Report: Ebola killing African gorillas

[Guest guest]

Report: Ebola killing African gorillas

POSTED: 10:16 a.m. EST, December 8, 2006

Story Highlights

• Ebola outbreaks in Congo and Gabon have killed 3,500 gorillas,

possibly 5,500

• Also evidence of a large number of chimpanzee deaths from the epidemic

• In 2002, ebola flared in among people in the region, killing dozens

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Recent outbreaks of ebola among people in Africa also killed thousands of gorillas, animals already

threatened by hunting, a new study reports.

Outbreaks in Congo

and Gabon in 2002 and 2003

killed as many as 5,500 gorillas and an uncounted number of chimpanzees, a

research team led by Magdalena Bermejo of the University

of Barcelona in Spain reports

in Friday's issue of the journal Science.

While conservationists had raised concern about gorilla mortality

previously, Bermejo's study provides an

estimate of how many died in the epidemic.

" Add commercial hunting to the mix, and we have a recipe for

rapid ecological extinction, " the researchers wrote. " Ape species

that were abundant and widely distributed a decade ago are rapidly being

reduced to a tiny remnant population. "

Ebola hemorrhagic fever is marked by fever, headache, joint and

muscle aches, sore throat and weakness, followed by diarrhea, vomiting, stomach

pain -- and many suffer internal and external bleeding.

The researchers began studying gorillas in the region in 1995 and

by 2001 were focusing on 143 animals who had become accustomed to having people

around.

In 2002, ebola flared in among people in the region, killing

dozens, and 130 of the gorillas in the study also perished. The researchers

turned their attention to another group of 95 gorillas, but a 2003 ebola

outbreak killed 91 of those animals.

That prompted the team to analyze the regional pattern of gorilla

deaths and they concluded the disease spread primarily from gorilla to gorilla

starting in the north and moving southward through the region. They concluded

that at least 3,500 gorillas died in the outbreaks and possibly as many as

5,500.

They also found evidence of a large number of chimpanzee deaths

but said they did not have enough evidence to make an estimate of the total.

The research was funded by Energy Africa Oil Company, the European

Union and the University

of Barcelona.

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All

rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or

redistributed.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/12/08/ebola.gorillas.ap/index.html

[Guest guest]

This is very sad. Many of the great apes are so near extinction that

something like this could drive them over the edge. And when the

world loses any class of apes, we humans lose too because we can learn

so much about human behavior by studying ape behavior.

Incidentally, when I went by the ape house at the zoo some time ago, I

noticed that they had a large tv there for them so I asked the keeper

what tv show the gorillas liked most. The answer was major league

football: the gorillas loved it!

[Guest guest]

Football? Guess it fits with their natural

behaviors for play. J Tamarin

From: Flu [mailto:Flu ] On Behalf Of Lee

Sent: Tuesday, December 12, 2006

11:58 PM

Flu

Subject: [Flu] Re:

Report: Ebola killing African gorillas

This is very sad. Many of the great apes are so near

extinction that

something like this could drive them over the edge. And when the

world loses any class of apes, we humans lose too because we can learn

so much about human behavior by studying ape behavior.

Incidentally, when I went by the ape house at the zoo some time ago, I

noticed that they had a large tv there for them so I asked the keeper

what tv show the gorillas liked most. The answer was major league

football: the gorillas loved it!

[Guest guest]

Major League Football was a game that they could understand and

appreciate. Not sure what this says about football.

>

> Football? Guess it fits with their natural behaviors for play. :-)

Tamarin

[Guest guest]

LOL. Just as I always believed…some men

are animals! Tamarin

From: Flu [mailto:Flu ] On Behalf Of Lee

Sent: Wednesday, December 13, 2006

10:43 AM

Flu

Subject: [Flu] Re: Report:

Ebola killing African gorillas

Major League Football was a game that they could

understand and

appreciate. Not sure what this says about football.

>

> Football? Guess it fits with their natural behaviors for play. :-)

Tamarin