tagged w/ Gorillas
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CNN...
First gorilla genome map offers clues to human evolution
By Matthew Knight, CNN
updated 12:17 PM EST, Thu March 8, 2012 | Filed under: Innovations
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STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Scientists have completed the DNA map of an African western lowland gorilla
Research hopes to shed light on human evolution and biology
Western lowland gorilla population estimated to be 100-200,000 individuals in the wild
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(CNN) -- The first complete gorilla genome has been mapped by scientists giving fresh insights into our own origins.
Gorilla are the last of the genus of living great apes (humans, chimpanzees, gorillas and orang-utans) to have their DNA decoded, offering new perspectives on their evolution and biology.
"The gorilla genome is important because it sheds light on the time when our ancestors diverged from our closest evolutionary cousins around six to 10 million years ago," says Aylwyn Scally, postdoctoral fellow at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge and lead author of the report.
"It also lets us explore the similarities and differences between our genes and those of gorilla, the largest living primate," he added.
A team of researchers examined more than 11,000 genes in humans, chimpanzees and gorillas, looking for evolutionary clues.
Initial findings have revealed that 15% of the gorilla genome is closer to human DNA than to our nearest evolutionary relative, the chimpanzee.
Researchers found that genes relating to sensory perception, hearing and brain development showed "accelerated evolution" in all three, but particularly in humans and gorillas.
Having the entire length of the gorilla genome now means scientists can start to compare all the four great apes at every position on the genome, Scally says.
It forms the baseline, he says, from which to move forwards and really explore why and when our genes and those of the great apes diverged.
"Did it happen quite quickly or was it something that gradually happened? At the moment we don't know," he said.
"It could have been some climatic change that separated humans in the east of Africa from chimpanzees in the forest -- that's an idea some have floated. If we can see some imprint of it in the genome that would very, very useful information."
Scientists used the DNA of a female western lowland gorilla (called Kamilah) who resides at San Diego Zoo.
In the wild, it is the most widespread species of gorilla, according to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), with a estimated population of 100-200,000 individuals.
The majority are found in Cameroon, Central African Republic, west Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Angola.
It's cousin, the eastern lowland gorilla is less prevalent (fewer than 20,000 individuals) and can only be found in the rainforests of the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, says WWF.
The research is published in the science journal Nature.
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PHOTO (ABOVE):
The complete DNA of a female western lowland gorilla called Kamilah (left) has been mapped by scientists, completing the set of genomes for all great apes (humans, chimpanzees, gorillas and orang-utans).
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.CNN...
First gorilla genome map offers clues to human evolution
By Matthew... more
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Gorillas have been portrayed as militaristic bullies in the Planet of the Apes movies and as “highly social gentle giants” by researcher Dian Fossey.
Now scientists say they’re closer genetically to humans than they once thought.
Sequencing the genome of a female western lowland gorilla named Kamilah determined that most gorilla DNA is similar or identical to those of humans, despite the 10 million-year gap since the two species split off, according to a report today in the journal Nature.
In 30 percent of the genome, the study determined that gorillas are closer to humans and chimpanzees than the latter two are to each other. It’s a finding that may help scientists track changes in how the species have responded over time to shared genetic characteristics, including diseases, the researchers said.
“If we can understand why they’re harmful in humans but not in gorillas, that would have useful medical implications,” said Chris Tyler-Smith, head of the human evolution team at Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in Hinxton, England.
Gorillas are the last of the great ape genus to have their genome sequenced, the investigators said. The group saw changes in genes involved in sperm production and in the formation of keratin proteins in the skin.
Additionally, gene variants that in humans cause genetic disease don’t seem to affect gorillas similarly, said Tyler- Smith, one of the study’s authors.
Dementia Gene
One of the genes, PGRN, has a mutation that causes frontotemporal dementia in humans. Another, called TCAP, a human variant that causes hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition where the heart muscle thickens, makes it hard for blood to leave the heart.
Both humans and gorillas have accelerated evolution in genes associated with hearing, suggesting that the changes aren’t related to speech, Tyler-Smith said.
Because gorillas live in groups with one male and many females, there isn’t a lot of sperm competition, so many genes involved in sperm formation are either inactive or decreased in numbers in gorillas. And a gene called EVTL, which contributes to keratin formation in the skin, is evolving very rapidly in gorillas, who walk using knuckles that are padded with keratin.
Humans overall are still closer to chimpanzees in 70 percent of the genome, said study author Aylwyn Scally, a postdoctoral fellow at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.
Ape Separation
“When we look at human evolution, there’s an emphasis on chimpanzees because they’re closer, and other great apes get overlooked,” said Tara Stoinski, chief scientist of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, based in Atlanta.
“This lets us understand the relationships further back in our ancestry,” Stoinski, who wasn’t involved in the research, said in a telephone interview.
Human beings separated from chimpanzees 6 million years ago, and from gorillas about 10 million years ago, according to the report in Nature.
About half a million years ago, gorillas split into two species, the eastern gorilla, featured in Dian Fossey’s book, “Gorillas in the Mist,” and the western gorilla, whose genome sequence was published today.
