tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/mountain-gorillas-22043/articlesMountain gorillas – The Conversation2023-05-15T15:01:07Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2051842023-05-15T15:01:07Z2023-05-15T15:01:07ZThriving in the face of adversity: Resilient gorillas reveal clues about overcoming childhood misfortune<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525949/original/file-20230512-23918-udbd4r.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=837%2C1234%2C5222%2C3305&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A lot of bad things can happen to young mountain gorillas in the wild.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 1974, an infant mountain gorilla was born in Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda. Researchers named him Titus. As is typical for young gorillas in the wild, Titus spent the first years of his life surrounded by his mother, father and siblings, as well as more distant relatives and unrelated gorillas that made up his social group.</p>
<p>In 1978, however, tragedy struck. Poachers killed Titus’ father and brother. In the chaos that followed, his younger sister was killed by another gorilla, and his mother and older sister fled the group. Juvenile Titus, who was at a developmental stage similar to that of an 8- or 9-year-old human, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1922764/">experienced more tragedy</a> in his first four years of life than many animals do in a lifetime.</p>
<p>In people, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2017.09.027">a rough start in life</a> is often associated with significant problems later on. <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/03/02/387007941/take-the-ace-quiz-and-learn-what-it-does-and-doesnt-mean">Early life adversity</a> can take a wide variety of forms, including malnutrition, war and abuse. People who experience these kinds of traumas, assuming they survive the initial event, are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2011-2663">more likely to suffer health problems</a> and social dysfunction in adulthood and to have shorter life spans. Often, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/nyas.13928">these outcomes trace back at least in part</a> to what public health researchers call health risk behaviors – things like smoking, poor eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle.</p>
<p>But researchers have documented the same kinds of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1205340109">problems in adulthood in nonhuman animals</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobeha.2020.06.006">that experienced early life adversity</a>. For example, female baboons who have the hardest childhoods have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms11181">life spans that are on average only half as long</a> as their peers that have the easiest. Activities like smoking and unhealthy food choices can’t be the whole story, then, since animals don’t engage in typical human health risk behaviors.</p>
<p>Given the connection between adverse events while young and poor health later in life, one might expect that Titus’ unlucky early years would predict a short, unhealthy adulthood for him. However, there are interesting hints that things <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.04.051">might work differently in mountain gorillas</a>, which are one of humans’ closest living relatives.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525945/original/file-20230512-23-8omdyq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="juvenile gorilla seated" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525945/original/file-20230512-23-8omdyq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525945/original/file-20230512-23-8omdyq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525945/original/file-20230512-23-8omdyq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525945/original/file-20230512-23-8omdyq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525945/original/file-20230512-23-8omdyq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525945/original/file-20230512-23-8omdyq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525945/original/file-20230512-23-8omdyq.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Researchers analyzed decades of observational data to determine how life turned out for young gorillas that had faced adversity.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Decades of gorilla observations</h2>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=GxpHf-AAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">As scientists who have spent</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=1I9_QM0AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">many years studying wild gorillas</a>, we have observed a wide variety of early life experiences and an equally wide variety of adult health outcomes in these great apes. Unlike other primates, mountain gorillas don’t appear to suffer any long-term negative effects of <a href="https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.62939">losing their mothers at an early age</a>, provided that they reach the age at which they are old enough to have finished nursing.</p>
<p>Losing your mother is only one of many bad things that can happen to a young gorilla, though. We wanted to investigate whether a pattern of resilience was more generalized. If so, could we gather any insight into the fundamental question of how early life experiences can have long-lasting effects?</p>
<p>To do this, we needed exceptionally detailed long-term data on wild gorillas across their lifetimes. This is no mean feat, given <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/sdata.2016.6">gorillas’ long life spans</a>. Primatologists know that males can survive into their late 30s and females into their mid-40s.</p>
<p>The best data in the world to conduct such a study comes from the <a href="https://gorillafund.org/">Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund</a>, which has been following individual mountain gorillas in Rwanda almost daily for 55 years. We conducted doctoral and postdoctoral research with the Fossey Fund and have collaborated with other scientists there for more than 20 years.</p>
<p>From their database, which stretches back to 1967, we extracted information on more than 250 gorillas tracked from the day they were born to the day they died or left the study area.</p>
<p>We used this data to identify six adverse events that gorillas younger than age 6 can endure: maternal loss, paternal loss, extreme violence, social isolation, social instability and sibling competition. These experiences are the gorilla equivalent of some kinds of adversity that are linked with long-term negative effects in humans and other animals.</p>
