Chimpanzees: facing extinction
Fifty years ago, the chimpanzee population in Africa was believed to be 1-1.5 million. Today less than 150,000 remain.
As logging roads are cut into previously unreachable areas, the hunting of chimpanzees for bushmeat — once a practice only of local people — has become commercial, catering to the cultural preference of many urban dwellers for the meat of wild animals and supplying workers at logging camps with food. Infant chimpanzees who survive the hunt are sold as pets.
For more information:
- The Bushmeat Project
- Bushmeat Crisis Task Force
- Jane Goodall Institute
- Chimfunshi Wildlife Orphanage
In 1975, it became illegal to ship chimpanzees out of Africa. Listed as an endangered species in the wild, in the U.S. captive chimpanzees were down listed to “threatened” to allow their continued use in medical research.
Chimpanzees: used for entertainment
The use of chimpanzees in entertainment is harmful to them in many ways and universally opposed by the animal protection community. For more information see:
