Global News - January 2008
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Human viruses 'threaten' endangered ape populations
Wed 30 January 2008 13:00 UK — Africa,Primates
Tourism may expose great apes to potentially harmful human viruses, a new study has warned.
The research, undertaken by a team of scientists from Germany and the Ivory Coast and published in the Current Biology journal, discovered direct evidence of virus transmission between humans and chimpanzees.
However, the report also indicated that research and tourism projects had a significant effect on reducing chimpanzee poaching, with the study's authors claiming that this outweighed the impact of human diseases on the apes.
"We need to be much more proactive about instituting strict hygiene precautions at all ape tourism and research sites," said senior author Fabian Leendertz.
"One possibility for promoting compliance is a certification process similar to the green labelling system now used in the timber industry," he suggested.
Efforts to increase Africa's chimpanzee population received a boost earlier this month with the news that Rwanda is set to establish its first ever national conservation park, with much of the new project's focus aimed at increasing the area's population of the apes.
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June 2008
Update on IAR’s work in Indonesia
As well as macaques and slow lorises, our team in Indonesia has ended the suffering of a number of endangered Javan gibbons living in misery in a centre known as Cikananga. June 2008
IAR speaks out against the Great British Circus scandal
International Animal Rescue is urging people to stay away from the Great British Circus during its visit to Tonbridge because it uses a variety of animals in its acts, including lions, tigers, camels and zebras. |
