In the shadow of the apes: Vietnam almost loses gibbons

In the shadow of the apes: Vietnam almost loses gibbons

Ben Rowse, Agence France-Presse, Hanoi

Conservationists are calling for urgent action to prevent the
extinction of the world's most endangered primate, after 26
eastern black crested gibbons were discovered last month in
Vietnam.

Frank Momberg, country director for Fauna and Flora
International (FFI), said the gibbon, thought to be extinct, was
first spotted in the impoverished northeastern province of Cao
Bang at the beginning of the year by two Vietnamese biologists.

A five-member team, including Momberg and Swiss primatologist
Thomas Geissmann, one of the world's leading expert on gibbons,
traveled to the mountainous province last month to carry out a
population study.

There, in the forest-clad district of Trung Khanh along the
border with China, sparsely populated by ethnic minority hill
tribes, they documented what is believed to be the remnants of a
once abundant species -- 26 gibbons in five family groups.

"Given that those left are divided between males and females,
there is a chance that this population can recover. But it will
literally be a case of pulling a species back from the brink of
extinction," Momberg told AFP.

The rare gibbon, scientifically known as Nomascus nasutus
nasutus, and weighing between seven and 10 kilograms, used to
live in forests across northeastern Vietnam and southern China.
However, it became extinct on the Chinese mainland in the 1950s.

The last reliable sightings in Vietnam, where they are locally
known as cao-vit because of their distinctive morning songs used
as mating calls and to mark their territory, were in the early
1960s and it was feared that they had become extinct.

A subspecies, the Hainan gibbon or Nomascus nasutus hainanus,
exist on China's Hainan island but the recorded population there
has dropped to 20.

"There are 12,000 Sumatran orangutans, and around 70,000
gorillas and more than 100,000 chimpanzees in Africa, but the
total known global population for the eastern black crested
gibbon is 26," Momberg said.

"It is essential that more attention and resources are focused
on these highly endangered animals. They need to emerge from the
shadow of the great apes."

However, he warned that formidable obstacles lined their
survival path, particularly since "Cao Bang is one of the poorest
provinces in Vietnam and conservation is not high on their
priority list".

Momberg said the primary concern was the dwindling size of
their habitat, which has been reduced to just 2,500 hectares as a
result of logging and deliberate mass deforestation by Chinese
troops during their brief but bloody border war with Vietnam in
1979.

"Can this area support an increase in population? We don't
know at the moment but we are not optimistic."

Dang Ngoc Can, a biologist at the Institute of Ecology and
Biological Resources, said the international community had an
obligation to ensure their survival.

"This is a very rare subspecies that as far as we know only
exists in Vietnam. They are the property of Vietnam as well as of
the world and so we have to protect them," he told AFP.

"But first of all, we need the government to declare this
region a species habitat conservation area so we can develop a
comprehensive scientific program to protect them and their
forest."

Unlike a nature reserve in which local people are relocated, a
species habitat conservation area seeks to address the needs of
the area's inhabitants while protecting the endangered animal.

Momberg added: "Without the help and desire of the local
people, we cannot prevent the gibbons from becoming extinct."

He said FFI has secured a commitment from the provincial
government to submit a proposal to the central government for its
establishment.

Among other initiatives needed to address the gibbon's shaky
future, conservationists say substitutes for timber, used by
locals for fuel and house construction, need to be made available
to prevent any further loss of habitat.