Today, the gray wolf continues to feel the impact of an expanding human

population. That, and the popular belief that wolves shouldn't live near

humans, continues to threaten their presence on our planet.

GRAY WOLF

Did you know that the gray wolf is the largest member of the dog family?

Apart from man, it once was the most widespread mammal outside the tropics.

As humans move into its habitat, the wolf had to move out.

Did you know that after humans, wolves may be the most adaptable creatures of

all? They're able to live in a wider variety of climates and habitats than

most other animals and can survive on many different kinds of food.

BEST LEFT UNPROVOKED

Wolves prey on many species in the north -- musk ox, caribou, moose, deer,

hares and even rodents. These carnivores are among the most maligned of all

animals, victims of false myths and legends and systematic programs of

extinction. They are accused of attacking humans and destroying entire herds

of domestic animals. But their depredations of livestock are less severe than

often claimed. And unprovoked attacks by healthy wolves in North America on

humans are unknown. Those recorded from Europe's Middle Ages are thought to

have been by rabid animals or hybrids.

The world will be a far lonelier place if the last wolf dies. As biologist

Ernest P. Walker wrote in his book, MAMMALS OF THE WORLD, "The howl of the

wolf and coyote, which to some people is of more enduring significance than

superhighways and skyscrapers, should always remain a part of our heritage."

.

PRIMATS

APES: FUTURE

The future of apes is up to us. All of the great apes are already on the

endangered species list, and all of the lesser apes are as well. Scientists

who have studied them agree that all great apes will soon die out in the wild

unless steps are taken now to protect them.

Gorillas and orangutans appear to have no natural enemies, and chimpanzees

have very few. Gibbons, because they move so fast and live so high up in the

trees, are safe from any animal. Nothing could threaten any of the apes with

extinction until man started hunting them, capturing them, and destroying the

wild lands in which they live.

Today, hunting of apes is against the law everywhere, and there are strict

regulations controlling the capture of wild apes. But illegal hunting and

trapping continues. And the greatest threat of all -- the destruction of wild

lands -- grows greater every day. Tropical forests are being cut down faster

today than ever before ... at the rate of one acre every second, according to

a recent report. At this incredible pace, the homes of many wild creatures --

including apes -- are simply disappearing.

Most endangered of the apes are the mountain gorillas. Today, there are less

than 500 in Central Africa.

And the other apes are not much better off. Nobody is really sure how many

pygmy chimpanzees or bonobos survive in the jungles south of the Congo River

-- but it is probably less than 10,000. There are fewer than 5,000 orangutans

still alive in scattered areas of Borneo and Sumatra. And the numbers of

lowland gorillas and chimpanzees are declining rapidly.

Fortunately, there are people who are trying to save the magnificent apes. In

Central Africa, governments are working to protect the last remaining homes

of mountain gorillas. They have even organized guards that patrol the borders

of gorilla preserves to keep the gorillas safe from hunters. The World

Wildlife Fund and other groups are raising money to buy land and make sure

that it will never be taken away from gorillas, chimpanzees, orangutans, and

gibbons. And scientists everywhere are studying the apes to find new ways to

help them.

BONOBO OR PYGMY CHIMPANZEE

Biologists who have studied the behavior of these animals say they are the

smarter of two species of chimpanzees. Their hair is parted at the middle and

wisps out to the sides of the head, giving them an obvious physical

distinction from the common chimpanzee.

Both species of chimps are intelligent. They belong to the select animals

that make and use tools. You might see a chimp defend himself with a tree

branch, or take a twig and turn it into a useful devise for gathering or

eating foods. Chimps also communicate with many gestures and vocalizations.

People may feel especially drawn to chimps because of some similar behaviors.

Young chimps laugh when they're tickled. Bonobos quarrel over food, but hug

and kiss to make up.

BONOBO: WORKSHOP IN CONSERVATION

The bonobo or pygmy chimpanzee, is one of only four living species of great

apes. The other three species, the gorilla, orangutan, and common chimpanzee,

have received far greater attention until now. Not even recognized as a

separate species until 1929, the bonobo still remains much of a mystery in

its native habitat, the central rain forests of Zaire. Often confused with

the common chimpanzee, the bonobo is only slightly smaller but has a more

graceful, slender body; the head is smaller but the legs are longer than

those of common chimps. The most outstanding physical difference is the

bonobo's hairstyle, an attractive coiffure of long black hairs neatly parted

down the middle. To the experienced eye, the difference between the

chimpanzee and the bonobo is as great as the difference between a leopard and

a cheetah.

The bonobo is as rare in zoos (there are less than 80 in captivity worldwide)

as it is in the wild (estimates range from 5,000 to 20,000). In 1989, the

entire San Diego Zoo group of 11 animals was relocated to the Wild Animal

Park.

No effective conservation plan for the bonobo could be developed without

firsthand knowledge of the only country that is home to this critically

endangered ape. International conservation projects are as much a people

issue as an animal issue; therefore, the needs of the local Zairian people

must be taken into account. Political, cultural, and economic problems are

just as important to consider as the biological needs of the species we are

attempting to save. For these reasons, the San Diego Bonobo Workshop

continually emphasizes the need for an international cooperative effort with

the people and government of Zaire.

