Conservation efforts have helped save several species from the endangered list. (Photo : Reuters)
Twenty-five primates are on the brink of extinction, according to a newly released study.
Species of monkeys, langurs, lemurs and gorillas are in danger due to illegal trafficking and deforestation, according to a recent article by the Associated Press.
Like Us on Facebook
The report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature released the study saying six of threatened species live on the island of Madagascar, located off southeast Africa, five from South American and nine species in Asia.
Conservation efforts have helped save several species from the endangered list.
Lemurs, the article said, are "severely threatened" by habitat destruction and illegal hunting, which has increased since the county's change of power in 2009. Only 19 known individual remain of the northern sportive lemur in Madagascar.
"Lemurs are now one of the world's most endangered groups of mammals, after more than three years of political crisis and a lack of effective enforcement in their home country, Madagascar," said Christoph Schwitzer of the Bristol Conservation and Science Foundation, one of the groups involved in the study. "A similar crisis is happening in Southeast Asia, where trade in wildlife is bringing many primates very close to extinction," Schwitzer said.
The study further reported that more than half of the world's 633 types of primates are in danger of becoming extinct because of "human activity" which includes the burning and clearing of tropical forests.
Russell A. Mittermeier, president of Conservation International, said to the AP that conservation efforts have ensured that no primate has become extinct in the 20th century.
"Amazingly, we continue to discover new species every year since 2000," Mittermeier said. "What is more, primates are increasingly becoming a major ecotourism attraction, and primate-watching is growing in interest."