The Tree Hole Crab ( Globonautes macropus ) was originally known from a single specimen collected in Liberia in 1898, and was not collected again for 90 years until it was rediscovered in 1988. It is endemic to the Upper Guinea rainforests of Liberia and Guinea, and may also occur in the forested parts of Sierra Leone which lie between these two countries. Before 1989, the population was estimated to be about 5-10 crabs per km? of closed canopy rainforest, but this may well be declining as deforestation progresses. This Endangered crab appears to rely on rainwater-filled natural holes in suitably-sized trees at a height of 1-2 m above the ground. Loss and degradation of rainforest habitat is ongoing due to the increasing human population, deforestation, regional wars, and political instability.

Almost half the world's monkeys and apes are facing a worsening threat of extinction because of deforestation and hunting for meat, an international report showed.

Russell Mittermeier, president of Conservation International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCNN) says that they have solid data to show that the situation is far more severe that they imagined. An assessment for an IUCN "Red List" of endangered species found that 48% of the 634 known species and sub-species of primates, humankind's closest relatives such as chimpanzees, orangutans, gibbons, and lemurs, were at risk of extinction.

THIS RESEARCH WORK WAS PUBLISHED IN THE TIMES OF INDIA dated 7th August