The Apes in the News page lists a summary and links to news articles that are relevant to the work of the Ape Alliance and ape conservation.
To see pages of the older articles, please scroll to the bottom of the page. Alternativaly, use the search facility below, to find a particular article.
20/11/2009
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20/11/2009
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ScienceDaily
Plans to be discussed at the
forthcoming UN climate conference in Copenhagen to cut deforestation
in developing countries could save some species from extinction but
inadvertently increase the risk to others, scientists believe.
A team of eleven of the world's top tropical forest scientists,
coordinated by the University of Leeds, warn that while cutting
clearance of carbon-rich tropical forests will help reduce climate
change and save species in those forests, governments could risk
neglecting other forests that are home to large numbers of endangered
species.
Under new UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
proposals, the Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation
(REDD) scheme would curb carbon emissions by financially rewarding
tropical countries that reduce deforestation.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091116131714.htm
16/11/2009
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Belfast Telegraph
Wildlife campaigners have made "a deal with the devil" in a bid to save the orang-utan from being driven into extinction. They have teamed up with the palm-oil industry, widely condemned by conservationists for causing devastation to orang-utans.
But palm-oil companies and the Sabah state government in Borneo have agreed to a project to create wildlife corridors that will link forest areas and create a network of safe havens.
They signed up to the pilot scheme last month in Kota Kinabalu, Borneo, and will meet again this month in London to try to agree final details. There are hopes the project can be expanded.
Dr Marc Ancrenaz, director of the Kinabatangan Orang-utan Conservation Project, agreed the alliance between conservationists and the palm oil industry was like a pact with the devil but said the green lobby must be realistic in its hopes of saving the red ape.
16/11/2009
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A rehabiliatator plans to start releasing rescued orangutans back into Borneo's forests. But there are concerns whether the tamed apes will survive out there.
By Andrew Higgins, Washington Post
PALANGKA RAYA, INDONESIA -- Over the past decade, Lone Droescher-Nielsen, a former Scandinavian Airlines Systems flight attendant, has saved nearly 600 orphaned orangutans in Borneo from almost certain death. Funded by donations from abroad, she has given the apes food, shelter and better health care than many humans in these parts ever get.
Now, the 46-year-old Dane is preparing for a more difficult -- and controversial -- task: returning tame orangutans to the wild. "They were born wild, and they deserve to go back in the wild again," said Droescher-Nielsen, founder and director of the Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Rehabilitation and Rescue Project. "That is our ultimate objective."
Early next year, if all goes according to plan, she'll release a first batch of about 75 rehabilitated orangutans into a remote forest in Central Kalimantan, an Indonesian province on the Southeast Asian island of Borneo. Tiny radio transmitters placed under their skin will monitor their movements -- and help answer a big question: Can the animals survive?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/13/AR2009111302158.html?referrer=digg
14/11/2009
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Robbins MM, Gray M, Kagoda E, Robbins AM (2009) Biological Conservation 142, 2886-2895
Mountain gorillas are critically endangered, with just a few hundred animals remaining in each of two populations: in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in south-western Uganda and the nearby Virunga Volcanoes on the borders of Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. While the life-history and population dynamics of the Virunga gorillas have been studied extensively, comparable information from Bwindi has not been reported. Such studies are difficult to conduct because gorillas are long-lived, have delayed reproduction, and monitoring known individuals requires habituation of social groups. Bwindi has experienced lower levels of human disturbance than the Virungas, yet its gorilla population has shown little or no growth over the past 20 years, while a subpopulation of study groups in the Virungas have grown by 3-4% per year. Here we show that the lower growth rate at Bwindi may arise mainly from lower fertility than the Virunga study groups, rather than higher mortality. This difference may indicate that the more frugivorous Bwindi gorillas have a slower life-history, or that they are closer to the carrying capacity of their habitat. The study groups at Bwindi had a higher growth rate than the broader population, possibly because they receive veterinary care and better protection from poachers, but further analysis is necessary to understand the complex interactions among human disturbance, ecology, and the gorillas' population dynamics. Meanwhile, efforts to increase the Bwindi population should place emphasis on reducing human disturbances, improving our understanding of the impact of habitat quality, and ensuring that the gorillas can expand their home ranges into under-utilized areas of the park.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6V5X-4X1XYKT-2&_user=121739&_coverDate=12%2F31%2F2009&_alid=1090803020&_rdoc=5&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_cdi=5798&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=2662&_acct=C000010018&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=121739&md5=3b9b45d8f5fe207c890a3e102ef46375
13/11/2009
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Gorillas 
Orangutans 
Chimpanzees 
Bonobos 
Gibbons 
