Hunters Leave Bonobo on Brink of Extinction

The ape considered to be man's closest relative could be on the brink of extinction, researchers warned today.

The bonobo, or pygmy chimpanzee, is found only in the heart of Africa's Congo basin, where it has been mercilessly hunted for bushmeat. Scientists had estimated the bonobo population to be around 50,000, but the results of a new survey show it is likely to be nearer to 10,000 - a potentially unsustainable level.

The survey, backed by the conservation charity WWF, was conducted in Salonga national park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Researchers from the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation and the Wildlife Conservation Society studied an area of 12,000km sq - around one third of the park.

There were no sightings of a live bonobo, while nests and dung were seen in only a quarter of the region, and at lower levels than had previously been encountered. However, the scientists found abundant evidence of poaching.

Throughout Congo's long-running civil war, it became almost impossible for the ICCN to protect national parks effectively, resulting in widespread poaching by both locals and armed militias.

"If these findings are mirrored across the park, we can kiss goodbye to our closest relative," Callum Rankine, the UK senior international species officer for the WWF, said. "Salonga National Park was created in 1970 specifically to safeguard the species, and potentially represents the largest undisturbed and protected habitat for the bonobo. If things are this bad there, we can assume that, across Congo, the species is in crisis."

WWF hopes to establish a clearer picture of how many bonobos are left in the wild once all the survey results have been compiled and analysed early next year. The organisation has launched a new project to monitor and protect surviving bonobo populations in the north of Salonga and, in addition to supplying park staff and researchers with training and equipment, is supporting anti-poaching operations on foot and by boat.

"The war has had terrible consequences for the people and wildlife of the Congo basin," Mr Rankine said. "But with Congo now trying to rebuild socially and economically, the opportunity is there to make sure that forest conservation benefits not only wildlife but also local people."