Fossey was inspired by Jane Goodall’s work with chimpanzees and established a research center called Karisoke, in Rwanda. She knuckle-walked with the gorillas, habituating them to her presence so she could study them. Later, she tried to protect them from poachers after Digit, a gorilla she was especially close to, was killed in 1977. In 1983, she published “Gorillas in the Mist,” a description of her time with the gorillas that underscored conservation. Fossey was murdered in 1985, and buried next to Digit.
Koko the Gorilla
Koko the gorilla, who “speaks” using sign language, is a western lowland gorilla; her relationship with a pet cat was featured in the book “Koko’s Kitten.” Francine Patterson, a scientist who taught a modified form of sign language to the gorilla named Koko, portrayed the relationship between the gorilla and a housecat in the book.
Since the latest species split, eastern and western gorillas appear to have continued exchanging genetic information through sexual liaisons, researcher has suggested.
In the future, the scientists plan to look at the eastern gorillas, which have been studied more extensively in the field than western gorillas, Tyler-Smith said. Both species live in Africa, separated by the Congo River. The western gorillas are critically endangered, threatened by Ebola and being eaten by humans as meat; eastern gorillas are endangered, Stoinski said.
The human genome sequence was declared complete in 2003, the chimpanzee in 2005, and the orangutan in 2011.Gorillas have been portrayed as militaristic bullies in the Planet of the Apes movies... more
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L.A. considers putting zoo operations in private hands
Officials say the change would save nearly $20 million over five years and prevent possible closure. Critics question the savings and say the move could mean less transparency in animal welfare.
Los Angeles Zoo
Photo: Zoo patrons view a pair of Masai giraffes at the Los Angeles Zoo. Two potential private operators have expressed interest in running the zoo. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
By Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times
July 28, 2011
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Someone else may soon be tending to the misty artificial rain forest at the Los Angeles Zoo where Bruno, a 300-pound orangutan with a wispy orange beard and a hulking frame, makes his home.
The city opened the zoo and botanical gardens in 1966, but officials are now considering a proposal to turn over management to a private operator. That means the gardeners, plumbers and other city employees who help run the zoo could be transferred to other departments and replaced with private workers.
Like any issue involving labor — or animals — the fight over the fate of the zoo has caused a considerable stir.
City officials say the change would save nearly $20 million over the next five years and rescue the zoo from possible budget reductions or even closure. But opponents of the plan question the savings and warn that privatization could mean steeper ticket prices for the zoo's 1.5 million annual visitors and less transparency when it comes to animal welfare.
The zoo plan is only the latest example of a shift in how budget-strapped officials think about "core services" and City Hall's basic obligations to taxpayers. They are also considering proposals to privatize the Los Angeles Convention Center, an animal shelter in the San Fernando Valley and several arts facilities.
Such public-private partnerships are common in Los Angeles County. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History are two county facilities operated by nonprofit organizations.
"It's not a revolutionary idea," said Miguel Santana, L.A.'s chief administrative officer, who came to City Hall from the county in 2009. "This model has worked across the country as a way of ensuring services are maintained in an era of declining revenues."
According to a draft proposal for the zoo plan, which the City Council's Arts, Parks, Health and Aging Committee will consider Thursday, Bruno and the rest of the animals would remain the property of the city, along with the zoo's Griffith Park grounds.
All current staff would remain employees of the city, but those who do not hold zoo-specific jobs might be transferred to other city departments. Future hires would be employees of the new operator.
Two potential operators have already stepped forward.
One is the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Assn., or GLAZA, a nonprofit headquartered on the zoo's campus that raises money for the institution, manages its memberships and operates its concessions. In 2010-11, it raised about $13 million for the zoo, according to GLAZA President Connie Morgan
The other party is Parques Reunidos, a Madrid-based theme park operator that runs 70 amusement parks, water parks and zoos worldwide.
Dave Towne, a former consultant for the L.A. Zoo, said that if a private company takes over, the face of the zoo may change. "Any private, for-profit operation is going to Disney-fy it," he said. "That's just what they do."
Towne, former director of the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, oversaw the transition of that zoo's management to a nonprofit 10 years ago. He said private operators run the majority of the nation's major zoos and are often more successful at marketing and fundraising than cities, in part because they are less encumbered by bureaucracy.
Animal activists fear that could result in a lack of transparency. Catherine Doyle, of In Defense of Animals, said that if the zoo is privatized, "it will become even more secretive and insular."
She and others have long accused the zoo's management of not being forthcoming about animal care, and have asked that the operator be required to answer to a city-appointed animal welfare commission.
Adriana Hawkins, a zoo gardener for six years, says everyone will suffer if longtime employees are reassigned. The zoo will lose expertise, she said, and the employees will lose jobs they love.
"I don't want to go down to the harbor; I don't want to spend my life on the freeway," Hawkins said. "I have a passion for the zoo."
Santana and others have said that privatizing the zoo will allow it to flourish. A report he commissioned said that under private management, the zoo would be able to reap up to $3.8 million more each year in revenue, thanks to new opportunities for corporate sponsorship, fundraising and special events.
But City Councilman Richard Alarcon said that's all the more reason to keep control of the zoo. "If a private corporation can make it profitable, why can't we?" he said.
It costs $26 million a year to run the zoo and pay the salaries, benefits and pensions of more than 200 employees. The city contributes about $14.6 million; the rest of the budget comes from ticket sales and donations.
