In 2000, Congress passed the Great Ape Conservation Act to provide for up to $5 million per year for five years for projects to conserve critically endangered apes. A great ape is defined as a gorilla, chimpanzee, bonobo, orangutan, and gibbons.

     Great apes are in danger of extinction because of bushmeat hunting, loss of essential habitat, diseases, political instability, and illegal poaching for the live animal trade. Bushmeat is the meat of wild animals, and provides a cheap and plentiful source of protein for hundreds of remote villages, the inhabitants of which can not afford other meat products.

     In recent years, bushmeat has become a very profitable commercial enterprise, and it appears as a luxury item on menus in expensive restaurants throughout the world. Consequently, its popularity outside of these remote villages has created a dire threat to great apes.

     "I am hopeful that the Congress will act to protect great apes. They face new threats every day, and we should move quickly to continue this successful program," said U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA).

     Miller, along with U.S. Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA), are the original cosponsors of H.R. 2693, which would reauthorize the Great Ape Conservation Act to receive $25 million over the next five years to support on-the-ground conservation projects to protect these species throughout their home lands, including funding for areas devastated by the Indonesian tsunami in December of 2004.

     "If the species most close to us, genetically and evolutionarily, should perish during our lifetime, it will be an eternal blight and one of the greatest symbols of human irresponsibility of our time. We should lead the effort, working closely with our international partners, to preserve great ape populations and aid the people and communities who co-exist with and depend upon these animals," stated Baird.

     "This hearing reinforced what many of us already feared: the Great Ape fund has helped immensely over the last five years, but if we want to save these imperiled ape populations, we still have a lot of work to do," declared Miller.

     In the last five years, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has funded 110 great ape conservation projects costing a total of $4.3 million, and leveraged an additional $5.8 million in private sector contributions. Witnesses who unanimously testified in support of H.R. 2693 recognized that this funding, while important, pales in comparison to the conservation needs in the field.

     "I applaud the public-private partnerships formed to address urgent conservation needs in the tsunami-stricken Aceh Province, Indonesia. Efforts such as those between Conservation International, World Wildlife Fund, and the American Forest & Paper Association to prevent illegal logging of great apes’ habitat supports the intent of this legislation and should be commended," concluded Baird.