The Top 25 Most Endangered Primates
Latest List Highlights The Need to Protect the World’s Rainforests
Jul 19, 2008
The Top 25 Endangered Primate list was begun in 2000 by primatologists from the IUCN Primate Specialist Group and Conservation International. Since then the International Primatological Society has also played an important part in the evaluation of primate species for inclusion on the list.
Many of the primate species are not well known to the general public, so the list serves two purposes. It raises awareness of the threats to primates including deforestation and forest fragmentation, bushmeat and pet trade, and it introduces people to the lesser known primates.
25 Most Endangered Primates 2006-2008
Madagscar's Four Most Endangered Primate Species
Greater bamboo lemur (Prolemur simus)
White-collared lemur (Eulemur albocollaris)
Sahamalaza Penninsula sportive lemur (Lepilemur sahamalazensis)
Silky sifaka (Propithicus candidus)
Africa's Seven Most Endangered Primate Species
Rondo dwarf galago (Galagoides rondoensis)
Roloway guenon (Cercopithecus diana roloway)
Pennant’s red colobus (Procolobus pennantii pennantii)
Tana River red colobus (Procolobus rufomitratus)
Miss Waldron’s red colobus (Procolobus badius waldroni)
Kipunji (Rungwecebus kipunji)
Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli)
Asia's Eleven Most Endangered Primate Species
Siau Island tarsier (Tarsius sp)
Horton Plains slender loris (Loris tardigradus nycticeboides)
Pig-tailed langur (Simias concolor)
Delacour’s langur (Trachypithecus delacouri)
Golden-headed langur or Cat Ba langur (Trachypithecus p. poliocephalus)
Western purple-faced langur (Semnopithecus vetulus nestor)
Grey-shanked douc (Pygathrix cinerea)
Tonkin snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus avunculus)
Hainan black-crested gibbon (Nomascus hainanus)
Western Hoolock gibbon (Hylobates or Bunopithecus hoolock)
Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii)
Latin America's Three Most Endangered Primate Species
Variegated spider monkey (Ateles hybridus)
Brown-headed spider monkey(Ateles fusciceps)
Peruvian yellow-tailed woolly monkey (Oreonax flavicauda)
Changes to the Top 25 Most Endangered Primate Species List
Eight primate species have been on the list since 2000: the Sumantran orangutan in Indonesia, the Cross River gorilla in Nigeria and Cameroon, the Hainan black-crested gibbon which is limited to Hainan Island in China and the silky sifaka in Madagascar.
Vietnam is home to the last four primates which have never left the list. They are the Grey-shanked duoc, the Tonkin snub-nosed monkey, Delacour’s langur and the Golden-headed langur.
Six primate species are new to the list in 2006-2008. They are the Sahamalaza Pennisula sportive lemur, the Rondo dwarf galago, the Kipunji, the Siau Island tarsier, the Western Hoolock gibbon and the Brown-headed spider monkey. Of these five are newly described or in the process of being described.
There have been seventy-one new species of primates found since 1990; many of them survive in very limited geographic ranges. As more information becomes available, others of these species may be moved onto the list.
Three primate species have the dubious distinction of returning to the list. They are the Roloway guenon, Miss Waldron’s red colobus and the Peruvian yellow-tailed monkey.
Good News for Some Endangered Primate Species
The most important positive result from the publication of this list is that some primate species which were originally included have been given priority for protection and progress has been made in ensuring their survival. They have been taken off the list.
This was the goal of the original top 25 most endangered primates list, so while progress is slower than many would like, some species are reaping the benefits of the project.
The full report, called Primates in Peril, is available on-line from the IUCN Primate Specialist Group’s website
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