat to this species. It’s mainly due to fire and
conversion of forests to oil palm plantations. Conservationist are concerned that each major
Both sexes are a red-fawned color. They’re known for their loud howling which can be heard for
over 1.6 km. They inhabit lowlands which involves fruit in their diets according to seasonal
availability. Howler monkeys are important seed distributors for several plant species. The
northern brown howler monkey is classified as critically endangered. Their primary threats are
habitation and forest loss, fragmentation due to logging and agriculture, and hunting. Yellow
fever is another threat to these monkeys. A conservation project is taking place for these
monkeys. Researchers and scientists have been surveying and documenting Northern Brown
Howlers to better understand the threats. After months of research they found ten populations
Primates are constantly being threatened by disease, habitat loss, hunting, and more. One
of the major causes is human activity. I think one of the threat that i’m doing is being a
consumer. Monkeys habitats are being ruined for wood, agriculture, and more. Something that i
could do is use less things involving materials that are taken from their habitats. There is an
Schwitzer, C., Mittermeier, R.A., Rylands, A.B., Chiozza, F., Williamson, E.A., Wallis, J. and Cotton, A.
(eds.). 2015. Primates in Peril: e World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates 2014-2016. IUCN SSC Primate
Specialist Group (PSG), International Primatological Society (IPS), Conservation International (CI), and
www.worldwildlife.org/species/eastern-lowland-gorilla.
www.arkive.org/eastern-gorilla/gorilla-beringei/image-G4640.html.
http://www.arkive.org/red-ruffed-lemur/varecia-rubra/image-G7268.html
“Orangutan photo”
http://www.arkive.org/sumatran-orangutan/pongo-abelii/image-G4032.html
https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/sumatran-orangutan
http://www.arkive.org/brown-howling-monkey/alouatta-guariba/image-G34700.html