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Virunga Gorillas: How to Help
PHOTO: An orphaned gorilla curls up with her caregiver.
After the July 2007 killings of endangered mountain gorillas, possibly by people involved in the illegal charcoal trade, a mobile antipoaching force stayed close to gorillas in Virunga National Park. But the Democratic Republic of the Congo's parks authority, ICCN, must keep the animals safe when these guards are needed elsewhere.
Many groups are working to protect the gorillas and support the people fighting for their survival.
WildlifeDirect
Nairobi-based WildlifeDirect, founded by anthropologist Richard Leakey, helps outfit wildlife rangers in Virunga National Park and supplement their government salaries. The group's website hosts blogs where rangers and others post news and pictures from the field. Online donors can specify where their funds go—for patrol rations, medical kits, or support for the families of rangers killed on duty.
Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International
Founded by the gorilla researcher murdered in 1985, this organization helps care for young gorillas like the one whose mother was killed in July.
Frankfurt Zoological Society
FZS has trained and equipped hundreds of rangers; it also provides aircraft to help the ICCN monitor gorillas and direct antipoaching forces from the air.
International Gorilla Conservation Program
This coalition works with the governments of Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda.
Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project
Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project field vets make routine health visits to habituated gorilla groups in Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in partnership with park rangers, guides, patrols, monitoring agents, and scientists from various organizations.
Wildlife Conservation Society
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) is one of the only organizations in the world working to protect all four gorilla subspecies—each of which is threatened by extinction. For nearly half a century the WCS has initiated and supported gorilla research and conservation projects throughout Africa.
Zoological Society of London
In addition to helping supplement rangers' salaries, the ZSL works with D.R. Congo's park authority to help manage Virunga National Park as a whole.
PHOTO: An orphaned gorilla curls up with her caregiver. ... more -
Gorillas Executed in Congo Park -- National Geographic
Background history of the 'Gorilla Murders' - VIDEO
http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/animal...
Background history of the 'Gorilla Murders' - VIDEO ... more -
Mountain Gorillas in Peril - 'The Silent Killer'
Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project: http://www.mgvp.org/
Dr. Lucy's Blog - Susa Group
Ururabo's baby seemed to recover completely after his two-day episode of runny nose and soft cough. We'd been checking him daily, along with all of the mothers and infants. Magda had seen him the day before, and he'd looked normal compared to the infants of both Ruvumu and Rwandarushya, who were now coughing along with their mothers. Dufatayne had recovered and her baby had yet to show any symptoms. When I arrived to check on the group, the mothers and infants were again the priority.
We hadn't yet opened our medical bags for the Susa outbreak, but we'd come close twice. Though Poppy had improved, one of her 4-year-old twins, Byishimo, had become progressively sicker. He'd been struggling with a cough and lethargy for over a week and then stopped eating. When he began lagging behind the group, our level of concern shot up.
My initial impression of the group on this morning, Day 20, was that many gorillas had improved. Maybe we'd turned the corner on the outbreak. Then I cautioned myself, remembering the number of infants in the group and the time it takes for this disease to cycle through everyone.
Sure enough, Rwandarushya appeared with her baby. First she coughed and then her infant coughed. His eyes looked bright enough, but he seemed very quiet. Ruvumu had regained her appetite and looked much improved, but her infant had a thick nasal discharge and frequent cough. He's a bigger, older baby, however.
Then we found Ururabo, coughing with nearly every breath, sitting head down and not eating. The baby lay limply in her arms, eyes closed, mouth open, wheezing. They were clearly the sickest of the 39 gorillas today. This little one had come down with the disease six days earlier — plenty of time to develop pneumonia, sometimes called the silent killer.
*PLEASE visit my pages for more information on how you can help these gentle giants...
http://my.care2.com/julesrs007
http://julesrs007saveanimals.blogspot.com/
*ALSO:
http://blogs.discovery.com/quest/2008/07/ururabos-baby-...
http://www.awf.org/content/wildlife/detail/mountaingori... (AWF Wildlife Mountain Gorilla)
http://www.gorillafund.org/ (Saving Gorillas - The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International)
Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project: http://www.mgvp.org/ Dr. Lucy's Blog - Susa Group ... more -
Mountain Gorilla Conservation
Help Protect Mountain Gorillas
In a 40-50 year lifetime, a female mountain gorilla might have only 2-6 surviving offspring. This slow reproduction makes this species even more threatened.
