The Alphabet Soup of Conservation

The Stars of the show

Who's in the video?

In order of appearance…

THYLACINE or TASMANIAN TIGER

Thylacinus cynocephalusi

Also known as Tasmanian wolves, thylacines were shy, nocturnal dog-sized marsupials with a jaw-span that rivals that of a snake. They were neither tigers nor wolves. Were? Yes, the thylacine has been extinct since 1936.

Native to Tasmania, New Guinea, and the Australian mainland, they were hunted to extinction. As Europeans settled Australia and Tasmania, thylacines found easy meals at livestock ranches. They were considered menaces, nuisances, and overall threats. Folklore portrayed them as vicious predators who would kill children, pets, and livestock. A bounty was placed on them. People were paid to kill them. And, in no time, they were extinct.

Benjamin, the thylacine in the video, was the last of his species. He lived at Hobart Zoo in Tasmania. He died of exposure when his keeper forgot, one evening, to bring him indoors and out of the elements. Every part of this story of extinction could easily have been prevented.

Search the internet to learn more about thylacines. Their evolutionary role is a fascinating story of convergent evolution, meant to fill the niche that wolves fill on other continents to maintain the balance of nature. And it is a tragic story of extinction.

MILU or PÉRE DAVID’S DEER (Elaphurus davidianus)

Ceratotherium simum cottoni

A deer species native to China’s subtropical river valleys, they were hunted to near extinction by the late 19th century. Zoos in France and Germany collected some of the existing deer and successfully bred them in captivity. Some early attempts at reintroductions to the wild in China failed as natural disasters, especially flooding, wiped out the fragile herds.

In the 1980s, several dozen deer were donated to the Chinese government to, once again, ultimately reintroduce the species to the wild. These have, thus far, been successful, but the population size is not yet large enough to be sustainable. Hopefully, we’ll see their conservation status change to less critical in the not-too-distant future.

Search the internet to learn more.

HAINAN GIBBON

Nomascus hainanus

With a total population of just 37 individuals from six separate family groups (as reported in 2023 by Xinhua News, China), the Hainan gibbon (Nomascus hainanus) is the world’s rarest ape and is also one of the world’s rarest mammals. Also known as the Hainan black-crested gibbon, the Hainan black gibbon, and the Hainan crested gibbon, this Critically Endangered primate is found only on Hainan Island, China’s southernmost province, in the South China Sea. Home is the Bawangling Nature Reserve within Hainan Tropical Rainforest National Park in Changjiang County on the western side of Hainan Island.

Hainan gibbons were once distributed across half the country of China, according to governmental records dating back to the 17th century. While these apes had long vanished from the mainland by the late 1950s, their population on Hainan Island still numbered over two thousand individuals. But by the end of the 1970s, fewer than 10 individuals remained. Human activity—specifically, destruction of habitat and hunting—is to blame for nearly eradicating the total population.

Mountainous tropical rainforests provide these enigmatic creatures with their current habitat. The gibbons reside high in the treetops at elevations from 2,133–3,937 feet (650–1,200 meters). Ninety-five percent of their original habitat had included lowland, tropical primary forest where the gibbons resided at lower elevations. But the destruction of these lowland forests (only a small, shrinking patch of these remnant rainforests remains) forced the gibbons to take up residence in less-hospitable (with regard to resources) mountainous rainforests.

GOLDEN-HEADED LION TAMARIN

Leontopithecus chrysomelas

Golden-headed lion tamarins, also called golden-headed tamarins—and not to be confused with the closely related golden lion tamarins— are endemic to the Atlantic Forest of coastal Brazil. Their preferred habitat is evergreen broadleaf tropical forests and semi-deciduous forests, and they live 10–33 feet (3–10 m) up in trees. Habitat destruction has limited their range to the southern portion of the state of Bahia, Brazil.

Not only is habitat loss an issue for population numbers, it has also resulted in extremely fragmented populations. The remaining forest is patchy, and individual golden-headed lion tamarins can’t easily, or ever, cross in between “islands” of habitat. This means that the genetic diversity of the remaining populations is decreasing, leaving them susceptible to inbreeding, depression, and other consequences of low genetic diversity.

