Ebola biggest threat to gorillas, chimps

The Ebola virus currently poses the greatest threat to the survival of great apes, conservationists have warned, after killing an estimated third of the world's gorillas and chimpanzees since the 1990s.

The unprecedented current Ebola epidemic in West Africa has killed some 8,641 people, according to data from the World Health Organisation, while the first batch of GlaxoSmithKline's experimental Ebola vaccine was expected to arrive in Liberia on Friday.

Conservationists have suggested vaccination could also prove helpful in tackling the threat the virus poses to our closest cousins. Writing for The Conversation, Meera Inglis, a Conservation Policy PHD student at the University of Sheffield, said: "At this moment in time, Ebola is the single greatest threat to the survival of gorillas and chimpanzees."

She goes on to suggest while vaccination could help as "a short-term strategy" to tackle the virus in apes, a longer-term strategy could focus on restoring forest habitat, "as larger forested areas would reduce the chances of infected animals coming into contact with one another."

A report written by Ria Ghai for The Jane Goodall Institute of Canada suggests "an estimated one third of the world's gorillas and chimpanzees have been killed by this disease". Ghai writes: "Outbreaks of Ebola are infrequent, but many wildlife populations are unmonitored."

"Therefore, infection of a single member of a highly affiliative animal species like chimpanzees can lead to population-level spread, especially if carcasses are left uncollected to be handled or scavenged by other animals." According to the WWF, a 1994 Ebola outbreak in Mikebe, in northern Gabon, "wiped out the entire population of what used to be the second largest protected population of gorillas and chimpanzees in the world". the independent

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/followceleb.cms?alias=threat,Gorillas,Ebola,Chimps

Stay updated on the go with Times of India News App. Click here to download it for your device.

Anda sedang membaca artikel tentang

Ebola biggest threat to gorillas, chimps

Dengan url

http://pijitwajah.blogspot.com/2015/01/ebola-biggest-threat-to-gorillas-chimps.html

Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya

Ebola biggest threat to gorillas, chimps

namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link

Ebola biggest threat to gorillas, chimps

sebagai sumbernya