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Activities	Ape Info	Survival Issues	Resources	Student Work	Facts


STORIES / WRITINGS
On this page we have personal responses and opinions ans stories that students have written after researching information on the Great Apes

Great Ape

We know ape is very big and horror. But it's very interesting animal.
I like ape. And I have some information great ape.

Ape or Monkey?
Apes are not monkeys. Apes are larger, have fewer young (and spend a longer time raising them), spend more time upright, and depend more on their eyes than on their noses. And unlike monkeys, apes do not have tails. But the most important difference is that apes are more intelligent than monkeys. Their brains are larger and more developed, and apes can learn and pass along information.

A Long Childhood
Some animal babies are on their own from the moment they are born. But great apes are born helpless and must be carefully nurtured by their mothers. In its first few years an infant great ape is always with its mother, and most remain close for years afterward. A young great ape must spend years learning about the world and how to behave in its community. After all, it will be part of a community for 30 to 50 years.

by Ulugbek Yuldashev from Uzbekistan

The life of Pili

A chimpanzee that was very happy

together with its mother

The monkey was called Pili.

It lives with its brother Tom.

One day a few hunters come and

carry its mother. From that

day Pili and its brother are sad.

And they continue looking for its mother.

SAVE THEM BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE.

It is my opinion that commercial logging and the bush meat trade is a large contributor to the low population of the orang-utans. The orang-utans and many other ape species have an extremely low reproduction rate. Usually with eight year intervals. This means that the average orang-utan female has roughly 3-4 children in her lifetime.

Also while most apes have a wide range of food to choose from they are still being forced to raid farms at their own risk. Many farmers shoot apes if caught on personal property. At this stage there are only two islands that orang-utans inhabit: Sumatra and Borneo . On Sumatra there are between 5000 and 10,000 orang-utans left. In Borneo there are roughly between 20,000 and 30,000 left.
This may sound like a lot but with the species diminishing so quickly it isn't.
At this rate there will no longer be any orang-utans remaining on this planet.

Many hunters now use shotguns instead of the safer and less harmful nets. Also many people hunt these creatures for fur or other ridiculous things. These animals are on the verge of extinction and need to be protected they aren't on this earth for our own personal purposes. They shouldn't be slaughtered to be sold or eaten.

The chance to act is at hand and we must make the choice to save them before it is too late.

by Sarah

HELP SAVE THE GREAT APES

Today, although it is hard to measure orang utan population size, the estimates are between 5,000 to 10,000 in Sumatra, and 20,000 and 30,000 in Borneo . This is half the population of 10 years ago.

The biggest threat to their survival is loss of habitat. There is also the threat of poaching for pets and food, as well as hunting for sport. Experts have estimated the species could be extinct within the next two decades.

There are laws in place in Indonesia and Malaysia making it illegal to hunt, sell or keep the primate, while the Convention On International Trade In Endangered Species Of Flora And Fauna has banned trade on the orang utan worldwide, except for purposes such as captive breeding. But it doesn't look as if it's to be working.

Action needs to be taken immediately. These problems have gone too far, and something needs to be done. The Governments don't seem to be doing enough to stop the destruction of habitat and hunting of orang utans. I think if people would get behind organisations such as GRASP it could be very positive. These organisations need our support to keep them achieving their goal. There are many ways people can get involved. By donating money, writing to governments, volunteering to work for organisations and keeping updated with what's going on, you can help save the great apes.

By Hannah

ILLEGAL HUNTING.

The illegal hunting in Africa should stop. They are killing thousands of primates and other wildlife just to feed us humans. It is alright to kill things that are brought up to be harvested but not endangered animals. It worries me how nearly 6000kg of bushmeat is being eaten every week. One day we are just going to wake up and there will be no Gorillas or Chimpanzees or Bonobos left. Some people have never herd of Bonobos because the are nearly extinct. Did you know that an estimate of 400-600 gorillas are killed each year? I couldn't get away with killing 400-600 humans a year. No because I would be jailed. But why aren't these people jailed or heavily fined for killing these animals. The apes have just as much right to live as you and I do. Don't they?

They should also stop logging forests down because if they aren't hunted down and eaten their homes are being destroyed. You wouldn't like it if I just bulldozed your house down would you.

Asia is just as bad as Africa . They have all these beautiful primates and they are killing them. Did you know that they have found 700 to 900 skulls and over 100 deep-frozen animals when they raided one mans house back in 1995? Imagine what they could be hiding today! I would hate to walk into a shop and see that they were selling orang-utan skulls being sold as trophies. I reckon if we could get enough people together we could put a stop to all this.

By Monique