Monkeys, apes teeter on brink of extinction-report

Source: Reuters

BEIJING, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Mankind's closest relatives are teetering on the brink of their first extinctions in more than a century, hunted by humans for food and medicine and squeezed from forest homes, a report on endangered primates said on Friday.

There are just a few dozen of the most threatened gibbons and langurs left, and one colobus may already have gone the way of the dodo, warned the report on the 25 most vulnerable primates.

"You could fit all the surviving members of these 25 species in a single football stadium -- that's how few of them remain on earth today," said Russell Mittermeier, president of U.S.-based environmental group Conservation International.

Primates include great apes such as chimpanzees and gorillas, as well as smaller cousins ranging from gibbons and lemurs to monkeys. They are sought after as food, pets, or for traditional medicines, and a few are still trapped for medical research.

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/PEK33824.htm

""You could fit all the surviving members of these 25 species in a single football stadium"

"Primates include great apes such as chimpanzees and gorillas, as well as smaller cousins ranging from gibbons and lemurs to monkeys."

Now do these number include the people in the Bush administration? In particular the Gorilla community might take a jump.

OK,,, seriously. Al Gore's the dark horse. Fact is, he's probably not going to run. But he would be an awesome choice for VP. WHo better to unravel the 8 years of environmental damage done by Bush and Co. Plus with his international prestige, he'd have the power help internationally.

If Gore really wants to focus on the environment, what better spot to get things done than VP?

Thanks for the post. It's sad to see those figures. I personally keep and eye on my back yard for butterflies, bees and frogs. All very sensitive to environmental conditions.

Thanks again.

I'm one of the last irrational holdouts who think he might jump in for the Big One, and that would fire me up like almost nothing else would at this point, but Veep? No way.

President?

:shrug:

...destroy every other species on the planet for our own use, vanity, and benefit.

Glorius


NOT.

30 years ago a story like this would have caused real alarm. Now humanity yawns and changes the channel.

Extinction; the death of birth. :cry:

this was about the Bush family,George in particular.Oh well,hope springs eternal.