The World's 25 Most Endangered Primates

A closer examination of the 25 primates from around the world that are listed as highly endangered.

Nearly half of all non-human primates in the world are staring at extinction. In fact, in some areas of the world, the threat to the primates has reached a critical point and urgent measures need to be taken to ensure their continued existence. In Cambodia and Vietnam for instance, nine of ten species of primates are listed as either Vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered by the IUCN's Red List.

Why Are Primates Endangered?

Primates are endangered not because of natural death but due to human activities. Human activities include destruction of habitat, poaching, and being kept as pets. As human populations rise, the natural environment gives way for agricultural and commercial purposes. Logging and clearing land for agricultural purpose leaves primates without a natural environment and leads to a conflict that humans are yet to lose. Habitat loss is rampant in South East Asia where forest land is often cleared for palm oil plantations. In other parts of the world, primates are a source of food. They are hunted for bushmeat. As the habitat lose increase, the primates have nowhere to hide and became easier target.

Every year thousands of primates are captured from wild habitats and sold as exotic pets. Unfortunately, most of the targeted animals die during capture or while in transportation. The ones that make it to their owners live in the solitary life of captivity. They are often subjected to poor living conditions and die within a short time.

Recovery Measures

Despite the decreasing numbers, scientists continue to discover more species of primates. Most of the new discoveries are done in environments less impacted by human activities. From 2000, 53 new species have been discovered. 40 of the discoveries were made in the remote parts of Madagascar. The greater bamboo lemur was once thought to be on the brink of extinction, about 100 were known to inhabit the wild but discoveries in the forests of Madagascar from 2007 onwards have lowered their status from critically endangered to endangered. Other measures undertaken by researchers include breeding of primates in captivity and rehabilitating them back into the wild. The gold lion tamarin and the black lion tamarin of Brazil are such a success story.

The World's 25 Most Endangered Primates

Rank	Species	Scientific Name	Location(s)	IUCN status
1	Bioko red colobus	Piliocolobus pennantii pennantii	Equatorial Guinea	Endangered
2	Blue-eyed black lemur	Eulemur flavifrons	Madagascar	Critically endangered
3	Brown spider monkey	Ateles hybridus	Colombia/Venezuela	Critically endangered
4	Brown-headed spider monkey	Ateles fusciceps fusciceps	Ecuador	Critically endangered
5	Delacour's langur	Trachypithecus delacouri	Vietnam	Critically endangered
6	Eastern black crested gibbon	Nomascus nasutus	China/Vietnam	Critically endangered
7	Eastern lowland gorilla	Gorilla beringei graueri	Democratic Republic of the Congo	Endangered
8	Golden-headed langur	Trachypithecus poliocephalus poliocephalus	Vietnam	Critically endangered
9	Grey-shanked douc	Pygathrix cinerea	Vietnam	Critically endangered
10	Indri	Indri indri	Madagascar	Critically endangered
11	Javan slow loris	Nycticebus javanicus	Indonesia	Endangered
12	Kaapori capuchin	Cebus kaapori	Brazil	Critically endangered
13	Madame Berthe's mouse lemur	Microcebus berthae	Madagascar	Endangered
14	Northern brown howler	Alouatta guariba guariba	Brazil	Critically endangered
15	Northern sportive lemur	Lepilemur septentrionalis	Madagascar	Critically endangered
16	Pig-tailed langur	Simias concolor	Indonesia	Critically endangered
17	Pygmy tarsier	Tarsius pumilus	Indonesia	Data deficient
18	Red ruffed lemur	Varecia rubra	Madagascar	Critically endangered
19	Rio Mayo titi	Callicebus oenanthe	Peru	Critically endangered
20	Roloway monkey	Cercopithecus roloway	Côte d'Ivoire/Ghana	Endangered
21	Rondo dwarf galago	Galagoides rondoensis	Tanzania	Critically endangered
22	Silky sifaka	Propithecus candidus	Madagascar	Critically endangered
23	Tana River red colobus	Procolobus rufomitratus	Kenya	Endangered
24	Tonkin snub-nosed monkey	Rhinopithecus avunculus	Vietnam	Critically endangered
25	Western purple-faced langur	Trachypithecus vetulus nestor	Sri Lanka	Critically endangered