Officials say if the city does not privatize management, that figure could grow as high as $19.4 million by 2015. But even if it does complete a deal, the city will still contribute about $13.8 million to the zoo in 2015, according to the proposal.
The savings may be small in the short term, but Santana insists that it adds up. Next year, he and other officials will have to find a way to close a $200-million budget deficit.
.L.A. considers putting zoo operations in private hands
Officials say the change... more
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According to Calgary Zoo, Zola the male gorilla, just can't contain himself when it comes to puddles of water. See for yourself as he tears it up on the makeshift dance floor.According to Calgary Zoo, Zola the male gorilla, just can't contain himself when... more
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Orphaned gorillas find a safe haven
From Jessica Ellis, CNN
December 17, 2010 5:19 a.m. EST
Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo (CNN) --
In a remote, rural area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund has opened the country's first rehabilitation center for Grauer's gorillas.
Called GRACE (Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education), the center's goal is to teach orphaned gorillas how to survive in the wild as a new, self-sufficient "family," with the longer-term goal to release them into a natural habitat in a neighboring forest in the Congo Basin.
These young gorillas are physically and emotionally fragile, most having suffered from extremely traumatic conditions and experiences. Many have been violently taken from the forest by poachers, intent on selling them either as bush meat or for the animal trafficking trade.
CNN's Jessica Ellis and Ferre Dollar recently followed the first group of gorillas to be transported to the forested area from a temporary facility in Goma, in eastern DRC.
The pioneering young orphans were airlifted to GRACE by a helicopter donated by MONUC, the United Nations peacekeeping force in the DRC -- a first for a U.N. mission. Traveling by road would have been almost impossible due to poor infrastructure and potential trauma to the animals.
Mapendo, Amani, Kighoma and Ndjingala were all originally snatched from the forest and their families by poachers. They are all Grauer's gorillas, a subspecies related to the Mountain gorilla, but live exclusively in eastern DRC.
Sandy Jones is the confiscated gorilla rehabilitation manager for the Dian Fossey Fund and now the manager of GRACE. "All of the gorilla species are endangered because Congo is so unexplored they have not done a real census on how many Grauer's gorillas there are," she says.
"But at the rate at which we know they are being killed and the forest is being destroyed we are really concerned that if things aren't stopped and changed now they can be wiped out very soon."
This freshman class of GRACE gorillas range in age from between one and five years old. Mapendo, whose name means "love," was rescued in December 2007. She was confiscated along with a male gorilla but he only survived for two days.
When Amani -- which means "peace" -- was rescued a year ago she had a large wound on her leg. "It seemed obvious that her mother was shot and she was caught in the crossfire," Jones explains. "It took many weeks to heal but now she is walking perfectly normal."
Kighoma -- "drums" -- is the only male in the group. He arrived in May 2009, and Ndjingala was rescued earlier this year. She is only a year old and was named after the place from which she was taken.
"A lot of primates, when they are taken by poachers, they have ropes around their hips and it digs in and so they have bad wounds and Ndjingala suffered from that," Jones says.
The Dian Fossey gorilla fund and the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project have been caring for rescued gorillas in temporary quarters in Kinigi, in Rwanda, and in Goma.
Now they (the gorillas) are in the real forest and they are climbing and getting some forest food, so they are happy.
"What I know is that many of them have died," says Dr. Eddie Kambale of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project. "We may have, I can say, about 20% that have been taken from the forest."
The GRACE center is the first facility of its kind in east Central Africa. It has room for up to 30 young gorillas to live in species-typical groups and roam through 350 acres of natural habitat.
Kambale helped bring the four orphans from Goma to GRACE. "The gorillas are enjoying this place compared to where they were," he says.
"In Goma there was too much noise and dust from the road; here is less pollution so this will be good for their health. Now they are in the real forest and they are climbing and getting some forest food, so they are happy."
The remaining rescued Grauer's gorillas currently cared for by the Dian Fossey Fund and Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project will leave Kinigi on a second airlift scheduled for early next year.
"Having the gorillas here will help give the people a glimpse of the world of gorillas," says Debby Cox, of the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance.
Cox worked with the local community to build the infrastructure for GRACE. "When the local people see gorillas as so much like us -- they live in families, the infants need their mothers, they hug each other -- you immediately get an empathy coming," she says.
"So we need to work with the people in this area, and that helps create stability and that creates confidence too."
While for decades the world has only heard bad news from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, conservation is striking an increasingly important chord of awareness among the people.Orphaned gorillas find a safe haven
From Jessica Ellis, CNN
December 17, 2010 5:19... more
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San Francisco gorilla gets gastro surgery
Saturday, December 04, 2010
SAN FRANCISCO (KABC) -- An unusual medical procedure took place at the San Francisco Zoo this week - the patient was a gorilla.
Zura, 29, was having gastrointestinal problems, so doctors did an endoscopy to see what was wrong.
Part of the problem could be that Zura likes to taste anything she can get her hands on -- including cups, purses, and even cellular phones.
Once doctors get results of the endoscopy, they can figure out how to treat Zura.San Francisco gorilla gets gastro surgery
Saturday, December 04, 2010
SAN... more
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Finding on Malaria Comes From Humble Origins
Ian Nichols/National Geographic Society
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
Published: September 27, 2010
It has taken 10 years for Dr. Beatrice H. Hahn to build the world’s most comprehensive treasury of great ape dung samples.
