Ape Endowment
In partnership with the Arcus Foundation
Forty or so years ago, chimpanzees were in the millions, gorillas, and bonobos in the hundreds of thousands. There are now estimated to be only 700,000 great apes in Africa, half of which are gorillas.
Orangutans once ranged throughout the forests of Java, Sumatra, Borneo, Vietnam, and southern China. That is no longer the case. Orangutans have declined by about 97% in the 20th Century. As for the 20 species of gibbons, there are about 730,000 individuals total, and three species have already gone extinct.
We are overdue on action for our closest living relatives. They need long-term, committed action, now.
How it supports ape conservation
Traditional endowments lock up capital in perpetuity. Our view is that we need to solve key ape conservation problems in a shorter timeframe, putting both capital and income to work. In other words, the value of donations grows over time, thereby increasing the amount of funding that goes towards the most vital ape conservation work.