Chimpanzees in the wild reduced to 'forest ghettos'

All four sub-species of the African chimpanzee are threatened with extinction, with at least one -- the western chimpanzee -- declining in number by more than 80 per cent over three generations. [AFP]

Urban expansion and hunting have pushed chimpanzees, humanity's closest relative in the animal kingdom, into shrinking islets of wildness, top experts said Tuesday after a three-day meeting in Germany.

All four sub-species of the African primate are threatened with extinction, with at least one -- the western chimpanzee -- declining in number by more than 80 percent over three generations.