And now it has yielded an unexpected gem: The most dangerous form of malaria originated in gorillas, not chimps, as had long been believed.
In and of itself, knowing that does nothing to help defeat malaria. But malaria experts were pleased to learn it — and it shows what wonders can be performed when you have 2,700 fecal samples in your freezers and a little imagination.
“There’s a lot you can do with ape scat,” Dr. Hahn said. “It’s worth its weight in gold.”
Dr. Hahn, a virologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, is an expert not in malaria but in S.I.V., or simian immunodeficiency virus, the precursor to the virus that causes AIDS in humans. But she has made deals with primate researchers all across Africa who collect fecal samples for their own projects, to have them take extras for her.
They go into vials with a special solution, called RNAlater, that preserves the nucleic acids of all the cells in the sample — which includes not only what apes eat, but cells sloughed off their gut linings, which contain all the things infecting them. She has systematically sequenced the genes of many of those infective agents: S.I.V., simian foamy virus, hepatitis and now malaria parasites.
Her study was published Thursday in Nature.
Knowing that gorillas are the source is not going to lead to a new drug, but it is reassuring in one important way, said Frank Collins, a malaria expert at the University of Notre Dame. The human disease probably came from a mutant parasite that crossed over from a single gorilla thousands of years ago. That implies that if malaria is ever wiped out in humans, it is unlikely that it will ever be reintroduced from apes.
Reintroduction is not an idle threat. In 1932, the Rockefeller Foundation gave up on its 17-year campaign to eradicate yellow fever. Its scientists had realized that monkeys carried the same virus, so it would never be wiped out without wiping out monkeys, too.
Opening the freezer door and rescreening 1,827 dung samples from chimpanzees, 805 from gorillas and 107 from bonobos yielded several surprises, Dr. Hahn said.
Chimpanzees across Africa had various malaria parasites; bonobos, their closest relatives, did not. West African gorillas were infected, but East African ones were not. (The populations are kept separate by wide rivers like the Congo and by humans who chop down their jungle habitats and hunt them.)
Until recently, it had been believed that the falciparum strain of malaria — the most deadly kind, which can kill in 48 hours — came from chimpanzees, because the closest relative to it that had been found, the reichenowi strain, was common in chimps.
But previous surveys of ape malaria — which go back as far as 1907 — have had obvious flaws, several malariologists said. Most sampled only a few apes, who were usually in captivity or in ape sanctuaries close to humans. One bonobo in one previous study, Dr. Hahn said, had parasites that not only were identical to human strains, but showed resistance to malaria drugs — which meant the bonobo must have caught them from a nearby human, not the other way around.
With the exception of 28 samples from a gorilla troupe habituated to humans, “all my samples are from the forest floor,” she said.
One researcher who sends her samples is David B. Morgan, a primatologist at Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago and for the Wildlife Conservation Society based at the Bronx Zoo, who studies gorillas and chimpanzees in the Goualougo Triangle of the Congo Republic. Dr. Morgan uses fecal samples to track hormone levels, parasites and even family relationships.
He does not try to get blood samples with “biopsy darts” or capture or tranquilize apes for study.
“We want to have as little impact on them as possible,” he said. (Primatologists now frown on the friendly banana-sharing that so endeared Jane Goodall to readers of National Geographic decades ago.) He and his local trackers stay at least 35 feet from troupes they watch. They are vaccinated against diseases that apes can catch, take deworming pills and even defecate in bags that they carry back to camp so as not to risk infecting apes with human parasites, which has happened at other sites, he said.
Chasing samples is hard work, said Sabrina Locatelli, a State University of New York primatologist who works in Africa and collaborates with Dr. Hahn.
With colobus monkeys, who rain feces down from 70 feet up in the forest canopy, finding samples “means keeping your head up and your neck bent to spot them, so it can be painful,” Dr. Locatelli said.
With chimps and gorillas, she said, you follow them until they start building nests for the night, take a GPS point, go back to camp, get a few hours of sleep, and then come back early in the morning to look for samples, which are usually in or near the nest. With luck, the nest also has a few stray hairs, useful for DNA analysis.
Explaining her job to local officials is not easy either, she added.
Seven years ago, she said, when she was negotiating for permission to track bonobos in the Congo, she tried to explain what she wanted by showing park officials a vial of gel used for drying samples.
“It had these tiny blue beads in it,” she said. “People thought I was smuggling diamonds. They just would not believe me. They were saying ‘Why would this tiny woman come so far to collect bonobo poop?’ ”Finding on Malaria Comes From Humble Origins
Ian Nichols/National Geographic Society... more
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Gorillas fight for survival
By VBS.TV staff
July 22, 2010 2:57 p.m. EDT
Editor's note: The staff at CNN.com has recently been intrigued by the journalism of VICE, an independent media company and website based in Brooklyn, New York. VBS.TV is Vice's broadband television network. The reports, which are produced solely by VICE, reflect a transparent approach to journalism, where viewers are taken along on every step of the reporting process. We believe this unique reporting approach is worthy of sharing with our CNN.com readers.
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Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda (VBS.TV) --
Uganda has crept back into our consciousness lately with synchronized bomb attacks that took the lives of 76 people in the nation's capital Kampala during the World Cup festivities.
