Primates: The road to self-sustaining populations

TR,FE vol. 3, no. 3, March 1988 --

PrimateConservation

Primates: The Roadto Self-Sustaining Populations edited by Kurt Benirschke, SpringerVerlag, 1986. DM 798 (xxiii + 1044 pages) ISBN 0 387 96270 0

‘Survival cocktails’, as Mallinson puts it in this book, will only materialize through wholehearted interdisciplinary cooperation. Kurt Benirschke, with sponsorship from the Morris Animal Foundation, has given this idea mare than lip service by wideorganizing an extremely ranging conference on the theme of primate sustainable nonhuman populations. The result is a 1044page tome with over 75 contributions plus appendices and an ind,ex. This volume deserves wide attention because it provides a crass section through research disciplines and across work sectors and national boundaries. The issues raised by the diverse collection of people, and the ideas that emerge from their interaction, should interest all conservation biologists. Primates are among the mast endangered taxa; the majority dwell in the world’s mast rapidly deteriorating habitats (tropical forests). The urgency of the situation is brought home by Mittermeier’s message that one-seventh of the nearly 200 primate species are already considered endangered and some are on the verge of extinction. Fortunately, the public wants to see primates in captivity and in the wild; ‘charismatic mega-vertebrates’ like monkeys and apes can draw money through 200 admissions, tourism, and charitable contributions towards conservation. Primates have enormous scientific value: primate studies have made important contributions in diverse fields and our close taxonamic affinity with nonhuman primates renders them irreplaceable for studying praolems of human biology and psychology. Leafing through this volume one is multiplicity of struck by the approaches to primate conservation. Different approaches may reflect different motivations. For instance, as Western points out, there are unrecognized differences in the conservation goals of most Third World nations and many conservation biologists; these goals can be crudely characterized as an ecosystem versus a single species approach. Benirschke’s collection is biased towards the latter, with its emphasis on conserving diversity and small populations. Such differences do require mote discussion which, Mallinson

suggests, could be facilitated by a more formal communication zoos, local/ framework between national conservation organizations, researchers, governments and international bodies (i.e. the IUCNISSC Primate Specialist Group). Most people would make species survival in the wild a higher priority than conservation in captivity since this better preserves ecological functions and evolutionary potentials. In situ protection of large animals (e.g. the Rwandan gorilla conservation program described by Harcourt) is less expensive than captive breeding, even before adding the related benefits from the concomitant preservation of other organisms and intact ecosystem functions (such as watershed properties). Preservation of wild primate populations also saves local cultural adaptions. However, the contributors to this volume are strongly committed to captive propagation, as a means to safeguard against extinctions in the wild as well as to produce animals for research and exhibits. Zoo exhibits can be effective vehicles for public education, and the knowledge gained from captive animals can in turn aid in the management of their wild kin. It is at this interface between research and conservation programs far wild and captive populations that the volume makes its unique contribution. Considerable space in the book is devoted to discussing ways to increase captive population growth rates. Most primates can breed in captivity, according to Jones‘ review of breeding records. Occasional captive births, however, do not make a self-sustaining captive colony. Benirschke lists the three overriding concerns of conference participants far captive colonies as perinatal mortality, nutrition and genetics. In addition, the success of breeding pragrams often hinges upon providing the proper physical and social environment far a given species. Such environmental requirements are often identified through studies of wild animals. For instance, Tilson speculates that females of some species may need to be allowed to choose among several potential mates, and then be allowed a much longer than usual courtship period in order better to mimic the mating patterns in the wild. Our knowledge of wild primates is often inadequate to answer questions stimulated by captive breeding. Therefore Lindshould be burg suggests that 200s mare active in field work and that a small 200 admissions tax should be levied for the purpose of funding such field projects.

As with many causes, the quest for better funding far primate conservation was a major impetus behind the conference that led to this volume. One underexploited source of revenue was pointed out by Jahnsen and Whitehair, who conclude their presentation on the expensive US domestic primate breeding program by observing that proper management of primates for sustained yield would make them a source of longterm income and livelihood like other forest products. Such managehowever, requires better ment, knowledge of primate population and community ecology, as well as better ideas on how to manage and monitor primate habitats. Questions posed by Rabb et al. in the workshop on extremely endangered primates include: what is the critical population status at which major conservation action (such as captive breeding) should begin, and what techniques should be used to assess population status? Though the theme of captive papulations as arks runs through many chapters, we know little about critical techniques for achieving the ultimate goal of translocating and reintraducing animals to safer habitats (the subject of chapters by Kleiman et al., and Strum and Southwick). Field data on reproduction assists in assessing the reproductive capacity of wild and captive animals. Reproductive technology that has been developed for humans holds great promise for other primates, but modifications for each species will require considerable effort (research priorities are discussed in Hearn’s workshop). Beyond the preservation of genetic material in eggs, sperm or embryos, it might be possible to transfer genetic material between wild and captive populations without the disease risks that ensue from transferring entire animals. Both Kalter and Vickers identify great gaps in our understanding of the effect of disease upon the future of primate populations: will tourism increase disease risks, does nutritional and inbreeding status effect susceptibility to pathogens, what are the geographic and taxonomic patterns of primate disease, and how often do pathogens cause reproductive failure? The scope of this book really precludes a cover-to-cover reading. Chapters are not organized into any clear pattern, though related contributions tend to be close to each other. Authors are mostly from the United States, with a sprinkling from Australia, Brazil, Britain, China, India, Mexico and the Netherlands. Many are employed as 200 administrators, 87

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reveterinarians scientific and searchers. Several work for public and private conservation organizations. Others are located in university settings and come from diverse fields such as anthropology, ecology, psychology, philosophy and physiology. A refreshing aspect of this book is that authors were encouraged to depart from the traditional content of conference proceedings, and to discuss areas of ignorance and suggest

future courses of action. In the present glut of edited volumes on primates14, Primates: The Road to Self-Sustaining Populations stands out for its comprehensive, interdisciplinary approach towards the survival of species whose days, otherwise, will be numbered.

