Advancing conservation of threatened primates

Abstract

Our closest living relatives—the non-human primates—are in trouble. Approximately 64% of the 536 currently recognized species are included in one of the threatened categories of the IUCN Red List, with 16% categorized as Critically Endangered. How did this happen? Many factors combine to threaten primates: deforestation and habitat fragmentation reduce resources and restrict dispersal and gene flow; encroachment and urban expansion into primate habitats extend the human–wildlife interface, heightening the potential for conflicts and pathogen transmission; and extraction of primates for biomedicine, consumption and the pet and wildlife trade (notably for rituals and so-called medicine) reduces populations and affects demography. These threats drive mortality, decrease adaptability and lead to local extinctions, with profound—and potentially irreversible—effects on primates and the ecosystems they inhabit.