The Associated Press, New Delhi, India | Environment | Mon October 15, 2012, 4: 17 PM
Twenty-five species of langurs, lemurs, monkeys and gorillas are on the verge of extinction and global action to protect them from the increasing deforestation and illegal trade, researchers said Monday.
Six of the seriously endangered species live on the island nation of Madagascar, South Africa. Five more of mainland Africa, five from South America and nine species in Asia are among those listed as the most endangered.
The report by the International Union for conservation of nature was released at a Conference on biodiversity will be held in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad.
Mankind's closest living relatives, primates, contribute to the ecosystem by spreading seeds and maintaining diversity of forests.
Conservation efforts have different types of primates, which are not listed as endangered, said the report, prepared every two years by some of the world's leading primate experts helped.
The report noted that the Madagascar lemurs are seriously threatened by Habitat destruction and illegal hunting, that dramatically has increased since the change of power in the country in 2009.
Under the most severe hit was the Northern Sportive lemur with just 19 known individuals left in the wild in Madagascar.
"Lemurs are now one of the world's most endangered groups of mammals, after more than three years of political crisis and a lack of effective enforcement in their country of origin, Madagascar," said Christoph Schwitzer of the Bristol conservation and Science Foundation, one of the groups involved in the study.
"A similar crisis happening in Southeast Asia, where many trade in wild primates very close to extinction," said Schwitzer.
More than half the world's primate species are in danger of extinction by 633 human activities such as the burning and clearing of tropical forests, the hunting of primates for food and illegal trade.
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