How your fuel bills are subsidising deforestation - and what you can do about it! | Sumatran Orangutan Society | January 2012

Demand for agricultural land is at the heart of the mass destruction of the world's forests. The main cause of forest loss in Indonesia, and the greatest threat to the continued survival of orangutans in the wild, is the conversion of forests to oil palm plantations.

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06/02/2012
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Daily Trust | February 2012
Farming pepper solution to human-wildlife conflict in Africa
Planting a thick hedge of repellent plants - such as hot chilli peppers - around farms can help African forest communities keep out primates who often raid crops to survive amid widespread deforestation and loss of habitat.
"Chilli peppers are non-palatable to apes and have, in some cases, proved a successful deterrent to invading primates," Tatyana Humle, primatologist and lecturer at the University of Kent, said at a recent workshop held at the campus of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).

02/02/2012
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 ESPN Chicago | January 2012

CHICAGO -- A Chicago zoo is mounting a campaign to stop a company from airing a Super Bowl Sunday commercial featuring mischievous suit-and-tie wearing chimpanzees playing tricks on their human co-worker, saying all that monkey business proves deadly for the endangered species.

31/01/2012
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L.L. Adefalu et al. | Ethiopian journal of Environmental Studies and Management | January 2012

Abstract

The study examines the perception of rural women on bushmeat trade around Kainji Lake National Park in Niger state, Nigeria. Multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select 120 rural women living around kainji lake national park in Niger state. Data were collected through a well-structured interview schedule and analyzed using frequency counts, percentages, 5 points Likert-type scale and chisquare. The result of the study revealed that majority (69.2%) of the rural women were married with large household sizes, 70.3% were in their middle age and 67.1% had just basic education. Also, majority (95.0%) of them had long years of working experience with low average monthly income less than U S $61. Moreover, they perceived benefits of trading in bush meat to include high return (1st), raising social status (2nd), and cheap access to animal protein (3rd).

30/01/2012
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- Apes are 'nicer' cousins of chimps - and very similar
- Bonobo apes evolved to be gentler and more playful
- Peaceful environment led bonobo females to favour sociable mates
- 'Self-domestication' could be common, say anthropologists

26/01/2012
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A new hypothesis holds that the natural selection produced the chimpanzee's nicer cousin in much the same way that humans bred dogs from wolves.

25/01/2012
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