{"id":43506,"date":"2015-01-23T16:54:10","date_gmt":"2015-01-23T21:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/planetsave.com\/?p=43506"},"modified":"2015-01-23T16:54:10","modified_gmt":"2015-01-23T21:54:10","slug":"endangered-nigeria-cameroon-chimpanzee-subspecies-will-see-population-plummet-research-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/planetsave.com\/articles\/endangered-nigeria-cameroon-chimpanzee-subspecies-will-see-population-plummet-research-finds\/","title":{"rendered":"Endangered Nigeria-Cameroon Chimpanzee Subspecies Will See Population Plummet, Research Finds"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the most endangered primates, and the most endangered chimpanzee subspecies in the world — the Nigeria-Cameroon Chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes ellioti<\/em>) — is likely to see its numbers plummet over the coming years, according to new research published in BMC Evolutionary Biology<\/em>.<\/p>\n

As it stands currently, there are around ~6,000 individuals of this subspecies left in the wild. The subspecies has seen its numbers fall in recent years due to deforestation, expanding agriculture and human settlements, and illegal poaching and bushmeat hunting. What the new research has found, though, is that these issues will be greatly exacerbated by climate change in the coming years. <\/p>\n

\"Chimpanzee<\/a><\/p>\n

Researcher Paul Sesink Clee, Graduate Research Fellow at Drexel University, stated: “The Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzee is perhaps the least studied of all chimpanzee subspecies. This is the first time that their distribution and habitat has been studied in such detail, and the data used to predict how their habitats might alter under climate change. We were surprised to see that the Nigeria-Cameroon chimpanzees living in the savanna-woodland habitat of central Cameroon are under the most immediate threat of climate change, and may completely lose their habitat within our lifetime<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n