The PSG produces and contributes to special surveys and other publications, the most widely recognized of which is the list of the world's 25 most endangered primates. First introduced as a media outreach tool in 2000, the Top 25 list has become a biennial review of those species and subspecies in the direst need—some of which now survive only as a few dozen individuals. The production of this list is a joint venture of the PSG with Global Wildlife Conservation and the International Primatological Society (IPS). The list is reviewed at open meetings during the congresses of the IPS that are held every two years. By highlighting the danger to a selected few, the PSG hopes to draw attention to the need for urgent conservation measures for these species and to wider issues of primate conservation. Sixty-seven primates have been listed since 2000.

Primates in Peril: The 25 Most Endangered Primates

The first list was launched at the National Press Club, Washington, DC, 10 January 2000. It received exceptional coverage in a media environment already saturated with millennial news, even winning a two-page spread in Time magazine. Its success stimulated the PSG to repeat the exercise, but this time providing for a consultation of primate researchers and conservationists in deciding which species should be included.

To draw up the second list, 2002–2004, an open meeting was held during the 19th Congress of the International Primatological Society in Beijing, China, in which primatologists contributed information fresh from the field. An updated Top 25 list and report was released in Johannesburg, South Africa on 2 September 2002.

The revision of the 2000 list culminated in the official endorsement of the Top 25 by the IPS, which has since been a joint endeavor of the Primate Specialist Group, the IPS and Conservation International.

In August 2004, at the 20th Congress of the IPS in Torino, Italy, nearly two hundred primatologists attended a second open session to draw up the list for 2004–2006. It was launched in Antananarivo, Madagascar, 7 April 2005.

The fourth list, covering the biennium 2006–2008, was the result of a meeting held during the 21st Congress of the IPS, in Entebbe, Uganda, 26–30 June 2006. Fifty-one authors contributed to the 2006–2008 report, which was launched in Hainan, China, 25 October 2007.

The list of the world’s 25 most endangered primates for the biennium 2008–2010 was drawn up at an open meeting held during the 22nd Congress of the International Primatological Society, Edinburgh, UK, 3–8 August 2008. The highly successful launch of the list and the report was held in Bristol, UK, at the Bristol Zoo Gardens, 18 February 2010. The report was published in the IUCN SSC Journal Primate Conservation and as a stand alone publication by Conservation International in 2009.

The sixth iteration of the 25 primate species considered to be among the most endangered worldwide and the most in need of conservation action, 2010–2012, was drawn up during an open meeting held during the 23rd Congress of the IPS in Kyoto, 16 September 2010. It was launched on 15 October 2012 during the 11th Conference of the Parties on the Convention on Biological Diversity, held in Hyderabad, India, from 6 to 19 October 2012.

The 2012–2014 listing was drawn up at the 24th IPS Congress in Cancún, Mexico, 14 August 2012. See the press release. A preliminary report was made available, and the full report was published in May 2014.

The 2014–2016 listing was drawn up during an open meeting at the 25th Congress of the International Primatological Society in Hanoi, Vietnam, 21 August 2014. The report was published in February 2016.

The 2016–2018 (the ninth iteration) was drawn up at the 26th Congress of the International Primatological Society in Chicago in August 2016. The report was published in December 2017.

The most recent listing, 2018–2020 (the tenth iteration) was drawn up at the 27th Congress of the International Primatological Society in Nairobi in August 2018. The report was published in October 2019.

In August 2022 we released the newest version in Sinop, Brazil at the Brazilian Primatological Congress.  The report is here to download.

References: 

Mittermeier, R.A., Konstant, W.R. & Rylands, A.B. 2000. Primates in Peril: The Top 25 Most Endangered. Report, IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group, Conservation International, Washington, DC. 20pp.

Mittermeier, R.A., Konstant, W.R. & Rylands, A.B. 2000. The world’s top 25 most endangered primates. Neotropical Primates 8(1): 49.

Mittermeier, R.A., Konstant, W.R., Rylands, A.B., Butynski, T.M., Eudey, A.A., Ganzhorn J.U. & Kormos, R. 2002. Primates in Peril: The World’s Top 25 Most Endangered Primates. Report, IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group, Conservation International, International Primatological Society, Washington, DC. 20pp.

Mittermeier, R.A., Konstant, W.R., Rylands, A.B., Butynski, T.M., Eudey, A.A., Ganzhorn, J.U. & Kormos, R. 2002. The world’s top 25 most endangered primates 2002. Neotropical Primates 10(3): 128–131. Reprinted in Lemur News (8): 6–9.

Mittermeier, R.A., Valladares-Pádua, C., Rylands, A.B., Eudey, A.A., Butynski, T.M., Ganzhorn, J.U., Kormos, R., Aguiar, J.M. & Walker, S. (eds.). 2006. Primates in peril: the world’s 25 most endangered primates 2004–2006. Primate Conservation (20): 1–28.

