Stolen Apes

ESTIMATES

during the actual hunt, others die as a result of injuries, ill- ness or mistreatment while in captivity. Additionally, only a small percentage of those sold on the black market are ever rescued and even the most conservative estimates indicate that wild populations suffer serious losses, varying accord- ing to the species.

The illegal hunting and trafficking of great apes exacts a massive toll on wild populations and the number of chim- panzees, gorillas, bonobos and orangutans that are confis- cated only hints at the losses. In addition to great apes killed

Gorilla: 1 confiscated = 2 dead adults

Orangutan: 1 confiscated = 1 dead adult

Gorilla mortality rates caused by the illegal trade are likely much higher than other great apes, specifically because in- fant gorillas succumb easily to stress and illness and often die during trafficking. In fact, a gorilla sanctuary in Congo in the 1980s reported that 80 per cent of rescued infants died in captivity, suggesting that four infants died for every one infant that lived. Each of those dead infants signified two further deaths during capture, those of the parents. Thus, each infant rescued alive may represent a potential loss of 15 wild gorillas.

The solitary nature of orangutans limits the immediate loss of life to the mother of each confiscated infant, although some studies suggest that six to eight die in captivity for every one that survives. But orangutans reproduce slowly with only one birth every six to eight years, and many wild populations exist in isolated fragmented forests. A study of the wild orangutan population in Kalimantan, Borneo, found that even the loss of a mother during capture accounted for 3 to 4 per cent of the total number of reproductive females in the region, threaten- ing to bring the wild population into a negative spiral.

Bonobo: 1 confiscated = 5–10 dead adults

The social structure and size of chimpanzee communities often results in the hunters killing entire families for bush- meat in the process of retrieving a single infant. A review of the capture practices of wildlife traders in West Africa in the 1970s estimated that for every live captive infant chimpanzee rescued, five to 10 chimpanzees were killed (Teleki 1980). Chimpanzee: 1 confiscated = 5–10 dead adults

Bonobo family groups are increasingly accessible to hunters searching for bushmeat. Wild bonobo populations followmany of the same social community patterns as chimpanzees, and are easy targets for hunters in search of food or infants to sell. No more than 20,000 bonobos are thought to exist and they are only found in dwindling numbers in forest pockets of DR Congo. Intense hunting could drive the bonobo to extinction.

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