HAMLYN'S MONKEY

Cercopithecus hamlyni

The Hamlyn’s monkey (Cercopithecus hamlyni) is also known as the owl-faced monkey or guenon. This elusive and vulnerable primate lives at high altitudes of 3,000–15,000 ft (900–4,500 m) in dense bamboo and primary forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. These forests are surrounded by rivers and volcanoes, which prevent the owl-faced monkey from expanding its territory, so the overall population is fairly small.

The primary drivers of the threats to Hamlyn’s monkey are human population growth and the expansion of artisanal mining. These are likely to increase into the foreseeable future. Most of the species’ range is in a region of endemic and ongoing human conflict, which has exacerbated known threats, and weakened organized efforts to protect these primates.

MONA MONKEY

Cercopithecus mona

The mona monkey is found in the tropical rainforests of West Africa, spanning a range from Ghana to Cameroon. Their range is focused in the Niger River delta, where they are the most common monkey in the region’s mangrove forests.

This species has adapted to a variety of forest habitats, including secondary and gallery forests. Secondary forests are those that have regrown after deforestation but have not reached full maturity. Gallery forests, on the other hand, lie alongside rivers and wetlands. They provide a clear view of the water from their trees, hence the name. Mona monkeys thrive in areas up to 2,000 feet (610 m) in elevation. They do well in the arboreal (tree-dominant) landscapes of the region, as well as the swamp forests in Lagos State, and even the seasonally dry Lama Forest.

Although the species is widespread and can adapt to a variety of degraded habitats, it is still vulnerable to hunting and tropical forest coverage throughout its range and has declined significantly in recent decades. Throughout West Africa, hunters have shifted their focus to smaller-bodied primates as larger-bodied species have declined or disappeared. This, coupled with evidence of subpopulations that have been extirpated (become locally extinct), even in protected areas, as well as published declines in tropical forest coverage of similar magnitude in all range countries inhabited by this species, require that it be considered Near Threatened.

BROWN GREATER GALAGO

Otolemur crassicaudatus

The brown greater galago, also known as the thick-tailed greater galago, greater bushbaby, greater galago, large-eared greater galago, or thick-tailed bushbaby, is a prosimian primate species from southeastern Africa. They range widely across a large number of countries, such as Angola, Burundi, Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Eswatini, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

Brown greater galagos are primarily arboreal (tree-dwelling) and prefer to live in relatively wet, higher rainfall areas with high canopy cover, such as riverine forests, woodlands, and wet savannahs with high gum tree composition. The altitude of their habitat can range from sea level up to 5,900 ft (1,800 meters).

The species is relatively widespread and common, present in a number of well-managed protected areas, and there are no major threats, other than bushmeat hunting. However, forest fragmentation is increasing dramatically among forests along the east coast of South Africa owing to expansion of sugar cane and forestry plantations.

GRAY'S BALD-FACED SAKI

Pithecia irrorata

Gray’s bald-faced sakis, also known as the Rio Tapajós saki, are found in the Amazon basin of South America. They inhabit areas of northeastern Brazil, in the states of Acre and Amazonia in the Amazon basin. Their range also extends into southeastern Peru and the very north of Bolivia and is bounded by major rivers that act as barriers to the dispersal of these monkeys. Their distribution across these areas appears patchy, but, due to their quiet nature and avoidance of humans, their populations can be hard to assess. These sakis show a strong preference for closed-canopy, tropical moist forests compared to other local habitats such as palm swamps or floodplain forests, which they tend to occupy less.

Scientists do not know enough about the gray’s bald-faced saki populations to know if they are threatened. Despite this, the overall population is assumed to be in decline. Threats to the species include habitat loss due to deforestation and hunting. They are hunted for the pet trade and sometimes to use their distinctive coats for decoration.

Some species are little-studied because they live in very remote regions and are difficult to access. Some, like most sakis, live too high in trees for humans to observe. And some are just not considered to be as interesting or special as other better-known species. Believe it or not, lack of study can be a real disservice to species. Just because they have not been studied does not mean that they are any less “at-risk” than any other species. Without study, they are not afforded the protections that better-studied species garner. We could lose them before we even know enough about them to save them.

Copyright © New England Primate Conservancy 2016-2022. You may freely view and use this lesson and videos for educational purposes.
For questions or comments about NEPC Lesson and Activities, e-mail us at [email protected].