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Scientists
fear
Ebola
is
killing
hundreds
of
gorillas
Posted
Sept.
2,
2004
Special to World Science
Scientists are warning that a new outbreak of the Ebola virus,
in addition to menacing human lives,
may
threaten tens of thousands of
gorillas and chimpanzees
in the Republic of Congo. Hundreds
of
gorillas
may
have
died
from
it
already,
they say.
The announcement was made by the International Primatological Society
and Great Ape Survival Project at the society's 20th Congress, held this week in Turin, Italy.
Odzala National Park in
Congo, a nature reserve under UN auspices, contains an estimated 30,000 western lowland gorillas, the largest such population of the endangered species in the world.
Until late last year, hundreds
of the primates could regularly be spotted in Lokoue Bai, a natural clearing in the park,
according to the researchers. At this clearing, separate groups of the gorillas
regularly congregated.
In the past, normally, 45 groups of gorillas,
each with an average of eight individuals, were seen there, the researchers
said. But the number since May has plunged to only nine groups.
"We have not confirmed this as an outbreak of Ebola yet, but there are clear indications that we need to take that possibility seriously," said Dr. Dieudonnč
Ankara of the Survival Project, who discussed these recent developments at the
meeting.
"This situation demands serious attention, since another Ebola outbreak would have devastating effects not only for wildlife, but for my neighbors who call the area home."
Fewer than 100,000 western lowland gorillas remain alive. A study published in the
research journal Nature last year suggested that when an Ebola outbreak affects
any area, it also kills more than four in five of all great apes living in that area.
Ebola outbreaks have already occurred in this region. In the past two years, two reported cases were confirmed in Lossi Forest,
about 50 kilometers south of Odzala. In both cases, more than 80 percent of all lowland gorillas and
some 70 percent of all chimpanzees living there died.
Odzala National Park is also home to other threatened species, including the endangered chimpanzee, the endangered African forest elephant, and the vulnerable
lion, researchers say.
The massive 13,600 square kilometer park sits in northeastern Congo, near the Gabonese border to the west and Cameroon to the north.
"This is clearly bad news, but it is not too late to act," averred Christophe Boesch, Professor at the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig, Germany.
"Although it would be disastrous to the great apes if another outbreak of Ebola is confirmed, we still have it in our grasp to save a large number of these primates, man's closest living relatives. The international community and non-governmental institutions must continue to commit resources to the Congo Basin, one of the last remaining tracts of wilderness in the world."
Western lowland gorillas can grow to six feet tall when standing, and can weigh up to 450 pounds. They have a broad chest, a muscular neck, and strong hands and feet.
Short, thin, grey-black to brown-black hair covers their entire body, except the face. Many bear a distinctive ginger-colored crown. In comparison to mountain gorillas, western lowland gorillas have wider and larger skulls. They are
known as quiet, and peaceful animals that almost never attack unless provoked.
The relatively intact forests of Western Equatorial Africa are regarded as the last strongholds of African
apes, researchers said. Gabon and the Congo hold 80 percent of the world's gorillas and most of the Central African chimpanzees. The population of apes in the Congo declined by more than half between 1983 and
2000, according to the scientists.
—EJL
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