The list has been drawn up by primatologists working in the field who have first-hand knowledge of the causes of threats to primates. One of the editors of the report is Dr Christoph Schwitzer, Director
of Conservation at Bristol Zoological Society and a world-leading primatologist. He explained the significance of the report:
“This research highlights the extent of the danger facing many of the world’s primates,” he said. “We hope it will focus people’s attention on these lesser known primate species, some of which most people will probably have never heard of, such as the Lavasoa Mountains dwarf lemur from Madagascar - a species only discovered two years ago - or the
Roloway monkey from Ghana and Ivory Coast, which we believe is on the very verge of extinction.”
He added: “Some of these animals have tiny populations remaining in the wild and support and action to help save them is vital if we are to avoid losing these wonderful animals forever.”
Madagascar and Vietnam both have large numbers of highly threatened primate species. In Africa, the genus of the red colobus monkeys is under particular threat, as are some of the howler monkeys and spider monkeys of South America. All of these species are relatively large and conspicuous, making them prime targets for bushmeat hunting.
Dr Russell Mittermeier, Chair of the IUCN/SSC Primate Specialist Group and Executive Vice Chair of Conservation International, said: “The purpose of our Top 25 list is to highlight those primates most at risk, to attract the attention of the public, to stimulate national governments to do more, and especially to find the resources to implement desperately needed conservation measures. In particular, we want to encourage governments to commit to desperately needed biodiversity conservation measures.”