When we were last in Kampala, we set out to learn more about the desperate fight for the survival of mountain gorillas.
With a dwindling population of 700, they have been victims of poaching, disease, war, civil unrest, slaughter and displacement.
Under pressure from rebel factions in Uganda and the DRC who massacred gorillas because the conservationists were "getting on their nerves," our guide tracks the remaining apes -- by armpit stench and dung -- to keep tabs on their health.
We traveled to the remote jungle area known as Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in the southwestern part of Uganda, bordering with Rwanda and the DRC, areas plagued with dictatorships, genocide and decades of civil and national wars.
Ten years earlier, eight park visitors had been abducted and then murdered by a group of Rwandan armed rebels in an effort to destabilize the region.
The drive from Kampala was harrowing. Our driver sped and swerved obsessively, overtaking anyone in his path despite on-coming traffic.
We witnessed three traffic accidents, two fatalities and an adventurous couple having sex in the middle of a dark mountain road after midnight.
With four guards armed with machetes and rifles, two advance gorilla trackers, and our guide Levi we ventured into the dense tropical rainforest that is home to roughly half of the 700 remaining mountain gorillas in the world.
Here we encountered the gentle beasts and found out more about their plight.
See more of this fascinating story at VBS.TVGorillas fight for survival
By VBS.TV staff
July 22, 2010 2:57 p.m. EDT... more
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In this stunning video from the folks at Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a daring effort is made to transport the 375-pound silverback gorilla Mukunda back to the wildlife reserve after he strayed over three miles away.
Once wandering, Mukunda began destroying the crops of local villagers over the span of two months, threatening their livelihood and endangering his own life as a result.
After locating Mukunda and successfully anesthetizing him, he was driven back to his home in the forest, making the last stretch of steep hills on a bamboo stretcher, a process that took most of the day.
Virunga is the second oldest national park in the world (after Yellowstone), and is home to 200 critically endangered mountain gorillas, of which only 720 total remain.
Their daring attempt to relocate Mukunda back to the park shows their commitment to preserving him and his species
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/25/silverback-gorilla-reloca_n_625638.htmlIn this stunning video from the folks at Virunga National Park in the Democratic... more
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UN to airlift gorillas from DR Congo
By the CNN Wire Staff
June 6, 2010 5:39 a.m. EDT
(CNN) -- The United Nations will carry out a second airlift of baby gorillas, one of the world's most endangered species, from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The operation, planned for mid-July, will take the gorillas to a sanctuary where they will be cared for before being released into the wild, the U.N. said Saturday.
The first such rescue was undertaken on May 27.
Until now, the Congo Basin in Central Africa had been a rainforest refuge for gorillas and other apes.
But the threats to the gorillas' survival are so acute that a study that predicted only 10 percent of the gorilla population will remain by 2030 is now considered too optimistic.
A new U.N. report, released in March, said gorillas may go extinct in much of central Africa by the mid-2020s.
The situation is especially critical in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
There, militias have seized large chunks of gorilla land and logged and mined it. They have done so because the illegal trade in timber and in metals such as gold and coltan -- used in cell phones -- generates between $14 million and $50 million a year for them, the report says.
As the militia fight the army, the insecurity in the region has driven thousands into refugee camps. Professional poachers have taken to providing "bush meat" -- wild animal meat -- to the refugees and to the workers in the mining and logging camps. And increasingly, that meat comes from apes, the report said.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01250/baby-gorilla_1250136i.jpgUN to airlift gorillas from DR Congo
By the CNN Wire Staff
June 6, 2010 5:39 a.m.... more
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|main|dl3|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pawnation.com%2F2010%2F05%2F24%2Fsweet-reunion-between-a-man-and-the-gorilla-he-raised-as-a-baby%2F
This heart-tugging video captured the extraordinary reunion of two old friends: a man and the gorilla he raised from infancy.
It had been five years since British naturalist Damian Aspinall had seen Kwibi, a lowland gorilla who was born at Howletts Wild Animal Park in England as part of an ongoing conservation program by the Aspinall Foundation to re-introduce gorillas back into the wilds of Africa.
Several years after Kwibi was released to live in Gabon, West Africa, Aspinall traveled there to see if he could catch a glimpse of his old friend. Cameras captured the scene as Aspinall glided down the river calling out to Kwibi, "C'mon! C'mon!" Incredibly, Kwibi appeared on the bank. "He heard my voice and came to the edge of the river," Aspinall explained in the video.
What happened next is astounding. Aspinall approached Kwibi cautiously. After all, the gorilla is a wild animal and he hadn't seen the naturalist in many years. And yet, Kwibi recognized Aspinall. "The moment I heard his deep, rumbling love gurgle, I knew I was OK," explained Aspinall. Kwibi nuzzled his face close to Aspinall, then wrapped his hairy arms around the man, refusing to let him go.
When Aspinall had to leave, Kwibi followed his boat down the river. "All night he hooted, calling for his friend," said Aspinall. At 6:00 the next morning, when Aspinall took a swim, Kwibi was there on the banks of the river.
"It's no different if you go see a friend in another country and you meet and you have a reunion and you go on your separate lives again," Aspinall told Matt Lauer in an interview on "Today." "I always feel I'll see him again."
