Primate conservation in the new millennium: The role of scientists

For nearly three decades, the academic community has clearly recognized tha t many primate populations are severely threatened by human activities.(1-3 ) In 1983, Wolfheim(4) estimated that more than 50% of all primate species faced some form of threat. Over a decade later, the Primate Specialist Grou p of the Species Survival Commission of the World Conservation Unions estim ated that half of the world's 250 species of primates were of serious conse rvation concern. In a recent review of the current status of primate commun ities, Wright and Jernvall(6) commented that it was an achievement for prim ate conservationists that we had not lost any species in the last millenniu m. It is ironic that the first documented extinction of a widely recognized primate taxon occurred just as we entered the new millennium.(7) Based on surveys in Ghana and Cote d'lvoire, Gates and colleagues(7) have failed to find any surviving populations of Miss Waldron's red colobus (Procolobus ba dius waldroni), a primate taxon endemic to this region and one that some au thorities consider worthy of species status. Because 96 primate species are now considered to be critically endangered or endangered,(6,8,9) much must be done in the near future to ensure that extinction curves do not lag beh ind tropical deforestation and high levels of commercial and subsistence hu nting.(10)