http://www.boston.com/dailynews/141/world/U_N_agency_launches_program_to:.shtml

U.N. agency launches program to save great apes

By Associated Press, 5/21/2001 05:56

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) The U.N. Environment Program launched a campaign Monday to save the world's great apes from extinction, asking for at least $1 million to get started.

Great apes gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees, bonobos and gibbons are listed as endangered by international trade conventions and are at risk of extinction in some areas.

Experts say many could be extinct in five to 10 years if nothing is done to stop the destruction of their habitats and their slaughter for meat.

''Each one is a loss to humanity, a loss to a local community and a hole torn in the ecology of our planet,'' program Executive Director Klaus Toepfer said.

''We can no longer stand by and watch these wondrous creatures, some of whom share more than 98 percent of the DNA found in humans, die out,'' he said.

Toepfer said the U.N. program was contributing $150,000 to launch the Great Apes Survival Project, or GRASP, and called for donations from the private sector.

The program has so far focused on five potential projects that officials said need urgent support, but it would eventually be extended to all 23 countries where great apes still live.

Three of the projects would protect Cross River gorillas in the Afi Mountains of southern Nigeria, chimpanzees in the Ivory Coast and orangutans in Indonesia's Tanjung Putting National Park.

The programs would involve supplying rangers with equipment to keep tabs on the animals, construction of wildlife corridors to link fragmented habitats and populations, and educating local residents about the value of the great apes for tourism.

Organizations involved in the effort include the Ape Alliance, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, the Born Free Foundation, Fauna and Flora International, the Bushmeat Crisis Task Force and the World Wide Fund for Nature.

-- Anonymous, May 21, 2001