Posted by JoeM on March 20, 2002 at 15:12:30:
In Reply to: Monkeys Schmunkies posted by Justin on March 19, 2002 at 23:16:31:
Looking at the third world countries which contain the remaints of the primates natural habitat, that does not sound like such a great idea. Even if the nature preserves can actually control the poaching for "bush meat," they are still geographically limited areas with limited resources which can contain only a limited number of hardy animals (which must remain lucky enough to avoid the many hazards of their "pristine" environment long enough to reproduce). So far, the natural habitat folks aren't doing that great. Well over 3/4 of the animals raised by humans for later release back into the wild die in the first year. If one really wants to preserve these animals, then raise them in captivity. And if one really wants to propigate a species, then breed it so that it can be incorporated into human families and market it profitably as a pet. There are miles and miles and miles of human families with a lot of resources. There is a limited number of miles of rainforest. And the miles of rainforest that still exist is not expanding.
