IUCN SSC PSG Report 2023–25 Lists Cross River Gorilla and Tapanuli Orangutan Among World’s 25 Most Endangered Primates.
International
In May 2025, the Primate Specialist Group (PSG) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s Species Survival Commission (SSC), headquartered in Gland, Switzerland, released the 12th edition of the report titled “Primates in Peril: The World's 25 Most Endangered Primates 2023–2025.”
- This report was prepared in collaboration with the International Primatological Society (IPS), Louisiana (USA), and Re:wild, Texas (USA), and highlights critically endangered primates across Asia, Africa, Madagascar, and South America.
- The 2023–25 edition of the report features a total of 25 endangered primate species, including 6 from Africa, 4 from Madagascar, 9 from Asia, and 6 from the Neotropics (Central and South America).
- Notably, the Cross River Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli), native to Cameroon and Nigeria, and the Tapanuli Orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis), found in Sumatra, Indonesia, are among the world’s 25 most endangered primates listed in the report.
Main Point :- (i) 15 of the primates listed in the 2023–25 report were not included in the previous 2022–23 edition.
(ii) 8 species, including the Sahafary Sportive Lemur, Red-bellied Monkey, Northern Pygmy Slow Loris, Myanmar Snub-nosed Monkey, Bornean Banded Langur, and Central American Squirrel Monkey, were listed for the first time.
(iii) 9 species, such as the Red Ruffed Lemur, Cross River Gorilla, Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur, Cao-vit Gibbon, Olalla Brothers' Titi, Peruvian Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey, Variegated Spider Monkey, Caatinga Titi Monkey, and Pied Tamarin, were included in earlier editions, later removed, and now re-listed to renew attention to their conservation status.
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