Chimp & See Talk

Face Masks and Great Ape Sales

  • mkavooss by mkavooss

    I have 2 general questions. First, why do humans sometimes wear face masks around the chimps? To protect the chimps, to protect the humans, or both? Second, why is there an illegal market for great apes? Why do people want to buy them?

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  • MimiA by MimiA scientist, moderator

    Hi @mkavooss

    Great questions!

    We generally wear masks to protect the apes. Because we are so closely related, our species can catch and transmit many of the same diseases and we know that humans inhabiting the forest have gotten sick from human presence, some examples:

    Because of these outbreaks, health guidelines have been developed for best practices at ape ecotourism and research sites:

    When the best practice guidelines are applied its not only about wearing masks, but also making sure that no human waste is left in the forest (including feces, not spitting, etc), that camp clothes and forest clothes are not mixed, boots are bleached daily, a quarantine period is applied before visiting the apes, and many other measures are taken to ensure chimpanzee health. Not all field sites use these protocols, and with ecotourists it is hard to enforce a quarantine and a lot of the rules, but there is at least a gold standard to reach for.

    as a side note, this is one of the very tricky things about reintroducing apes into the wild. Once they have been in a sanctuary and in contact with humans and/or human-handled food, they could transfer diseases to wild populations, especially if it is a pathogen that doesn't have a test, for example.

    Why do people want apes and ape products?

    1. the pet trade: baby chimps are cute and when people see them, they want them. The biggest markets being in the middle east and Asia. But in the US people still can keep chimps as pets so it is a global problem. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-5e8c4bac-c236-4cd9-bacc-db96d733f6cf

    This is also why most people who study primates are very against their use in entertainment or in "cute" youtube videos etc. Not only are the apes/primates invariably treated poorly, their use triggers others to want to own them too. #primatesarenotpets

    Plus, it has been shown that seeing apes in an entertainment context makes people less likely to think of them as endagered: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0026048

    1. bushmeat: apes are large (so you get a lot of return on your hunting investment) and their meat is often considered a delicacy, plus you can sell the infants in the pet trade. Bushmeat is a traditional food for many people but it also has become a status food and can fetch a very high price

    **an important note, there are several areas where eating apes/primates is a cultural taboo, and in these places we sometimes find forests that are quite hunted out of most species but with apes remaining: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/225873078_Monkeys_and_Apes_as_Animals_and_Humans_Ethno-Primatology_in_Nigerias_Taraba_Region

    1. Pseudo-medicine/superstition/status: It is believed that certain ape parts can be used for medicinal or magical purposes or people like to hang them on their walls, like you would often see deer or other hunting trophies: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2015/01/trafficking-great-ape-body-parts-cameroon-2015148945815121.html

    Let me know if you have any follow up questions, these are topics very close to my heart 😃

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  • Boleyn by Boleyn moderator

    Very interesting facts, @MimiA, thanks for sharing. Even in Switzerland bushmeat is a real problem. I heard some very disturbing numbers from the customs. Who the hell likes to eat bushmeat? Our standards for lifestock are so high.... I really don't understand it. 😦

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  • MimiA by MimiA scientist, moderator

    Hi @Boleyn

    Do you mean swiss bushmeat like deer, hare and boar (wild game) and unfarmed fish?

    I think many people feel that wild game is more ethical that factory farmed animals. The animals live free, eat natural, etc etc whereas the lives of agricultural animals is often pretty sad. Even if you think of free-ranging animals on farms, they still are not "free", their babies are often taken from them, their diet is not diverse, etc etc..

    There is of course the taste issue: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10745-006-9025-1

    and there is a cultural aspect, you like to eat what you grew up eating, a "comfort food" aspect to it.

    i think that these 3 reasons are what make the debate not so black and white.

    There are of course other reasons that are more selfish and less defendable, like bushmeat being a sign of prestige and affluence for example, but in this way we must see it in the same way as foie gras or other expensive, rare meats I think.

    and for further reading, this is a good one: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/people-and-culture/food/the-plate/2016/09/congo-basin-bushmeat-is-being-sold-far-from-its-source/

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  • squish5 by squish5

    Some great reading here, thanks @MimiA

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  • MimiA by MimiA scientist, moderator in response to squish5's comment.

    My pleasure 😄

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  • Boleyn by Boleyn moderator in response to MimiA's comment.

    Thanks for your answer @MimiA and the link. I can somehow understand that African people do eat bushmeat for different reasons. And of course I also like some deer and boar. But this is legally hunted during a defined time or legally imported.

    But here I was talking about illegally imported bushmeat from Africa to our country. It's about 40 tons yearly that is found by customs and probably raising. It's mainly monkey meat and I fear that they also mean chimps and gorillas with the word "monkey". For those who understand German here's the link to the coverage from Swiss televison. enter link description here

    Now consider the size of Switzerland and try to extrapolate this number to the rest of the so called "civilized" world. I really can't imagine who wants to eat such meat but it's probably for a certain clientele who loves to try different things just for the fun of it. It's such a shame!

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  • MimiA by MimiA scientist, moderator

    Thanks for the link @Boleyn, a lot of bushmeat in Africa is legally hunted so really in most ways its the same as wild game. Its true the importation is illegal though of course.

    It may be the clientele you are speaking of but I think another big sector are people who grew up with bushmeat who prefer it and were perhaps lucky enough to become rich in Europe and want to spend their money on something they miss and that is also a status symbol. I think a good parallel that is easier for us to relate to is a situation where German people go visit family that have emigrated to say, Canada. Very often these family members will bring wurst and cured meats to their family. This is totally illegal but no one thinks twice about it, and it happens all the time. Its a taste of home. Its not to defend this, but just to humanize the situation a bit more.

    Here is a similar article in English for the non German speakers 😃 http://www.bbc.com/news/10341174

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