Hidden high among the forested volcanoes of central Africa, the mountain gorilla was unknown to science until 1902, when two were first encountered by a German explorer -- and promptly killed.

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.

KYOTO (Japan) - THAI monkeys have been observed showing their young how to floss - proof that primates teach offspring to use tools, a Japanese researcher says.

'I was surprised because teaching techniques on using tools properly to a third party are said to be an activity carried out only by humans,' Professor Nobuo Masataka of Kyoto University's Primate Research Institute said on Wednesday.

Wildlife-Conservation Society and Republic of Congo said new census counted 125,000 newly discovered gorillas. Western lowland gorillas were believed to have been reduced by 50% due to hunting and disease.

Primatologists in Edinburgh, Scotland warn that nearly half of the world's 634 types of primates are in danger of becoming extinct. Global action is needed to defend mankind's nearest relatives from deforestation and hunting. BUT at least for today we can celebrate this recent discovery and be glad we have a little more leaway to put the right policies and protections in place for this one type.