THE animal project design officer at Edinburgh Zoo comments on new research that suggests West African chimp numbers in one of their last strongholds in the Ivory Coast have fallen by 90 per cent in the past two decades.
How serious is the plight of the West African chimp?If we can do something now then there's still hope, but clearly the speed of this 90 per cent drop is faster than we would have hoped or expected, and if that level continues th
en there is no hope. Things need to stop now and real conservation efforts need to start immediately.
What threats do they face?Most of the threats they face are due to humans. The problem is the poaching for what we call bushmeat. Clearly the African people need to eat meat and over the centuries they have done that, but at a sustainable level. Now that human populations are so great and forests are easier to get into because of logging, the chimps are easier to get to, and with automatic weapons such as guns it's so much easier to get to the chimps to kill them for food. We have to find ways of creating different food sources that people in the Ivory Coast can eat.
What can be done about it?There are no simple answers; the conservation of any species is difficult as many of the world's endangered species are a result of human interference. Chimpanzees need the forests to survive and increasing human populations are competing for those forests. It is important to engage the governments and local people. The Budongo Conservation Field Station in Uganda, which the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland funds, is a good example of integrated conservation. The field station is working with local people to manage the forest sustainably so that the wildlife, including the East African chimpanzee and humans, can coexist. The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria has a special endangered species breeding programme for the West African chimpanzee. The RZSS Edinburgh Zoo is shortly to join that programme.
Why are West African chimps important?All species are important in their own way, but as primates are the closest link to human evolution, chimpanzees are one of the species that must be at the very height of conservation efforts.
How optimistic are you for the future?The civil unrest in the Ivory Coast is now over, but the future still looks bleak for the West African chimp. Only good co-operation between conservation organisations and the government and people of the Ivory Coast will save it.
The full article contains 434 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
