Recovering key species for ecosystem restoration
IN 2013, the UN General Assembly decided to proclaim March 3 as World Wildlife Day to raise awareness of the value of wild fauna and flora.
This date marks the anniversary of the 1973 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
This year World Wildlife Day was celebrated under the theme ‘recovering key species for ecosystem restoration’ to raise awareness of the status of endangered species and highlight the power of ongoing conservation efforts to change their fate.
The wildlife association AAP, with installations in Villena, actively contributes to this important goal through their Born to be Wild project, which works to protect the Barbary macaque in its natural habitat, and in Spain they form part of TIFIES (Spanish Action Plan against Illegal Trafficking and International Poaching of Wild Species) and the Ecoguardas programme, as an official collaborating entity of the ministry for the ecological transition.
As an organisation fighting for the welfare of exotic mammals in Europe, AAP believes that to tackle the root of the problem it is vital to protect these animals where they belong, in their own ecosystems. The Born to be Wild project began as a response to the increasing illegal trade in the Barbary macaque (Macaca sylvanus)
to satisfy European demand for exotic pet animals and the tourism industry.
The Barbary macaque is the most illegally trafficked CITES mammal seized in Europe. This species is mainly threatened by poaching of offspring and loss of its habitat (the Atlas forests in Morocco and Algeria), according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It is estimated that around 200 animals are illegally captured every year.
This species numbers only between 6,500 and 9,100 individuals and is considered endangered. At the current rate of habitat loss combined with the significant illegal trade, the wild Atlas macaque population is expected to disappear within the next 15 to 20 years if tough action is not taken.
Research in Ifrane National Park (Morocco) in 2008 identified a serious disruption in the demography of the Barbary macaque population. Groups of macaque monkeys near tourist sites were found to be missing around half of their juveniles.
This highlighted the fact that the young monkeys were being poached, and predicted the collapse of the population in the short term.
AAP’s Born To Be Wild project, which aims to prevent illegal trafficking and save the Barbary macaque from extinction by recruiting and training park rangers in Morocco, was created to tackle this problem – working with Moroccan, Spanish and Italian authorities and law enforcement agencies, while rescuing confiscated animals; raising awareness amongst the population; and engaging local farmers to mitigate the problems they face coexisting with the species.
Anti-poaching efforts began in 2014 and five years later (ie, the age of maturity of the macaque), the study was repeated and they found that group sizes in tourist enclaves, where macaques are most vulnerable to poaching, had more than doubled compared to the previous census. The proportion of juveniles had increased significantly and hence the size of the groups. In addition, the demographics of the park-wide population had stabilised. These results indicated the effectiveness of their anti-poaching efforts by ensuring that at least half of the Barbary macaque population now lives protected in the Moroccan forests of the Central Atlas.
However, Moroccan, Italian and Spanish authorities continue to intercept illegally trafficked Barbary macaques from other areas at customs. These animals end up in Moroccan zoos or in European rescue centres.
The ideal situation for these animals, born in the wild, would be to return them to their natural habitat, but for the rewilding process to be successful and to ensure a high percentage of adaptation, it is necessary to rehabilitate them, socialise them with their peers and establish social groups, among other things.
To this end, AAP is building a rehabilitation centre in the Tazekka National Park (Morocco) to prepare these illegally trafficked macaques to be reintroduced, when possible, into the wild. After all, these animals were born wild and deserve to return to their place of origin, the ecosystems of the Central Atlas.
Primate populations, like those of many other species, are in serious decline, some of them even on the brink of extinction.
The threats they face are well known: illegal trafficking, habitat reduction, poaching... The scientific community and conservation organisations have been calling for years for the involvement of governments in their conservation.