Viewers of this summer’s Hollywood blockbuster “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” may be surprised to learn that before our earliest ancestors arrived on the scene roughly seven million years ago, apes really did rule the planet. As many as 40 kinds roamed Eurasia and Africa between 10 and 25 million years ago. Only five types remain. Two live in Asia, the gibbon and orangutan; another three, the chimpanzee, bonobo and gorilla, dwell in Africa. All five are endangered, several critically so. All may face extinction.

A decade ago, Congress stepped forward with a relatively cheap but vitally important effort to protect these apes through innovative conservation programs in Africa and Asia that combined taxpayer dollars with private money. But attempts to reauthorize the Great Apes Conservation Fund have gotten stuck in Congress and may become a victim of the larger debate over the national debt.

I enjoy a good steak. Also chicken, fish, and the occasional pork or lamp chop. Red meat in moderation, to be sure, and not enough fish, but I’m moving in the “right” direction on these matters. I have respect and appreciation for vegetarians, or vegans, but it is not a path I choose. The model I want to try to follow is Mark Bittman’s formulation of mostly fruits and vegetables, grains, etc., with an occasional modest helping of meat.