In light of the increasing awareness of the need to preserve the world's

biodiversity, it is quite surprising how little attention Zaire has received.

The extent and variety of the biological resources in Zaire's forest

ecosystems is matched by few other tropical countries. After Brazil, Zaire

has the second largest tropical forest in the world. Despite this fact, Zaire

is among the last of the countries in the tropical forest belt without a

comprehensive program to protect its tropical forest. Programs like the one

developed at the San Diego Bonobo Workshop will be instrumental in obtaining

funds from organizations like the World Bank to protect the bonobo and its

forest habitat.

THE GORILLA SUBSPECIES

Three subspecies of gorillas are currently recognized. Almost all zoo

gorillas are western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla) native to west African

nations such as Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Gabon, Nigeria, and

Rio Muni. The total population of western lowland gorillas is estimated to be

between 30,000 to 50,000 individuals, and they are classified as threatened

by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural

Resources). Studying these gorillas in the wild is extremely difficult,

because their preferred habitat is dense jungle.

A very few eastern lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla graueri) native to

eastern Zaire, live in zoos. Mbongo and Ngagi, the two "mountain gorillas"

who lived at the San Diego Zoo in the 1930s and 1940s, would now be

classified as eastern lowland gorillas. These gorillas are considered the

largest subspecies on average, and generally have blacker hair than western

lowland gorillas. They number approximately 3,000 to 4,000 and are classified

as endangered.

No mountain gorillas (Gorilla gorilla beringei) exist in captivity, but these

are the most-studied gorillas in the wild. They live in the mountainous

border regions of Rwanda, Uganda, and Zaire. Only about 600 individuals

exist, in two separate populations, and they are classified as endangered.

Mountain gorillas are distinguished physically by their large size and extra-

long, silky black hair. A number of skeletal differences exist between the

three subspecies as well.

It would be interesting to see if DNA sequence comparisons could help us

understand the phylogenetic (evolution of a genetically related group as

distinguished from the development of the individual organism) relationships

of the gorilla subspecies. This could help anthropologists understand the

mechanisms and rates of primate evolution. It could also be important if

gorilla populations ever become so critically depleted that interbreeding of

different subspecies were contemplated. At CRES, we are comparing DNA

sequences from gorillas of all three subspecies. Only a few gorillas have

been tested so far, but to date it appears that the relationships between the

subspecies generally follows the geographic location of populations.

Western lowland gorillas have a large range, and many DNA sequence

differences exist between different individuals of this subspecies. Western

lowland gorillas are separated by 600 miles from eastern lowland gorillas,

and substantial sequence differences exist between the two groups as well.

The eastern lowland and mountain gorilla populations are found relatively

close together, but they have been isolated from each other for an unknown

amount of time. They are presently separated by substantial geographic

barriers: portions of the Rift Valley and a variety of mountain ranges.

However, we find much less genetic difference between the eastern lowland

gorillas and the mountain gorillas than there is between certain western

lowland gorillas. The distinct physical differences between eastern lowland

and mountain gorillas probably reflect recent adaptations to their respective

habitats -- lowlands versus mountains -- and not a distant genetic

relationship.

LION-TAILED MACAQUES: BACKGROUND

The macaques, a genus of some 13 to 20 species (there is disagreement among

taxonomists on the actual number), are found in North Africa and throughout

southern Asia from Afghanistan to Japan. The most familiar form is the

rhesus monkey, which is often seen by tourists in the towns and cities of

India. Fossils dating to six million years indicate that the macaques

originated in northern Africa and once roamed over Europe as far north as

London. These earlier macaques were not very different in appearance from the

Barbary monkeys that survive today in Morocco, Algeria, and on Gibraltar.

However, once the Macaques reached Asia, at least by three million years ago,

they diversified into a variety of forms. Few are as distinctly different as

the lion-tails, with their black coats, silver facial ruffs, and strongly

arboreal habitats. Lion-tails are one of the two macaque species that are

listed as in danger of extinction, but we may realistically expect the

Tibetan, Formosan, and Sulawesian species to fall into that category before

the year 2000.

Their geographical range snakes along the slope's and highest crests of the

Western Ghat Mountains where, today, the forest is reduced to about one

percent of the total land cover. Like its captive counterpart, the wild

living lion-tail was ignored by primatologists until well into the 1970s.

Although opinions vary, most would agree that the wild population today

numbers between 2,000 and 5,000 individuals. Initial field reports indicate

that wild lion-tails prefer to spend about 99 percent of their time in the

trees. Like other macaques, their diet is dominated by wild fruits, but

includes a variety of flowers, leaves, buds, grasses, insects, and even a few

nestlings of birds and mammals. One of the more interesting forms of feeding

reported by Dr. Steven Green of Miami University involves a simple form of

tool use. In order to protect their hands while feeding on stinging

caterpillars, lion-tails have been seen to pluck large tree leaves and lay

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