Threats To Endangered Chimpanzees
Endangered chimpanzees, though under more protection than ever, remain threatened with extinction, at least insofar as living in the wild is concerned. Both species of chimpanzee, the pygmy and the "common' chimpanzee are equally threatened.
In the past, the threat to chimpanzees was the loss of habitat, generally that of deforestation. Chimpanzees have always be sought after as a source of bush meat for various African tribes, but when there were millions of chimpanzees to be found, the slaughter of them for bush meat did not take a particularly fearsome toll. As the number of endangered chimpanzees has steadily dwindled, the slaughter of these animals for bush meat, though now discouraged in many areas, removes a larger and larger percentage of the remaining chimps. It is believed at this point in time, the number of chimps slaughtered for food exceeds 4,000 a year. As the overall chimpanzee population continues to decline, this number will soon mean that the slaughter of these animals will become the greatest threat to their existence, if not the case already. Whether it is the search for bush meat or the need to clear the forests for mining or to plant crops, the exploding human population in Africa puts a great deal of pressure on the chimpanzee population, and will continue to do so.
A Significant Decrease - The number of endangered chimpanzees remaining in the wild isn't exactly known. It certainly isn't in the millions, as once was the case. Current estimates places the chimp population at somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000. Several thousand chimps live in captivity, including roughly 2,500 in the United States. About a fifth of those are found in zoos, and a couple of hundred are "employed" in the entertainment industry or are kept as pets, but the vast majority are used for biomedical testing. Some are well treated and well cared for. Some are not.
Although a small number of chimpanzees are purchased as pets, often with the best of intentions, a cute baby chimp can become a rather fearsome and difficult to control pet when it fully matures. The common chimp species is not a tiny animal, but can stand nearly 6 feet tall when fully erect. The animal is also very quick and very strong, and requires a trainer more so than a pet owner to keep it in line. Many, if not most pet chimps, spend most of their adult lives in coops or small cages. Letting them out would be unsafe for not only the chimp, but for those close by. It is after all a wild animal.
One would think, that being tropical forest dwellers, though some live in the more open savanna woodlands and grasslands, the chimpanzee would be reasonably safe, and the term endangered chimpanzees is merely an exaggeration on the part of animal lovers, chimpanzee lovers in particular. After all, it is hard to image we would want to do harm to a creature that so closely resembles the human being. Yet, while once chimpanzees roamed the wilds in 25 African countries, they are now only found in 5 or 6.
Only A Few Countries Help - In the other countries the chimpanzee's natural habitat has either been destroyed or the ever expanding human population has simply driven the animals out. Rwanda and Burundi, two countries where chimpanzees were once found in abundance, have destroyed huge swaths of forest for crop cultivation. Mining for diamonds and iron, in Sierra Leone and Liberia, respectively, has destroyed much of the chimpanzee's natural habitat in those two countries. Each country has its own tale to tell and with the exception of a few, such as Tanzania, not enough has been done to protect these animals. Even in Tanzania, the protected population of endangered chimpanzees is virtually surrounded by humanity.