The Living Links Center wants to continue noninvasive, behavioral studies to ensure that the future of these animals are secure and to raise public consciousness. The photo above is an example of chimpanzees that have learned to crack open nuts using stone tools. Young chimpanzees learn this cultural skill by watching their mothers and other adults. This information is passed from one generation to the next similar to human cultural transmission. Nonhuman primates are indicator species meaning that the population status of a nonhuman primate species in the wild tells us the status of the entire ecosystem that they live in.
Humans are dependent on the Earth just like all other living organisms.
The more nonhuman primate species that die tells us that the our own well-being is endangered. Nonhuman primate research benefits the animals being studied. The more we learn about them the more we can do to save them from extinction. Behavioral and ecological studies are essential to conservation efforts. Additionally scientific findings increase the public's awareness of the intelligence and the beauty of these animals.