Chimpanzees are smarter than we are. At least they are smarter than the average American college student at memorizing lists of numbers from 1-9. (I don't know if that is a rather sad commentary on our educational system or a big thumbs up for the Chimpanzees.) They are also our closest-living ancestors, and have amazing family bonds. You might even say that they have better family values than we do, but that is another argument for another post. These are but a few reasons that the loss of 90% of the Chimapanzee Population in the last 20 years on the Ivory Coast's  is a travesty.

According to this article, the severe decrease in the population has resulted from de-forestation to provide room for crops and for the reason that the Chimpanzees are "hunted for their meat" there. (Hunting Chimpanzees is not something I want to even begin to consider.) In most areas where researchers had found Chimpanzee populations in 1990, there were none left.

One of the scientists quoted in the BBC article offered some hope. The two sites that still had significant Chimpanzee populations were in a national park. To keep the populations stable, he suggested that the international community  step up its commitment to national parks preservation in affected areas.

For information on how you can help save the Chimpanzees (either released research Chimpanzees or those in the wild), please click this link which contains a detailed list of organizations dedicated to Chimpanzees.