WORLD’S APES, MONKEYS IN DANGER OF EXTINCTION

About 60% of Earth’s non- human primate species, including apes, monkeys, gorillas, gibbons and lemurs, are threatened with extinction and about 75% have declining populations, according to a study published Wednesday.

“This truly is the 11th hour for many of these creatures,” said University of Illinois anthropology professor Paul Garber, who co- led the study.

In the case of the Hainan gibbon, a species of ape in China, fewer than 30 animals remain on the planet. The population of the Grauer’s gorilla fell from 17,000 in the mid- 90s to about 3,800 today, mainly from hunting and mining, the study said. And 22 out of the 26 primate species in China are endangered, Garber said.

Those and many other species will disappear in the next 25 years unless conservation becomes a global priority, Garber said.