Chimpanzees headed for extinction.

• Author: Norton, Molly
• Position: Environmental Intelligence

Chimpanzees, who share 98 percent of their DNA with humans, will be extinct within the next 50 years, according to a study presented at the Pan African Sanctuaries Alliance conference on June 8, 2004. With only 8,000 individuals remaining, the most vulnerable sub-species, Pan troglodytes vellerosus, could face extinction in just two decades if deforestation and illegal hunting continue at current levels. And while extinction may not be quite as imminent for the other three chimpanzee sub-species, they are still projected to disappear within 41 to 53 years, at their current rate of decline.

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The study, by California State University-Fullerton anthropologist Norm Rosen, is based on the remarkable increase in the number of orphans arriving at sanctuaries throughout Africa. "We gathered material on over 600 orphan chimpanzees and ascertained that most of them were a result of the bushmeat crisis," Rosen said. He explained that hunters tend to kill female chimpanzees in groups of five to 10, so for each orphan that comes into the sanctuaries, the study assumes between five and 10 female chimpanzees were killed. "If you start multiplying those numbers times the number of orphans, it becomes obvious that most populations cannot sustain themselves," he said.

The study did not come as a...