Weather & Science
Mining for EV Metals Threatens Gorillas and Chimpanzees in Africa
A third of Africa’s great ape population is under threat from mines producing copper, lithium, nickel or cobalt
Gorillas in Bukima, DR Congo in 2013.
Photographer: Brent Stirton/Getty Images EuropeThis article is for subscribers only.
A third of Africa’s gorillas, bonobos and chimpanzees are at risk because they live in areas that overlap with mining operations for metals critical to the global clean energy transition.
Nearly 180,000 great apes in Africa are under threat as mining activities drive deforestation, according to a study published on Wednesday in Science Advances. The true impact might be even higher because mining companies are not required to make biodiversity data public, the researchers wrote.