Vervet Monkeys - The Least Concern Primates

Many species now require human intervention to improve their chances of survival. The current extinction problem has been called the '6th Extinction' since its magnitude compares to the five previous mass extinction periods in the geological record (Leakey & Lewin, 1995; Wake & Vrendenburg, 2008). This era of unprecidented extinction is also known as the holocene extinction event (May & Lawton, 1995). Extinction is a natural part of the evolutionary process. The previous mass extinction period made way for mammals and flowering angiosperm, and ultimately us. But this extinction event is unique. It is the first major extinction event to be caused by another living agent (Turvey & Risley 2006; Avise et al., 2008) in the Earth's history, 4 billion years. It is also unique in that species are being lost at a rate that far outpaces the origin of new species. The earth cannot keep up with us.

The Extinct Miss Waldron's Red Colobus