Aspinall wants the video to encourage people to support the efforts to protect animals in the wild. "I hope when people see this they realize animals deserve their chance and it shows how gentle gorillas can be," Aspinall said on "Today." "We have a responsibility to this earth and I think as a species, we can do so much more for this planet."|main|dl3|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.pawnation.com%2F2010%2F05%2F24%2Fsweet-reunion-between... more
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Four highly endangered mountain gorillas have been found dead in Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park, likely because of extreme cold in their mountain habitat, experts said Thursday.
Some of the group were found still alive but dying earlier this week by trackers from the Karisoke Research Centre in the mountains of north-west Rwanda.
"While the cause of death has yet to be determined, the gorillas are thought to have died because of the extreme cold and rainy conditions," the World Wildlife Fund said in a statement.
"The gorillas? current range is high on Mount Karisimbi, and at high altitude it will be even colder," WWF said.
The wildlife group said there were no signs of foul play but that the dead gorillas, one female and three infants, have been sent for autopsy to determine the cause of death.
The four were part of a research group called Pablo.
"Unless the post mortem results show something contagious, it may be just a natural event ... likely to be down to the cold weather," said Ian Redmond, a gorilla expert who is chief consultant with the UN's Great Ape Survival Partnership.
"As in human populations, an extreme cold spell can be the cause of death for weak or ill individuals who might have otherwise recovered," Redmond told AFP.
Karisoke research centre was founded in 1967 by Dian Fossey, the US primatologist who brought mountain gorillas to the attention of the public and who was brutally murdered in the Virunga National Park in 1985.
"The sudden death of the four is not only a great shock but also a big loss for Rwanda and for the whole conservation team," said Rica Rwigamba, a tourism and conservation official at the Rwanda Development Board.
The Virunga volcanoes on the borders of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo are home to about half of the world's 700 mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei). The other half live in Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.
Gorilla tracking is a major draw for tourists in Rwanda, with visitors paying 500 dollars for a permit to spend an hour with the primates in their bamboo forest habitat.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gb2hOzVW2TGZ2etDI4r_ZxLlfhIAFour highly endangered mountain gorillas have been found dead in Rwanda's... more
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Conservationist Eugene Rutagarama describes to CNN's David McKenzie his first experience with gorillas.Conservationist Eugene Rutagarama describes to CNN's David McKenzie his first... more
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Gorillas are being dangerously stressed by tourists whose attentions are disrupting the animals' feeding routines and making them aggressive. The discovery – made by researchers who have just completed a year-long study of the great apes at Bai Hokou in the Central African Republic – has important implications for the tourism industry.
Eco-tourism has become extremely popular, providing travellers with opportunities to get close to rare species, including tigers, polar bears and gorillas. Money raised in this way has helped to preserve endangered animals and bring employment to developing countries.
Gorilla tourism in particular has boomed, providing jobs and business opportunities in several African countries. In Uganda, gorilla tourism brings in an estimated £345,000 a month from the sale of permit fees alone.
But now scientists warn that greater care will be needed. Not only do tourists disturb the animals, but so do research teams studying the animals' behaviour and their interaction with tourists. It is recommended that the minimum distance between humans and gorillas be increased from seven to 18 metres.
"We got a lot of warning barks from the male silverback in a band of gorillas if we went too close," said Michelle Klailova of Stirling University. "And you ignore a male gorilla's barking at your peril, for there is a real danger that it will turn into something much worse, like a full-blown charge. They can kill very easily. They know exactly where to bite a person."
Great apes are known to be vulnerable to human diseases. A common cold has the potential to kill an entire family group. Research at the Tai chimpanzee project in Ivory Coast found that 15 young chimpanzees who died in three disease outbreaks there had been infected with viral strains that were very similar to those found in humans.
Authorities have so far insisted that humans remain at least seven metres away. "Even if we sneeze, then particles from our breath will not reach the gorillas," said Klailova, whose study – written with Chloe Hodgkinson and Phyllis Lee – is published in the American Journal of Primatology. "This barrier has been created for physiological reasons. However, our work suggests that there are good reasons to establish a far bigger gap between humans and animals – for psychological reasons."
Klailova and her research group concentrated on one silverback named Makumba and recorded his vocalisations, daily activities and interactions with his 12 family members. They then studied how these types of behaviour changed when different groups of humans – which included local trackers, scientists and often tourists – came close.
As numbers in a group increased, the gorillas spent less time feeding and instead behaved in a disturbed, unfocused manner. Klailova found that Makumba was more likely to stop feeding and start watching humans as observers moved closer.
Making a male gorilla angrier could lead to him attacking humans or female gorillas in his own band. Either way, the reaction reveals that animals that are now hovering at the edge of extinction are being further stressed.
Klailova admitted that a recommended gap of 18 metres "is not a realistic goal in dense forests, particularly for tourists who have spent valuable time and effort to see the gorillas". But in clearings and in open land, where there are good sight lines, it should definitely be adhered to.
The suggestion will find support from other scientists who have called for increased protection for great apes. Other proposals have included suggestions that all tourists be required to wear face masks to block any transmission of human diseases.
However, the prospect of wearing masks all the time while only being allowed distant glimpses of animals could have a detrimental impact on gorilla-watching holidays.
