Nearly 50% of the world's primates are in danger of extinction as a result of human activity, reveals a report carried out by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The burning and clearing of tropical forests for farmland, as well as the hunting of monkeys and apes for their meat, were the two greatest threats leading to habitat reduction, the "red list" released by the international conservation group showed.

Asia appears to be the most affected area from the earth. According to the report, which looked at 634 types of primates worldwide, over 70% of those inhabiting in the world’s most populous continent are categorized as being vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered. Several species are "literally being eaten into extinction", according to a statement from Conservation International.

"We've raised concerns for years about primates being in peril, but now we have solid data to show the situation is far more severe than we imagined," said primatologist Russell Mittermeier, author of about 300 scientific papers and chairman of the IUCN Primate Specialist Group. Deforestation has always been the leading cause of habitat destruction, but now it seems that the practice of hunting is “just as serious a threat in some areas, even where the habitat is still quite intact.” Mittermeier said.

The report was released at this week’s International Primatological Society Congress in Edinburgh, Scotland. Scientists who gathered at the congress hope that the study’s results will persuade authorities to take measures to save mankind's closest relatives such as chimpanzees, orangutans and gorillas, which along to humans are all members of the biological family Hominidae.