Anna fvlarie Lyles Dept of Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.

References 1 Else, J.G. and Lee, P.C., eds (1986) Primate Ecology and Conservation, Cambridge University Press 2 Marsh, C.W. and Mittermeier, R.A., eds (1987) Primate Conservation in the Tropical Rain forest, Alan R. Liss 3 Mitchell, G. and Erwin, J., eds (1986) Comparative Primate Biology: Behavior, Alan R. Liss Conservation, andfcology, 4 Smuts, B.B., Cheney, D.L., Seyfarth, R.M., Wrangham, R.W. and Struhsaker, T.T., eds (1987) Primate Societies, University of Chicago Press

Environmentalism: An Historical Perspective The New Environmental Age by Max Nicholson, Cambridge University Press, 1987. f 75/$27.95 (xiv + 232 pages) ISBN 0 52133522 1 This book is a fascinating exposition of the world view of Max Nicholson, one of the leading environmentalists of the century. It touches on most of the crucial issues of our time, and minces no words. For example, speaking of development assistance, Nicholson writes: ‘Many primitive people who had for long periods successfully conserved their supporting environment were taught or forced by Western experts to embark on its destruction’. Or on science: ‘Unfortunately the price exacted by its application in industry, and above all in warfare, has been a regrettable dependence for funding and support upon those social and economic circles most dedicated to materialist exploitation and to the pursuit of naked power’. Or on the World Conservation Strategy: ‘Where it most conspiciously failed was in omitting to tackle the grave implication of the grossly excessive human population increases upon the health of the biosphere’. To this all population biologists must add a fervent ‘Amen’, especially since the discovery (after The New Environmental Age was completed) that humanity now co-opts or destroys nearly 40% of terrestrial net primary

productivity’. Nicholson has been active in the field for more than 60 years, and can be amazingly prescient. For example, he touches on the question of how the structure of the human nervous system influences perception of environmental problems, a topic just now undergoing intensive scrutiny. For most of the several millions of years of human history, there was 88

no need for biological or cultural evolution to create an ability for people to perceive long-term trends. So detecting trends, such as population growth, that generate change over periods of decades is not a ‘natural’ act - and it takes training and perseverance to pay careful attention to them*. Nicholson’s understanding of the disastrous behavior of the Reagan administration is clearer than that of some environmentalists half his age. It is reassuring that a man with experience stretching back to before World War II understands the degree to which the cause of environmental quality, and thus of societal survival, has been set back by what Nicholson describes as that administration’s ‘retrograde policies’. The bulk of Nicholson’s book, however, consists of an informative but rather idiosyncratic and often Anglo-centric history and evaluation of the environmental movement. Its strong points are in the overview of the early development of the ‘conservation’ movement as seen by a major actor in that development. Its major weakness is that, in a book entitled ‘The New Environmental Age’, a synthetic view of environmental problems is often lacking. The interconnections between such things as population growth, climate change, energy policy, acid rain, economic growth, preparation for war, income distribution, and the decay of organic diversity are only hinted at. All of this is not surprising when it is realized that many key actors in the new environmental age are not even mentioned in the book. Most of the omissions are American - Herman Daly, the premier steady-state economist; John Holdren, the top analyst of the environmental impact of energy technologies; Stephen

Schneider, book The whose Coevolution of Climate and Life3 is the best treatment of climatic change and its impact on human society; John Cairns, who has pioneered restoration ecology; and dedicated biologists, including such people as Jared Diamond, Daniel Janzen, Thomas Lovejoy, Peter Raven, Michael Soul& Bruce Wilcox and E.O. Wilson (to name just a few), who have spearheaded the drive to save organic diversity. Indeed, the thriving new science of conservation biology, one of the most cheering environmental developments in decades, is not mentioned. In short, the coverage of American environmentalists, environmental science and environmental scientists is historic but not current, and some outstanding contemporary Commonwealth environmental scientists of the modern era are ignored as well - Charles Birch, P.M. Kelly, Norman Myers and Sir Richard Southwood come to mind immediately. Finally, and somewhat annoyingly, Nicholson tends to look down his nose at ‘doomsayers’ and to take an optimistic view of the future that seems quite unjustified either by his own statements or bythe big picture. Humanity is now staggering along increasingly dependent on a rapidly shrinking supply of ‘capital’ - fossil fuels and other minerals, Pleistocene ground water, deep agricultural soils, and biological diversity. In the process, we are progressively degrading the systems that supply our income. When people realize this and are aware of today’s record annual population increments, only those who must take off their shoes to count up to 20 would not cry ‘doom’ - for that is what humanity faces if it refuses to change its ways. In sum, this is an informative book for those interested in the history of