Chimpanzees - Threats

Reduced to this?

The main threats to the chimpanzee are habitat loss and hunting for bushmeat. The relative severity of these threats differs from region to region, but the two are linked. Many conservationists believe that the bushmeat trade is now the greatest threat to forest biodiversity in West and Central Africa.

Habitat loss and degradation
Degradation of forests through logging, mining, farming, and other forms of land development is contributing to the decline of primate species throughout tropical Africa. Remaining habitat patches are often small and unconnected, leaving chimpanzee populations isolated.

Deforestation is most advanced in West Africa, where only remnant tracts of primary rainforest remain. The small populations of western, Nigerian, and eastern chimpanzees are primarily located in remnant forest reserves and national parks.

In many such "protected areas", poaching for meat and live infants is common, as is unauthorized logging, mining and farming. Logging activities improve access to formerly remote forest areas, leading to increased hunting pressure.
Find out more about habitat loss

Bushmeat
'Bushmeat' has always been a primary source of dietary protein in Central and West African countries. In recent years, hunting for bushmeat, once a subsistence activity, has become heavily commercialized and much of the meat goes to urban residents who can afford to pay premium prices for it.

The effect of the bushmeat trade on chimp populations has yet to be evaluated, but a study in Congo showed that offtake was 5 to 7%, surpassing annual population increase. In addition, apes are often injured or killed in snares set for other animals. Infant chimpanzees are frequently taken alive and sold in the cities as pets.

Disease - the Ebola crisis
In late 2002 an outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever in humans was reported in the north of the Republic of Congo on the border with Gabon. The human infections coincided with a large-scale die-off of great apes in the region.

Two great apes are found in Central Africa, the area currently affected by Ebola: western lowland gorilla and the central chimpanzee. Both have been severely affected by the virus, which has drastically reduced populations. The disease continues to spread and is now reported in Odzala National Park, a site known to have the highest density of great apes in Africa.