New | Scientists press China for action plan to save Hainan gibbons from extinction

Scientists are set to present an emergency plan to the Chinese government to save the rainforest-dwelling Hainan gibbon from becoming the first ape driven to extinction by man.

There are a mere 25 Hainan gibbons left in the world. The threat of their extinction is so strong that a single typhoon could wipe them out entirely, as London-based scientists put finishing touches on a report urging China to be more “proactive” in efforts to prevent their annihilation.

“It should be possible to prevent their extinction, but it will take a lot of effort – they really are on the very verge of extinction,” said Sam Turvey of the London Zoological Society who will present their suggestions on how to boost population numbers to the Chinese government in a report in the coming months.

The Hainan gibbon has been losing its natural habitat over the last 50 years to feed China’s insatiable appetite for natural resources, and make way for plantations and urban developments.

Hunted for meat and squeezed out of their forest habitat amid China’s insatiable appetite for timber, the number of gibbons has dwindled from thousands to just dozens in the last five decades.

“The main reason for gibbons’ threat of extinction is logging, but it wasn’t always illegal like it is now,” said Wu Hao, an activist at Greenpeace. “During 1960-1980, there were large areas being logged in Hainan to supply national timber needs – the gibbons’ habitat was seriously degraded in that time.”