Less than 700 of the endangered great ape remain, and in 2007, 10 mountain gorilla killings threatened to reverse decades of conservation progress.
Reason to Hope:
The Virunga Heartland features the last remaining habitat of one of the world’s rarest primates, the mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei). This charismatic animal is the flagship species for the conservation of the entire array of wildlife and habitat that make up this unique part of the planet.
AWF has been working to protect mountain gorillas for several decades, funding important research and working to ensure the survival of the mountain gorilla since the late 1970s. This important work has continued in spite of extraordinary circumstances. The human suffering during the Rwandan civil war of the 1990s was incalculable, but without the intervention and continued support of AWF and its partners, the victims of war might also have included the mountain gorilla. Thanks to the bravery and dedication of park rangers - some 70 of whom lost their lives - the Virunga mountain gorillas survived the war and the more recent conflicts in the DRC.
Continuing Threats:
Despite reasons for optimism, death and extinction are constant threats for the mountain gorilla. Historically, mountain gorillas have been threatened by poaching, loss of habitat from population pressures, civil unrest and spread of disease. And as human populations get closer to gorilla habitats, the gorillas are at greater risk of contracting human diseases, from flu-like problems and pneumonia to ebola.
Fortunately, conservation efforts initiated by the International Gorilla Conservation Program (IGCP), a coalition of the African Wildlife Foundation, Fauna and Flora International and World Wide Fund for Nature, have helped to ensure that the gorilla population will endure. Through a variety of methods, including transboundary collaboration, ranger-based monitoring, community development, anti-poaching activities and habitat conservation, IGCP and its conservation partners are helping the mountain gorillas to make a comeback.
Ways to Save Mountain Gorillas:AWF: Mountain Gorilla Conservation
Watch a short video overview of AWF and the International Gorilla Conservation Program's (IGCP) work to save endangered mountain gorillas.
http://www.awf.org/content/solution/detail/3589
* FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE MOUNTAIN GORILLA & MANY OTHER ANIMALS, PLEASE VISIT:
http://julesrs007saveanimals.blogspot.com/
&
http://my.care2.com/julesrs007
Help Protect Mountain Gorillas ... more -
Monkeys understand money
Capuchins can appreciate the purchasing power of tokens such as poker chips.
Capuchin monkeys can use tokens to 'buy' their favourite food, and can decide whether to trade for one piece of tasty food, or many pieces of a less appetizing snack.
An experiment, led by Elsa Addessi at the CNR, the Italian National Research Council, in Rome, Italy, shows that capuchins, like us, can understand the symbolic value of an otherwise mundane object.
Previous studies have focused on similar skills in great apes such as chimpanzees. But this is among the first to assess symbolic reasoning in a species so distantly related to ourselves.
Addessi and her colleagues trained the capuchins to associate valueless tokens of different shapes and sizes with specific foods. A poker chip, for example, could have been used to represent dried apricot, and brass hooks could have represented parmesan cheese.
Then the monkeys were presented with a choice of two trays, each containing a piece, or pieces, of one of three different foods, labelled A, B and C. The foods were selected, according to the established tastes of the individual monkeys, so that A was nicer than B, which was nicer than C.
In the test with real food, the monkeys chose one piece of A over two pieces of B; and would choose one piece of B over two pieces of C. And the effect continued so that they might chose one piece of A, their favourite food, over four pieces of less tempting C.
But the monkeys behaved differently with real food and with tokens. This was apparent when the monkeys had to decide whether a large amount of a less-tasty food would be better than a single piece of their favourite food. In both tests there came a point when lots of B, or B tokens, would be chosen over a single piece of A, or an A token.
With real food, this threshold was around three pieces of B. But for the token test much more of the less-favoured food needed to be offered before the monkey would choose that option.
