Chimpanzee population: Threats and Conservation
Chimp population Overview: Threats and conservation
Written by Uthman OYEBAMIJI
Did you know? Chimpanzees have the largest geographical range in population of all the great apes. They range throughout the African equatorial belt from Senegal in the west to Tanzania in the Eastern-Africa.
Due to their high dependence on forest ecosystem wild chimpanzees are not habituated to human presence. And it is much harder to know how many are in a given area. Chimps make nest, Instead of counting chimps, researchers sometimes count nests to get an estimate of chimpanzee abundance. Thesesleeping nests are built every night and old ones are easy to find in the forest. Surveys of nests and other clues, it is believed that there are about 175 to 300,000 chimpanzees left in the wild. Chimpanzees are divided into four different subspecies, which differ genetically and even behaviorally. The populations of some of these are very small. Some scientists believe that Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii have the largest population. Others conclude that there are more Pan troglodytestroglodytes left in the wild. Found only in Nigeria, Pan troglodytes ellioti are by far the most endangered.
Due to threats from human pressure (Agriculture, mining, logging) many chimpanzees have disappeared from several protected areas and even entire countries in the last decades. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature, predicts that by 2050, chimp populations will be about half of what they were in the 1970s.
DEFFORESTATION AND INDUSTRY
Forest ecosystem is an essential habitat for chimpanzees, providing them with all required resources that they need to survive. Ever increasing human populations drives wildlife and other forest inhabitants away. Our population growth around the world is leading to increased demand for food.
Human settlement around forest use fires to clear the land for small fields and plots to grow the food. Summation of such agricultural practice will eventually have huge impact.
On the other hand, large scale agriculture such as plantations also poses great threats to Chimpanzees. Industrial logging for timber, means the removal of trees, which has an immediate effect on the chimpanzees that make their home in the forest.
When a forest is logged over a long time period, the composition of trees changes and becomes more uniform. The large, mature trees that chimpanzees depend on for food are removed, and the forest shifts to community of smaller, faster growing species.
Mining activity has increased across Africa, as demand is booming for precious metals and gems, iron, and even salt. Meanwhile, Congo is host the majority of the remaining chimpanzees of the world, Coltan, a mineral component used in the production of smartphones, is commonly mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
BUSHMEAT AND ILLEGAL TRADE
Bushmeat is a term that refers to the meat that comes from wild animals. Due to poverty most rural households depend on bushmeat to get the protein that they need in their diet and at times this makes their income source when sold in the market.
Hunting and Snare trapping is another threat to chimp population. When trapped, infants are kept alive and sold into the illegal pet trade. A small number of hunters may actually target the infants, killing all the adults in the group simply to access the baby chimp. The adults can be sold for bushmeatwhile the baby chimp can be sold alive for a high price. These little orphans may wind up in private homes as pets or as entertainers in unscrupulous zoos or traveling shows.
Killing or trapping of chimpanzee is illegal because chimp is an endangered species. Protected under an International law called Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). CITIES, the law protecting endangered species requires that anyone exporting chimps are moving them between countries must obtain a special permit and this should be very difficult to get.
#DontBuyEatTrade chimp!!!
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