‘A Moral Imperative’: Scientists Say We Must Change Conservation Strategies to Save Endangered Great Apes

Following decades of hunting and habitat destruction by humans, great apes are teetering on the edge of extinction.

Five out of seven species of great apes — the closest living relatives to humans — have been listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as “critically endangered,” according to a new study by an international team of researchers.

“The great apes — bonobos, chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans — are critically threatened by human activities. We have destroyed their habitats, hunted them and transmitted fatal diseases to them,” the authors of the study wrote. “They are endangered, and time is running out.”

According to Andrew Marshall and John Mitani, field researchers from University of Michigan, traditional conservation methods have been useful, but they are no longer sufficient. The research team suggested new conservation paths to help guarantee the existence of these majestic primates.

The study, “Future coexistence with great apes will require major changes to policy and practice,” was published in the journal Nature Human Behavior.

“Despite considerable effort and investment in conservation, ape populations are continuing to decline, many of them very dramatically. Five of the seven recognized taxa are now critically endangered. Rather than focusing on the current plight of apes, which is well known, we wanted to be forward looking and propose things we could do that might improve the situation,” Marshall said in a press release from University of Michigan.

Pointing to the mass extinction of species caused by humans, Mitani said there was “a moral imperative” to save the apes, as they are “essentially our kin.”

“If we can’t save these animals, then there’s really very little hope for the rest of biodiversity. I just can’t imagine a world without these animals,” Mitani said in the press release.

Marshall said that even the best efforts at keeping all existing conservation areas protected won’t be adequate.

“For orangutans, which is the group that I know best, even if we were to protect every single orangutan in every protected area in perpetuity, that is not enough to ensure their long-term persistence, which means that the future of conservation must also address issues outside protected areas,” Marshall said. “That’s one of the things that we want to draw people’s attention to: There are lots and lots of apes that live outside national parks and they are more threatened than those that live inside national parks and other protected areas. But they also deserve our care and protection.”

Mitani added that more work is needed in areas where humans live alongside apes.

“The reason for this is the world has gotten a lot smaller. In my lifetime, the human population has tripled. Humans are everywhere, doing things and edging apes out as a consequence,” Mitani said.

Mitani also pointed out that when there is conflict between humans and great apes, the apes are the ones who suffer most.

“It’s easy for conservationists to demonize ‘local people’ as the major threats to apes. That’s problematic for all kinds of reasons,” Marshall said. “[M]any of the threats, even those that are immediately posed by local communities, are often due to broader market pressures, and many of us participate in those markets and indirectly lead to many of these pressures. Many of the folks that are killing orangutans, destroying their habitat, are doing so to earn money necessary to pay school fees for their kids, buy medicines for their sick relatives, and things like that.”

Marshall explained that it was unrealistic and unfair to ask people in these circumstances to make major sacrifices without any direct benefits to them.

Mitani said establishing reliable sources of capital was essential to help save and protect great apes, rather than making their destruction profitable.

“To address this issue, we recruited another colleague, Genevieve Campbell, a primatologist with the conservation nonprofit Re:wild, who has worked with banks and industries to try to find ways to mitigate or minimize the destructive activities they have on ape habitat,” Mitani said. “What Genevieve would like to do, and what both Andy and I support, is to develop a long-term, permanent funding stream. One way to do this is to establish a great ape trust fund that would provide support for great ape conservation in perpetuity.”