It's unclear why this should be the case, says Addessi. “They are able to reason with tokens as with real food, but they find it more difficult to reason with tokens,” she says. This behaviour is similar to that of a small child.
An alternative explanation might be that tokens are an abstract concept. The monkeys become less good at comparing two abstract sets of food – in a similar way to how many people spend more freely with a credit card than with cold, hard cash. Capuchins can appreciate the purchasing power of tokens such as poker chips. ... more -
Nerds might live longer
Yet another reason to stay in school kids!
Anthropologist say big brains help up live longer. Woohooo!
Big headed people around the world rejoice! Woo HOO!
More after the jump .... ! Yet another reason to stay in school kids! Anthropologist say big brains help up live longer. Woohooo! ... more -
Dad baboons help their daughters mature
Having a daddy around when they are young is good for little girls. Baboon girls that is. A study found that female baboons raised in groups with their fathers had a longer reproductive life than other baboons. Having a daddy around when they are young is good for little girls. Baboon girls that is. A study found that female baboons raised in... more
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Humans aren't the only animals that laugh
The basis for laughter may have originated in an ancient primate (Orangutans) ancestral to both humans and modern apes , a study suggests.
The basis for laughter may have originated in an ancient primate (Orangutans) ancestral to both humans and modern apes , a study sugge... more -
I Look for it All the Time
The skunk ape, Florida's version of Bigfoot, has been sighted over 350 times. Through first-hand sighting accounts, expert interviews with a cryptozoologist and an owner of the Skunk ape Research Headquarters, we explore the plausibility of the animal's existence. Is there truth to the legend? The skunk ape, Florida's version of Bigfoot, has been sighted over 350 times. Through first-hand sighting accounts, expert interviews... more
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First Monkey Embryo Cloned
Scientists in Oregon have cloned humans' closest cousin. On the day of the announcement, we spent time at the primate facility where it all happened. See what the doctor who did it has to say.
Produced by: Jay Rymeski & Tristan McAllister Scientists in Oregon have cloned humans' closest cousin. On the day of the announcement, we spent time at the primate facility where i... more -
Cloning Breakthrough for Primates
Scientists have created a cloned embryo from an adult monkey
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Lemur Facts
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/ring-tailed-lemur.html LISTEN
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/11/071101-... NEWS PEG
Lemurs are primates found only on the African island of Madagascar and some tiny neighboring islands.
Lemurs make up the infraorder Lemuriformes and are members of a class of primates known as prosimians.
These range in size from the tiny 30 gram (1 oz) Pygmy Mouse Lemur to the 10 kilogram (22 lb) Indri.
The larger species, some of which weighed up to 240 kg[3], have all become extinct since humans settled on Madagascar, and since the early 20th century the largest lemurs reach about 7 kilograms (15 lbs).
During mating season, male lemurs battle for dominance by trying to outstink each other. They cover their long tails with smelly secretions and wave them in the air to determine which animal is more powerful.
Ring-tailed lemurs live in groups known as troops and Unlike most other primates, lemur species have a Matriarchal society http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/ring-tailed-lemur.html LISTEN ... more -
Washoe-First Signing Chimpazee, Dies
This Chimpanzee would recognize a toothbrush when she walked into a bathroom. She was a smart little monkey with over 250 words in her vocabulary. They say she did more than just imitate, she was educated. When she was older she even taught sign language to three younger chimpanzees. Wow.
Of course there are many controversies to studies with animals, but Washoe did live a long life, and she died of natural causes.
What are your thoughts on these special projects? This Chimpanzee would recognize a toothbrush when she walked into a bathroom. She was a smart little monkey with over 250 words in he... more -
Primates in Danger of Extinction
Almost a third of all apes, monkeys and other primates are in danger of extinction because of rampant habitat destruction, the commercial sale of their meat and the trade in illegal wildlife, a report released Friday said.
So sad...... Almost a third of all apes, monkeys and other primates are in danger of extinction because of rampant habitat destruction, the commerc... more -
180 Rare primates discovered in Vietnam
Fewer than 1000 believed to exist, and only in Vietnam
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