Future of the Environment

The African rainforest may not survive if we wipe out its chimpanzee population

Bonobo apes, primates unique to Congo and humankind's closest relative, groom one another at a sanctuary just outside the capital Kinshasa, Congo on October 31, 2006.   REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly/File Photo - TM3ECAR15L201

Chimpanzee numbers have dropped from 1 million to less than 300,000. Image: REUTERS/Finbarr O'Reilly

Alex Chepstow-Lusty
Associate Researcher, Quaternary Palaeoenvironments Group, University of Cambridge
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Tropical rainforests (dark green) still cover much of central and west Africa.
Tropical rainforests (dark green) still cover much of central and west Africa. Image: Vzb83 / wiki
Oil palm fruit swallowed and deposited in faeces by chimpanzee at Gombe National Park.
Oil palm fruit swallowed and deposited in faeces by chimpanzee at Gombe National Park. Image: D Mwacha A Collins / Jane Goodall Institute
Cusano, an alpha male in Gombe, Tanzania, was among those who died in the 1996 respiratory outbreak.
Cusano, an alpha male in Gombe, Tanzania, was among those who died in the 1996 respiratory outbreak. Image: Alex Chepstow-Lusty, Author provided
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Future of the EnvironmentAfricaForests
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