Eco-tourism has become an important source of income for remote African communities. Foreign visitors who come to enjoy the sights and sounds of natural parks have become a strong motivation for governments to invest in conservation, while the presence of researchers, tourists and tourism infrastructure can work as a strong deterrent to poachers.
As Klailova has said: "It is a very delicate issue."Gorillas are being dangerously stressed by tourists whose attentions are disrupting... more
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UN AIRLIFTS YOUNG GORILLAS TO SAFETY
Gorillas airlifted out of Congo after threat from rebels intensified
The UN has airlifted four young eastern lowland gorillas out of a war zone in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to the safety of a sanctuary
At Risk
The animals which were flown from a battleground in Goma to The Kasugho sanctuary in the North Kivu province were moved out of the area where they risked being taken by traffickers and sold as exotic pets or killed for bush meat.
War
Eastern lowland gorillas only survive in the DRC and there are thought to be only 5000 left surviving in the wild. The rescue mission was part of a larger project to protect Africa’s remaining gorillas from the intensifying illegal trade in baby gorillas. As the number of armed rebels has proliferated in the east region of the DRC young gorillas are increasingly being caught for the exotic pet market. Older members of the species are more often killed and sold locally as bush meatUN AIRLIFTS YOUNG GORILLAS TO SAFETY
Gorillas airlifted out of Congo after threat... more
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The Observer - ANIMAL HEALTH
We often tend to regard infections that arise from animals to affect humans as important. In doing so, we tend to ignore the fact that there are certain infections that flow in the opposite direction.
Yes, there have occurred many scenarios, the world over and Uganda too, where disease agents hosted by man have caused havoc in wild animal populations. I had a chance as a final year veterinary student to do my special research project on mountain gorilla diets in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
This meant that I had to spend sometime in the park learning about these famous endangered gorilla species collecting information for my research.
One of the most interesting stories that I landed on was about human scabies that had attacked a certain group of mountain gorillas in 1996.
The disease was reported to have affected all four members of the group, with the adults having a milder form of the disease while a particular young one was severely affected. These being freely living wild animals, it was never going to be easy to determine what kind of disease they were suffering from.
The affected gorillas had been observed to have; loss of hair, skin thickening, extreme debilitation and weight loss. Sadly the young one succumbed to the infection and died. Its death however, brought hope to the other members of the group as a post mortem examination that was done on it proved to be the saviour.
The post mortem results indicated that the disease that was threatening the survival of these great primates was indeed scabies. The remaining members of the group were treated for scabies and they recovered very well.
After this finding, a team of scientists then went on to find out where exactly the disease affecting these gorillas was coming from. They did research in the area and found out that that scabies was one of the most common diseases in the human populations surrounding the Bwindi forest.
The disease was found to be flourishing in impoverished crowded and low hygiene homesteads that lacked access to basic medical care. These were indeed the hosts of the same mites that caused scabies in the gorillas.
Furthermore, the link between these people and the gorillas was revealed.The movements of the gorillas were re-analysed in retrospect and it was discovered that they had periodically visited gardens in the said communities, to eat their banana crops.
The gorillas are believed to have made contact with mite containing materials or items that had been used by people in this area, there by getting the infection.
The story, as confirmed by publications from Dr. Gladys Kalema Zikusooka who was the leader of the team that managed the disease, and is currently the CEO of a Bwindi based NGO, Conservation through Public Health(CTPH), is a clear indication of how interactions between man and wild animals could have health implications on either side.
The UWA, Research Institutes and NGOs like CTPH are doing a great job in protected areas to; protect both wild animals and humans, enforce health regulation, and educate the masses, ensuring that wild animals and human communities live in harmony.
http://www.observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8361:animal-health-reverse-infections-from-people-to-wild-animals-could-cost-us-wildlife&catid=58:health-living&Itemid=89The Observer - ANIMAL HEALTH
We often tend to regard infections that arise from... more
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United Nations peacekeepers in Congo have used helicopters to airlift endangered baby gorillas to a sanctuary after they were rescued in a conflict zone where they faced being captured or eaten.
The animals ferried to safety are eastern lowland gorillas, a species that only lives in Democratic Republic of Congo and is classified as "endangered" on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) red list.
The four gorillas, which had been rescued from traffickers in various parts of Congo's rebel-infested east, were flown by helicopter on Tuesday (April 27) from Goma to the Kasugho Sanctuary in North Kivu province.
"If you use vehicles, there is a great risk of losing the animals because they are traumatised. We used aircraft because we really wanted to reduce their stress level," Benoit Kisuki, Conservation International's country director, told Reuters.
Kisuki said the air transfer was part of a wider project to combat the illegal trade in baby gorillas, which has intensified in recent years with the proliferation of armed groups and constant insecurity in eastern Congo.
"The objective is to reintroduce them in their natural environment," he added.
The gorillas are often caught, trafficked and sold for thousands of dollars on the world market as exotic pets. Others are killed and sold locally as "bush meat".
The research centre in Kasugho has developed a two-hectare (4.9 acre) area where scientists can monitor young gorillas as they prepare to be released into the wild.
Six other individuals, currently under protection in Rwanda, are due to be flown in on June 10 to "socialise" with the first group and "form a family of 10", Kisuki said.
