An Assessment of Endangered Primates - The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

21 June 2021

The analysis reveals that:

Overall, the great apes, gibbons and lemurs are the most seriously threatened, with 100%, 96% and 71% of all taxa in these groups, respectively, in the Critically Endangered (CR) and Endangered (EN) categories.  However, the majority of primates are monkeys: 488/717 (68%), including 219 Neotropical primates (all of them are monkeys), and the 269 monkey taxa that occur in Asia and Africa.  This means that the vast majority of CR and EN primates are monkeys, with 155 (32%) in the CR and EN category, and more than half in the three categories of threat 265 (54%) (CR+EN+VU).

Of the 217 Neotropical monkeys, in Mexico, and Central and South America, 52 (24%) are Critically Endangered (CR) or Endangered (EN), and 92 (42%) are threatened (CR+EN+VU).

Of the 269 African and Asian monkeys, 103 (38%) are Critically Endangered (CR) or Endangered (EN), and 173 (64%) are threatened (CR+EN+VU).

There are 112 species and subspecies of lemurs on the island of Madagascar.  Their endangerment is catastrophic – 80 (71%) are Critically Endangered (CR) or Endangered (EN), and 106 (95%), all but six, are threatened (CR+EN+VU).

The slender lorises, slow lorises, and tarsiers of Asia, and the pottos, angwantibos, and galagos of Africa are what we refer to as the non-lemur prosimians, numbering 77 species and subspecies overall.  Of these, 25 (32.5%) are Critically Endangered (CR) or Endangered (EN), and 38 (49%) are threatened (CR+EN+VU).

For more detailed information about the analysis and its results, please explore the following resources:

    Eaten to Extinction: Press Release on Threatened Primates
    A summary of the results of the new analysis, commentary from PSG Chairman Dr. Russell Mittermeier.

    Regional Summaries of Primate Threat Status
    A detailed accounting of threatened primates, organized by geographic region and taxonomic family.

    Threatened Primates By Habitat Country
    A list of countries in which primates are found, ranked by the degree of threat of their primate fauna.

Also:

Probable Extinction of Hylobates lar yunnanensis
Previously listed as Critically Endangered, the Yunnan White-handed gibbon has not been seen in twenty years, and may never be again.