Pygmy chimpanzees or bonobos - which some scientists call man's closest relative - have declined by 80 per cent as a result of rampant hunting in the Congo Basin, the World Wide Fund For Nature, said yesterday
The bonobo, whose multi-partner sexual antics have been used to challenge the idea of male supremacy in evolution, is much less widespread than the chimpanzee and its population was formerly estimated at about 50,000.
Preliminary results of the first detailed survey of a known bonobo stronghold found only limited evidence that they were living there. Current estimates now place the bonobo population closer to 10,000.
The survey was conducted in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the Salonga National Park, a protected area the size of Holland. No live bonobos were encountered and sightings of nests and dung were only made in a quarter of the area surveyed, at lower densities than previously measured.
There was, however, ample evidence of human encroachment into the park and of poaching.
''If these findings are mirrored across the park we can kiss goodbye to our closest relative,'' said Callum Rankine, the senior international species officer for WWF-UK.

Well Chongo it looks like your chances get less day by day, but rest assured it happens to other species too.
Giok