Humans and chimps are remarkably similar — sharing 98.8% of DNA. But unlike humans, whose population grows 1.1% year over year, chimpanzee populations have declined by 50% over the past 60 years — here’s why.
WORLD CHIMPANZEE DAY is coming up. While we have many reasons to celebrate these remarkable beings, there are also many reasons why we should be concerned about their survival. All four chimpanzee species — Western chimps, Central chimps, Nigeria-Cameroon chimps, and Eastern chimps — are endangered and their numbers are continuing to decline due to human activity.
Today, there are as few as 170,000 chimps in the wild.
Habitat Loss
Nearly all great apes face threats to their populations due to logging, deforestation, agricultural development and mining. Approximately 75% of deforestation in Africa is caused by agriculture, particularly from cocoa and palm oil production. As the human population continues to rise and the demand for farming and agriculture increases, we will continue to encroach on forest habitats, escalating the risk of human-chimpanzee conflict. In Uganda, deforestation has contributed to many chimpanzees looking elsewhere for food, leading them to forage in human farms and homes. This often results in increased human-chimpanzee conflict, particularly in the form of human retaliation.
Poaching & Trafficking
Despite receiving protection under the international agreement, CITES, as well as other domestic laws; chimpanzees are still illegally captured, killed and traded for commercial profit. It is estimated 3,000 great apes, and nearly 2,000 chimpanzees are lost to trafficking and the bushmeat trade every year. Poor enforcement of laws unfortunately allows these crimes to persist and remain unpunished.
Infant chimpanzees are trafficked to meet demands for exotic pets and human entertainment. Sadly, many adult chimpanzees die as collateral damage during hunts for baby chimps — for every baby chimpanzee caught alive, 10 adults often die as collateral. For those chimpanzees who do survive, many endure acute suffering, as they are often mistreated, housed in inadequate conditions, and isolated from their innate social lives.
Because of their longer life spans (averaging 45 years in the wild) and slower reproductive and maturation rates (females give birth on average every five years), chimpanzee populations are even more vulnerable to trafficking and poaching, as they take much longer to recover. This can pose devastating consequences to the ecosystems they inhabit as great apes act as seed dispersers.
Disease
Nearly all diseases capable of being contracted by humans are can also be contracted by great apes, including chimpanzees. So as long as the human population continues to increase, habitat destruction and poaching threats remain; human-chimpanzee contact is more likely to occur. This increases a chimp’s chances of contracting fatal diseases, including Ebola, which has decimated many chimp populations. Conservation practices have paid close attention to poaching and habitat loss in the past, but more attention and funding ought to be given to those pathogens capable of spreading even in protected places.
Lab Testing
Chimpanzees have not been used in biomedical testing in US laboratories since 2015, as well as European labs since 2010. Yet, there are many former research chimpanzees who face uncertain futures. In the United States, over 200 chimps are still held in biomedical labs — waiting to be sent to sanctuaries. These confined enclosures limit the stimulation chimps require and, as research indicates, can lead to psychological distress in the form of depression, and self-harming behaviors.
Some organizations, such as the National Institutes of Health, fund the lifelong care of chimpanzees, but many advocates argue there has not been enough redress. Sanctuaries like Chimp Haven and Save the Chimps have welcomed many retired chimps, including Vanilla, a 29 year old chimp who captured hearts in June 2023 upon seeing sky for the first time in her life. These sanctuaries need support (care for an average chimp costs $17,000 a year) to continue operating and to give former lab chimpanzees the life they deserve.
While these threats loom, chimpanzees remain at risk. In honor of WORLD CHIMPANZEE DAY, donate to organizations protecting the future of our closest cousins and other species who call RAINFORESTS home.
