Deforestation is probably the biggest threat, the most severe example being Madagascar, the home of the lemur. It is also taking place at a rapid rate in Southeast Asia, threatening the gibbon and the orangutan. In Brazil, the destruction of the Atlantic Rain forest has made the golden lion Tamara one of the most endangered species in the world.
Primates are also threatened by collection for the pet trade and by hunting. Illegal hunting is the chief threat facing the mountain gorilla, a rare African subspecies that lives in the politically volatile border region straddling Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.