CONSERVATION STATUS
CITES:
Appendix III (Ghana), Appendix II (remainder of range)
(http://www.cites.org)
IUCN Red
List:
Ch. djamdjamensis: DD; Ch. aethiops, Ch. cynosuros,
Ch. pygerythrus, Ch. sabaeus, and Ch. tantalus: LR/lc
(http://www.redlist.org)
Chlorocebus pygerythrus
Most of the African primates living in the dry forests of savanna woodlands,
including vervets, have wide geographical distributions and are not threatened
at this point (Oates 1996). All species of vervets except for Ch. djamdjamensis are
lower risk and of least concern for going extinct in the near future, but despite this classification, wherever vervets have been studied for long periods of time, data reveals that populations are declining (Cheney et al. 1988; Isbell & amp; Enstam under review). The djam-djam
or Bale Mountains vervet is classified by the IUCN as data deficient; there
is inadequate information about djam-djams to assess the risk of extinction
based on distribution and population status. This categorization does not imply
a threatened status nor does it imply that djam-djams are at lower risk for
extinction, but it certainly accentuates the need for population surveys across
their range (www.redlist.org). Because
vervets are of lower conservation concern, CITES permits and
regulates their international trade in all of their range countries. There exists
an annual quota for the number of live and dead specimens that can be exported
from CITES countries each year (www.cites.org).
By having a control on the number of vervets harvested from natural populations,
countries protect their vervet populations from being overutilized. An animal
is listed as Appendix III when one country wants the help of other countries
to control the unsustainable trade of the animal in that country. Ghana has
not signed CITES and therefore cannot list its vervets as Appendix II species,
nevertheless, the government of Ghana is attempting to minimize the number of
vervets killed or captured for export (www.cites.org).
CONSERVATION THREATS & amp; POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS
Threat: Harvesting (hunting/gathering)
Being geographically widespread and having abundant populations, vervets are
subject to hunting in areas where
bushmeat is locally important (Starin 1999).
They are also kept as pets because they are easily acquired; when hunters kill
adult vervets, they keep the dependent infants and sell them as pets (Peeters
et al. 2002). While the vervet population has not suffered up to this point,
there is concern that the rates of hunting of all primate species are not sustainable.
Compared to other monkeys their size, vervets are not commonly exploited for
hunting, but they are still under some pressure across their range (Bowen-Jones & amp; Pendry
1999).
While the export of vervets from African countries should be closely monitored
by CITES, there is evidence that illegal export and trade of vervets and other
monkeys occurs and could be seriously affecting populations, especially in
countries like Gambia and Senegal (Starin 1999).
Threat: Persecution
Vervets are among the few primate species that actually thrive when agriculture
replaces their natural habitat (Boulton et al. 1996). Because they have become
a nuisance species in many places where they interface with human agricultural
development, vervets have been treated as vermin and poisoned, shot, trapped,
and otherwise killed (Boulton 1996; Jones 1998). They have also been driven
out of some areas by being rounded up and killed. In these drives, thousands
of vervets are herded and killed for money and though they are not as widespread
as they once were, so-called "monkey drives" probably still occur in parts
of West Africa (Jones 1998; Starin 1999).
Threat: Changes in Native Species Dynamics
While vervets are not threatened with extinction, some populations are being
locally extirpated.
At Amboseli National Park, the vervet population has been declining rapidly
because of indirect human-induced habitat loss. As the human population surrounding
the park has grown, an attempt to separate the park from human areas through
fencing has caused the elephant population within the park to be confined.
Some 700 elephants are now restricted to the boundaries of the park and rather
than moving over huge distances, foraging as
they go, the elephants move continuously through the park, destroying saplings
and adult trees on which vervets depend for food and shelter (Cheney & amp; Seyfarth
1990). The elephants have effectively destroyed the habitat of the vervets
by eliminating sleeping and foraging trees by rivers and watering holes that
are necessary for vervets to survive, and the population has continued to dwindle.
More than half of the vervet population at Amboseli has died and unless their
habitat is restored, they are likely to be completely eliminated from the park
(Cheney & amp; Seyfarth 1990).
LINKS TO MORE ABOUT CONSERVATION
CONSERVATION INFORMATION
CONSERVATION NEWS
- Gambia: on the trail of the green monkey (Telegraph, February 9, 2008)
- Pretoria monkeys relocated (Sunday Times, South Africa, May 1, 2007)
- UWA blocks export of 280 monkeys (The New Vision, Uganda, March 15, 2005)
- When breeding season becomes killing season (Independent Online, South Africa, November 27, 2004)
- Rwanda: Park lodge loved by baboons reopens to human guests (North County Times, February 8, 2004)
- News links for all species
Content last modified: January 3, 2006
Written by Kristina Cawthon Lang. Reviewed by Karin Enstam.
Cite this page as:
Cawthon Lang KA. 2006 January 3. Primate Factsheets: Vervet (Chlorocebus) Conservation. <http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/factsheets/entry/vervet/cons>. Accessed 2008 May 17.