Mittermeier, R.A., Ratsimbazafy, J., Rylands, A.B., Williamson, E.A., Oates, J.F., Mbora, D., Ganzhorn, J.U., Rodríguez-Luna, E., Palacios, E., Heymann, E.W., Kierulff, M.C.M., Yongcheng, L., Supriatna, J., Roos, C., Walker, S. & Aguiar, J.M. (compilers) (2007). Primates in Peril: The World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates 2006–2008. IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group, International Primatological Society and Conservation International, Arlington, VA.

Mittermeier, R.A., Ratsimbazafy, J., Rylands, A.B., Williamson, E.A., Oates, J.F., Mbora, D., Ganzhorn, J.U., Rodríguez-Luna, E., Palacios, E., Heymann, E.W., Kierulff, M.C.M., Yongcheng, L., Supriatna, J., Roos, C., Walker, S. & Aguiar, J.M. 2007. Primates in peril: the world’s 25 most endangered primates, 2006–2008. Primate Conservation (22): 1–40.

Mittermeier, R.A., Wallis, J., Rylands, A.B., Ganzhorn, J.U., Oates, J.F., Williamson, E.A., Palacios, E., Heymann, E. W., Kierulff, M.C.M., Yongcheng, L., Supriatna, J., Roos, C., Walker, S., Cortés-Ortiz, L. & Schwitzer, C. 2009. Primates in Peril: the world’s 25 most endangered primates 2008–2010. Primate Conservation (24): 1-57.

Mittermeier, R.A., Wallis, J., Rylands, A.B., Ganzhorn, J.U., Oates, J.F., Williamson, E.A., Palacios, E., Heymann, E. W., Kierulff, M.C.M., Yongcheng, L., Supriatna, J., Roos, C., Walker, S., Cortés-Ortiz, L. & Schwitzer, C. (eds.). 2009. Primates in Peril: The World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates 2008–2010. IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group, International Primatological Society, and Conservation International, Arlington, VA. 84pp.

Mittermeier, R.A., Rylands, A.B., Schwitzer, C., Taylor, L.A., Chiozza, F. & Williamson, E.A. (eds.). 2012. Primates in Peril: The World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates 2010–2012. Report, IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group, International Primatological Society, and Conservation International, Arlington, VA. 39pp.

Mittermeier, R.A., Schwitzer, C., Rylands, A.B., Taylor, L.A., Chiozza, F., Williamson, E.A. & Wallis, J. (eds.). 2012. Primates in Peril: The World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates 2012–2014. Report, IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group, International Primatological Society, Conservation International, and Bristol Conservation and Science Foundation, Bristol, UK. 40pp.

Schwitzer, C., Mittermeier, R.A., Rylands, A.B., Taylor, L.A., Chiozza, F., Williamson, E.A., Wallis, J. & Clark, F.E. (eds.). 2014. Primates in Peril: The World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates 2012–2014. IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group, International Primatological Society, Conservation International, and Bristol Zoological Society, Arlington, VA. 91pp.

Schwitzer, C., Mittermeier, R.A., Rylands, A.B., Chiozza, F., Williamson, E.A., Wallis, J. & Cotton, A. (eds.). 2015. Primates in Peril: The World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates 2014–2016. IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group, International Primatological Society, Conservation International, and Bristol Zoological Society, Arlington, VA. iv+93pp.

Schwitzer, C., Mittermeier, R.A., Rylands, A.B., Chiozza, F., Williamson, E.A., Macfie, E.J., Wallis, J. & Cotton, A. (eds.). 2017. Primates in Peril: The World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates 2016–2018. IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group, International Primatological Society, Conservation International and Bristol Zoological Society, Arlington, VA. iv+107pp.

Schwitzer, C., Mittermeier, R.A., Rylands, A.B., Chiozza, F., Williamson, E.A., Byler, D., Wich, S., Humle, T., Johnson, C., Mynott, H. & McCabe, G. (eds.). 2019. Primates in Peril: The World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates 2018–2020. IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group, International Primatological Society, Global Wildlife Conservation and Bristol Zoological Society, Washington, DC. 130pp.

Mittermeier, R.A., Reuter, K.E., Rylands, A.B., Jerusalinsky, L., Schwitzer, C., Strier, K.B., Ratszimbazafy, J. & Humle, T. (eds.). 2022. Primates in Peril: The World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates 2022–2023. IUCN SSC Primate Specialist Group, International Primatological Society and Re:wild, Austin, TX.

 

Conservation of Primates in Indochina

Nadler, T., Rawson, B.M. & Van Ngoc Thinh (eds.). 2010. Conservation of Primates in Indochina. Frankfurt Zoological Society and Conservation International, Hanoi. 288pp.