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Conservationists name 25 primates about to disappear

Biofuel plantations, logging and hunting are destroying the habitats of humans' closest relatives, a report naming the 25 primate species most at risk said on Thursday.

The document was compiled by 60 leading primatologists. The list includes 11 species from Asia, seven from Africa, four from Madagascar and three from South America.

"The situation is worst in Asia, where tropical forest destruction and the hunting and trading of monkeys puts many species at terrible risk. Even newly discovered species are severely threatened from loss of habitat and could soon disappear," said Russell Mittermeier, the president of Conservation International.

Vietnam’s golden-headed langur and the Hainan gibbon in China both number in the dozens, the report said.

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