Threats to Chimpanzee Survival

The commercial hunting of bushmeat could lead to the extinction of several species, including chimpanzees, gorillas and elephants.

The bushmeat crisis threatens not only chimpanzees, but also other great apes and many other species that make the African forests their home. As logging roads are cut into previously unreachable areas, the hunting of wildlife for bushmeat – once a practice supporting forest peoples – has become commercial, catering to the tastes of urban dwellers for the "exotic meats" of wild animals. Bushmeat also supplies logging camps with food.

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This trade in wild animals has also become increasingly international, with reports of chimpanzees, gorillas and other wild African species being consumed in restaurants in North America and Europe.

The combined effects of habitat loss and the bushmeat trade are wreaking havoc on Great Ape populations. Recent figures indicate that fewer than 150,000 chimpanzees – our closest relatives in the animal kingdom – remain in the African wilderness, down from 1 to 2 million at the beginning of the 20th century.

JGI Canada is supporting programs in Tanzania, Uganda and the Republic of Congo that work with local communities to provide them with alternative ways to make a living, and demonstrate the benefits that habitat

protection and ecotourism can bring.