Wildlife Alliance

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The threat to Asia’s apes, monkeys and other primates continues to mount, according to a report by the World Conservation Union/IUCN.

While all primates are threatened, the situation in Southeast Asia is now particularly dire. According to the deputy head of the IUCN Species Programme, “What is happening in Southeast Asia is terrifying.”

More than 90% of the primate species in Cambodia and Vietnam are at risk of extinction, due to illegal wildlife trade and habitat loss, including widespread illegal logging.

Wildlife Alliance has mounted extensive efforts to protect Southeast Asia’s primates.

We are working to protect the Southern Cardamoms Mountains of Cambodia, a stronghold of the world’s wild population of pileated gibbons, by training and equipping forest rangers.

Our Wildlife Rapid Rescue Team and national wildlife crime task forces conduct urban wildlife law enforcement operations to stop the illegal trading of primates like the slow loris for the exotic pet trade. Education campaigns publicize the threat to apes and monkeys in Khmer, Thai, and other local languages.

And community outreach and livelihood programs enable rural villagers to provide for their families without destroying the forests that wild primates call home.

But more needs to be done. Monkeys and apes need strong enforcement of forest and wildlife laws to protect their natural habitats, and the demand of the international illegal wildlife markets needs to be curtailed. Without efforts on all fronts, Asia’s primates face a bleak future.