DEFORESTATION is claiming the lives of Great Apes and orphaning babies at an ALARMING rate. Their habitats are being destroyed as are their lives. 3/4's of Borneo's rain forest has been cut and  burned for the farming of the Palm Plant, in which the oil is used as an ingredient in popular foods and home products. It's the most tragic ecological disaster in history.  The removal of the forest exposes mother orangutans and their babies searching for food, leaving them in out in the open. The mothers are often killed and their babies either suffer the same fate or become orphans. Africa's deforestation creates much the same, leaving open and clear paths into chimpanzee and gorilla families habitats, leaving them vulnerable as well.

Increased commercial logging in Africa and around the world is the main cause for the Bushmeat crisis. Again it creates open paths and roads for hunters using illegal methods, hunting illegal species (endangered, threatened, or protected) taken from unauthorized areas. Families of chimpanzees, gorillas and other primates are disappearing as well as other species and their habitats. Adult families are slain. Orphaned infants become terrified and traumatized after witnessing their parents' murders. The ones that are captured in many cases have been tortured, chained, crated and shipped to destinations without food or water and "sold" all over the world as "pets". Sometimes they are discovered and rescued into sanctuary. Other young apes are forced to lead a disturbing life no child deserves. The amount of baby chimps and orangutans orphaned increase on a daily basis. Visit the LINKS provided and find out more about this tragic trade.

Meat of wild animals, known as Bushmeat, illegally hunted is sold to private persons and even some restaurants on the black market or beneath authority forces. Unfortunately, the market for Bushmeat is not restricted to the countries that contain the hunted animals, but is present globally. The restaurants and chefs that prepare and offer Bushmeat and the consumers who choose to eat it may not realize eating Bushmeat is potentially dangerous and is increasingly linked to deadly diseases like HIV/AIDS, Ebola, and Foot and Mouth disease.   

As we watch our own families play, eat, laugh, sleep and grow, we can realize that Great Apes families participate in all of these activities. However, their habitats, shelters, food sources, and everything they have, including their lives, are disappearing. 

                                         SPEAK FOR THOSE WHO CAN'T!

BECOME AWARE

GET EDUCATED                                

                     Help our sanctuaries and org's committed to the welfare and conservation of Great Apes                   

                            WE CAN'T AFFORD TO LOSE NOR MISTREAT OUR CLOSEST RELATIVES ON THIS PLANET!               

 Visit our Links page