The gorillas could be a valuable asset for the future economic development of east Congo, after the animals became a major tourist attraction in Uganda and Rwanda, raising several million dollars in revenues.
There is no accurate data for eastern lowland gorilla populations. But Congo's gorillas have weathered years of warfare in the east and more than 150 rangers have been killed trying to protect the area's five national parks from poachers.
A U.N.-backed report last month said gorillas may become near-extinct in Africa's Greater Congo Basin by the mid-2020s unless action is taken to stop poaching and protect their habitat.United Nations peacekeepers in Congo have used helicopters to airlift endangered baby... more
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Few creatures in the wild captivate man as do gorillas. For those lucky enough to have seen them, it would be hard to imagine Africa's Congo without these gentle giants. However we may have no choice. By the mid-2020s, a new UN and Interpol report says gorillas may disappear from the forests of the Congo Basin.
"We had done a report back in 2002 which was already fairly grim in terms of the predictions in terms of the extinction," says Amy Fraenkel, regional director of the U-N Environnmental Program.
"But that is unfortunately very much trumped by the recent findings, which are that between - I'd say less than 10-15 years out from now, we could see extinction in large ranges of the species."
Fraenkel notes the report links the threat to gorillas to militias, and the continued fighting in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
"The biggest cause is an increase in illegal logging and harvesting of minerals in the area which in many cases are being used to directly finance militias, as you know it's a very war-torn area."
She adds that "illegal activity" also includes killing gorillas for bushmeat to feed the loggers and militia.
But the gorillas also face perhaps a more dangerous foe than man. A deadly disease that has wiped out entire populations of gorillas.
"If I were to rank them in what is now the most immediate threat, Ebola would be number one," says Allard Blom, with the World Wildlife Fund's Congo Basin Program.
"It's very devastating to both gorillas and humans and gets transmitted between the species. So that is actually at the moment really wiping out a lot of gorillas in their areas where they are most protected. The biggest populations get hit by this virus. Basically, it's almost a 100% mortality rates in gorilla."
The UNEP Interpol report contains several recommendations to counter the threat to gorillas. One key element, says Amy Fraenkel, is to stem the economic benefit of the illegal trade, inside and outside of Africa.
"And that is something we've been working on in many different aspects of environmental crime. In this case, it's training law enforcement officials and park rangers - and deploying and giving them the resources. It's truly a war and they need to be well equipped."
Allard Blom of the WWF agrees with report's recommendation. He adds that it is important to work with logging companies to help stem the illegal bushmeat trade -- and on that front, he says there is some good news.
"There is now over five million hectares of forest that is certified...and I can tell you from personal experience, 10-15 years ago, most logging companies were extremely hostile to conservation organizations. We were seen as the enemy and that has dramatically changed.
The UNEP - Interpol report was presented at a recent meeting of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species.
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/environment/Gorillas-on-the-Brink-90203897.htmlFew creatures in the wild captivate man as do gorillas. For those lucky enough to have... more
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Gorillas could disappear from most of Africa's Greater Congo Basin within 10 to 15 years unless immediate action is taken to combat the illegal activities of militias, counter poaching and safeguard gorilla habitats, the United Nations and the international police organization INTERPOL warned in a report released today.
Illegal logging, mining, charcoal production and increased demand for bushmeat, plus deadly outbreaks of Ebola hemorrhagic fever are wiping out Congo Basin gorillas faster than the UN Environment Programme estimated just eight years ago.
The Rapid Response Assessment report, entitled "The Last Stand of the Gorilla - Environmental Crime and Conflict in the Congo Basin," finds that militias in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo are behind much of the illegal trade, estimated to be worth several hundred million dollars a year.
The report was issued at an ongoing meeting of delegates from 175 governments who are Parties to the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species, CITES.
David Higgins, manager of the INTERPOL Environmental Crime Programme, said, "The gorillas are yet another victim of the contempt shown by organized criminal gangs for national and international laws aimed at defending wildlife. The law enforcement response must be internationally co-coordinated, strong and united, and INTERPOL is uniquely placed to facilitate this."
"We are committed to combating all forms of environmental crime on a global scale," Higgins said. "INTERPOL is mandated to do so by providing law enforcement agencies in all our 188 member countries with the intelligence exchange, operational support, and capacity building needed to combat this world-spanning crime."
The report finds that smuggled or illegally-harvested minerals such as diamonds, gold and coltan along with timber ends up crossing borders, passing through middle men and companies before being shipped on to countries in Asia, the European Union and the Gulf.
The export of timber and minerals is estimated to be two to 10 times the officially recorded level, and is claimed to be handled by front companies in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.
The illegal trade is in part due to the militias being in control of border crossings which, along with demanding road tax payments, may be generating between $14 million and $50 million annually, which in turn helps fund their activities.
The insecurity in the region has driven hundreds of thousands of people into refugee camps. Logging and mining camps, perhaps with links to militias, are hiring poachers to supply refugees and markets in towns across the region with bushmeat - meat fromm wild animals, increasingly gorillas.
"This is a tragedy for the great apes and one also for countless other species being impacted by this intensifying and all too often illegal trade," said UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.
* continued below in comments
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/mar2010/2010-03-24-01.htmlGorillas could disappear from most of Africa's Greater Congo Basin within 10 to... more
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