Endangered great apes get malaria, just like humans. New evidence from wild bonobos shows us the infection harms them, too. Malaria is a devastating disease caused by parasites transmitted through the bites of infected mosquitos. For humans, symptoms start out mild—fever, headache and chills—but malaria infection can be fatal within 24 hours. For apes, little […]
Tag: Gorilla
Florida safari park is slammed for shooting and killing 2,000 pound white rhino that had escaped from its enclosure – days before it was due to be unveiled to the public
A 2,000-pound white rhinoceros has been shot and killed at a Florida safari park after it ‘aggressively’ escaped from its enclosure – staff claiming it could have ‘killed other animals.’ Bodycam footage in the moments after the shooting shows Wild Florida Drive-Thru Safari Park general manager Jordan Munns explaining that the behavior of the rhino […]
A Race Against Time to Save the Most Endangered Gorillas In The World
The Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli) is the most endangered of all gorillas, with only an estimated 300 individuals remaining in the wild, the World Wildlife Fund reports. The Cross River gorilla is found only in a small area spanning the border between Nigeria and Cameroon. According to the WWF, It is here that […]
World’s loneliest gorilla doomed to die in captivity in tiny cage in shopping centre
The world’s loneliest gorilla is doomed to die in captivity in a tiny cage in a shopping centre, after activists’ continued attempts to free her fail. Pop icon Cher has joined an ever increasing swell of animal rights activists and celebrities campaigning to have Bua Noi resettled in an environment where she can spend the […]
Ebola-like African primate viruses ‘poised for spillover’ to humans, study finds
A family of viruses that can cause fatal Ebola-like symptoms that is also a critical threat to macaque populations is now “poised for spillover” to humans, a new report reveals. The study, published in September in the journal Cell, reveals that the animal virus has found ways to access human cells, multiply and evade parts […]
Mountain gorilla reproduction slows with female transfers, study shows
Mountain gorillas are currently the only nonhuman great ape whose population is not declining. Thanks to successful conservation interventions, the species’ population has increased from 620 in 1989 to more than 1,000 today, enabling the International Union for Conservation of Nature to change the species’ conservation status from critically endangered to endangered. However, with mountain […]
Technology makes studying wildlife easier, but access isn’t equal
Studying primates in the wild has historically been a tough task. Alexander Piel knows the challenges too well. Since 2005, the biological anthropologist has been studying primates in countries like Tanzania, Madagascar, Kenya and Senegal. For one, the vastly diverse habitats made it difficult to track them: while some live in dense tropical forests, many […]
Gorilla caged in ‘concrete cell’ at ‘world’s saddest zoo’ for 38 years begs for scraps
Thailand’s only living gorilla remains caged in a small concrete enclosure after being homed in “one of the saddest places in the world” in 1983. Celebs such as Cher and Gillian Anderson have campaigned for her freedom but efforts have so far been fruitless. That’s because Bua Noi remains locked up at the infamous Pata […]