Two of man's closest relatives in the animal kingdom will be on the edge of extinction within a decade, unless drastic conservation measures are put in place immediately.

That is the alarming conclusion of a major international study of gorillas and chimpanzees in the forests of Western Equatorial Africa, published in the scientific journal Nature.

The dense jungles of the Republic of Congo and Gabon were previously thought to be the last stronghold of the two species, since deforestation in this region has been much less intense than in other parts of Africa.

But a comprehensive survey of ape numbers in Gabon between 1998 and 2002 has revealed a dramatic decline in the population in recent years, caused by a combination of commercial hunting for bush meat, and the deadly Ebola virus which has also attacked local people.

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