A recent study conducted across primates of Africa and Asia revealed that human patterns may be more damaging to great ape species than we previously believed. Activities such as urbanization, industrialization, and even agriculture tend to infringe upon animal habitats, complicating the relationship between humans and wildlife.
What's happening?
While great apes have traditionally proven resilient and adaptive to human activities, new research published in the Primates journal at Kyoto University suggests that their adaptivity may come at a cost in the long run.
In order to cope with human disruptions, great apes have begun to adjust their nesting patterns, forage for human crops, and even use manmade pathways as roads for their own travel. Many of these evolved behaviors bring them into human proximity, according to Mongabay, causing higher levels of stress for these apes.
"Analysis revealed that under many contexts changing great ape behaviour is putting strain on the human-ape relationship," wrote the study's co-authors, "resulting in injury, harassment, and even the killing of apes."
The humans that overtake their natural habitats often continue to see apes as threats to their communities and crops, Mongabay reported. As a result, the apes that survive human encounters may be forced to relocate to environments to which they are less suited.
Why is great ape preservation important?
All seven great ape species are endangered or critically endangered, meaning any threat to their survival or well-being could prove catastrophic to these species as a whole. Although an animal's ability to adapt to its environment is typically a good sign, many of the apes' evolved responses are putting them in a new, human-facing kind of danger.
Great apes are keystone species — that is, fundamental to their tropical ecosystems — and act as pollinators. Certain ecosystems, per EarthDay, are "wholly dependent on the role that apes play in spreading seeds through their fecal matter."
While their crop-foraging behaviors on land overtaken by humans might suggest that they pose a threat to our crops, their pollination habits are actually critical to the growth of new plants, securing human food supply across Africa and Asia.
Should great apes go extinct, their immediate ecosystems won't be the only regions to suffer. Directly or indirectly, we all rely on their pollination. Forests lush with biodiversity are natural carbon sinks: our best defense against rising global temperatures, declared the UN.
What's being done to protect great apes?
Wildlife sanctuaries and rehabilitation centers worldwide are working to protect the ape species in their custody, and the establishment of poaching laws and protected territories keep certain regions safe. Still, as human settlements expand, our local activities continue to disrupt great ape habitats.
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Definitely 👍 Miranda Gilbert, co-author of the great ape study, stressed to Mongabay "the importance of tailoring conservation goals to fit local contexts." We can make greater strides in ape conservation, she argues, by paying attention to the unique needs of each region's human-wildlife relationship.
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