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Garber PA, Dolins F, Lappan S. Scientific activism to protect the world's primates and their environments from extinction: Introduction to the special issue. Am J Primatol 2024; 86:e23601. [PMID: 38284477 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23601] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2023] [Revised: 01/16/2024] [Accepted: 01/18/2024] [Indexed: 01/30/2024]
Abstract
Nonhuman primates and their habitats are facing an impending extinction crisis. Approximately 69% of primate species are listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as threatened and 93% have declining populations. Human population growth (expected to reach 10.9 billion by the year 2100), the unsustainable demands of a small number of consumer nations for forest-risk commodities, deforestation and habitat conversion, the expansion of roads and rail networks, cattle ranching, the hunting and trapping of wild primate populations, and the potential spread of infectious diseases are among the primary drivers of primate population decline. Climate change will only exacerbate the current situation. The time to act to protect primate populations is now! In this special issue of the American Journal of Primatology, we present a series of commentaries, formulated as "Action Letters." These are designed to educate and inform primatologists, conservation biologists, wildlife ecologists, political leaders, and global citizens about the conservation challenges faced by particular primate taxa and particular world regions, and present examples of specific actions that one can take, individually and collectively, to promote the persistence of wild primate populations and environmental justice for local human populations and impacted ecological communities. As scientists, researchers, and educators, primatologists are in a unique position to lead local, national, and international efforts to protect biodiversity. In this special issue, we focus on primates of the Brazilian Amazon, lemurs of northeast Madagascar, Temminck's red colobus monkey (Piliocolobus badius temminckii), night monkeys (Aotus spp.), long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis), the primate pet trade, and professional capacity building to foster conservation awareness and action. We encourage primatologists, regardless of their research focus, to engage in both advocacy and activism to protect wild primate populations worldwide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul A Garber
- Department of Anthropology, and Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois, USA
- International Centre of Biodiversity and Primate Conservation, Dali University, Dali, Yunnan, China
| | - Francine Dolins
- Department of Behavioral Sciences, University of Michigan, Dearborn, Michigan, USA
| | - Susan Lappan
- Department of Anthropology, Malaysian Primatological Society, Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina, USA
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Bezanson M, Cortés-Ortiz L, Bicca-Marques JC, Boonratana R, Carvalho S, Cords M, de la Torre S, Hobaiter C, Humle T, Izar P, Lynch JW, Matsuzawa T, Setchell JM, Zikusoka GK, Strier KB. News and Perspectives: Words matter in primatology. Primates 2024; 65:33-39. [PMID: 38032520 PMCID: PMC10796633 DOI: 10.1007/s10329-023-01104-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2023] [Accepted: 10/27/2023] [Indexed: 12/01/2023]
Abstract
Postings on social media on Twitter (now X), BioAnthropology News (Facebook), and other venues, as well as recent publications in prominent journals, show that primatologists, ecologists, and other researchers are questioning the terms "Old World" and "New World" due to their colonial implications and history. The terms are offensive if they result in erasing Indigenous voices and history, ignoring the fact that Indigenous peoples were in the Americas long before European colonization. Language use is not without context, but alternative terminology is not always obvious and available. In this perspective, we share opinions expressed by an international group of primatologists who considered questions about the use of these terms, whether primatologists should adjust language use, and how to move forward. The diversity of opinions provides insight into how conventional terms used in primatological research and conservation may impact our effectiveness in these domains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michelle Bezanson
- Department of Anthropology, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA, USA.
| | - Liliana Cortés-Ortiz
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA
| | - Júlio César Bicca-Marques
- Escola de Ciências da Saúde e da Vida, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, PUCRS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
| | - Ramesh Boonratana
- Mahidol University International College, Nakhon Pathom 73210, Thailand
| | - Susana Carvalho
- Primate Models for Behavioural Evolution Lab, Institute of Human Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- Gorongosa National Park, Sofala, Mozambique
| | - Marina Cords
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA
| | | | - Catherine Hobaiter
- Wild Minds Lab, School of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, UK
| | - Tatyana Humle
- Durrelll Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Kent, UK
| | - Patrícia Izar
- Department of Experimental Psychology, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Jessica W Lynch
- Department of Anthropology, and Institute for Society and Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA
| | - Tetsuro Matsuzawa
- Division of the Humanities and Social Sciences, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA
- Department of Pedagogy, Chubu Gakuin University, Gifu, 504-0837, Japan
- Shaanxi Key Laboratory for Animal Conservation, College of Life Sciences, Northwest University, Xi'an, 710069, China
| | | | | | - Karen B Strier
- Department of Anthropology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USA
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