<p>Many young gorillas didn’t survive these challenges. This is a strong indication that these experiences were indeed adverse from the perspective of a gorilla.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525946/original/file-20230512-15-ldzmn2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Adult female gorilla seated tightly together with two young gorillas" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525946/original/file-20230512-15-ldzmn2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525946/original/file-20230512-15-ldzmn2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525946/original/file-20230512-15-ldzmn2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525946/original/file-20230512-15-ldzmn2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525946/original/file-20230512-15-ldzmn2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525946/original/file-20230512-15-ldzmn2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525946/original/file-20230512-15-ldzmn2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ubufatanye experienced the loss of her mother and father and the disintegration of her family group before the age of 5. Now 20, she has become a successful mother, raising three offspring.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2023.04.051">We were surprised to discover</a>, however, that most of the repercussions of these hardships were confined to early life: animals that survived past the age of 6 did not have the shorter life spans commonly associated with early life adversity in other species.</p>
<p>In fact, gorillas that experienced three or more forms of adversity actually had better survival outcomes, with a 70% reduction in the risk of death across their adult years. Part of this hardiness, especially for males, may be due to a phenomenon called <a href="https://www.biologyonline.com/dictionary/viability#:%7E:text=Viability%20selection%20can%20be%20defined,on%20the%20road%20for%20it.">viability selection</a>: Only the strongest animals survive early adversity, and thus they are also the animals with the longest life spans.</p>
<p>While viability selection may be part of the story, the patterns in our data strongly suggest that as a species, mountain gorillas are also remarkably resilient to early adversity.</p>
<h2>Where do gorillas get their resilience?</h2>
<p>Although our findings corroborate previous research on maternal loss in gorillas, they contrast with other studies on <a href="https://doi.org/10.1037/pag0000394">early adversity in humans</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.13785">other long-lived mammals</a>. Our study indicates that the negative later-life consequences of early adversity are not universal.</p>
<p>The absence of this connection in one of our closest relatives suggests there might be protective mechanisms that help build resiliency to early-life knocks. Gorillas may provide valuable clues to understand how early life experiences have such far-reaching effects and how people can potentially overcome them.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525944/original/file-20230512-20526-7wom64.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="two adult and one young gorilla seated together" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525944/original/file-20230512-20526-7wom64.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525944/original/file-20230512-20526-7wom64.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525944/original/file-20230512-20526-7wom64.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525944/original/file-20230512-20526-7wom64.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525944/original/file-20230512-20526-7wom64.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525944/original/file-20230512-20526-7wom64.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525944/original/file-20230512-20526-7wom64.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Young gorillas live with their parents as part of larger social groups.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>While there is still much left to explore, we suspect that gorillas’ food-rich habitat and cohesive social groups could underpin their resiliency. When young gorillas lose their mothers, <a href="https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.62939">other social group members fill in</a> the companionship hole she leaves behind. Something similar may happen for other types of early adversity as well. A supportive social network combined with plentiful food may help a young gorilla push through challenges.</p>
<p>This possibility underscores the importance of ensuring that human children who experience early adversity are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapediatrics.2016.1559">supported in multiple ways</a>: socially, but also economically, especially since early adversity is particularly prevalent among children living in poverty – itself a form of adversity.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525223/original/file-20230509-25-vqm6q4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=436%2C0%2C3845%2C2702&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="large adult male gorilla against leafy background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525223/original/file-20230509-25-vqm6q4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=436%2C0%2C3845%2C2702&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/525223/original/file-20230509-25-vqm6q4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525223/original/file-20230509-25-vqm6q4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525223/original/file-20230509-25-vqm6q4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525223/original/file-20230509-25-vqm6q4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525223/original/file-20230509-25-vqm6q4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/525223/original/file-20230509-25-vqm6q4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Titus, pictured here as an adult, survived more adversity before age 4 than many animals confront in a lifetime.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1922764/">And what became of Titus</a>? Despite his difficult start in life, Titus went on to lead his group for two decades, siring at least 13 offspring and surviving to his 35th birthday, making him one of the most successful gorillas the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund has ever studied.</p>
<p>Though Titus’ story is only a single anecdote, it turns out that his resilience is not so unusual for a member of his species.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205184/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stacy Rosenbaum receives funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the University of Michigan. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robin Morrison receives funding from the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund and the Swiss National Science Foundation. </span></em></p>In many animals, including humans, adverse events in youth have lasting negative health effects over the life span. But new research suggests something different is going on in mountain gorillas.Stacy Rosenbaum, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of MichiganRobin Morrison, Postdoctoral Fellow in Animal Behavior, University of ExeterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1447552020-09-11T10:05:27Z2020-09-11T10:05:27ZPrimates are facing an impending extinction crisis - but we know very little about what will actually protect them<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357435/original/file-20200910-24-zzu4z1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=30%2C14%2C1846%2C1235&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/animal-ape-care-cute-332153/">Nicholas Santasier/Pexels</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>From lemurs to orangutans, tarsiers to gorillas, primates are captivating and sometimes unnervingly similar to us. So it’s not surprising that this group of more than 500 species receives a great deal of research and conservation attention. </p>
<p>But despite this effort, more than 60% of primate species are <a href="https://theconversation.com/60-of-primate-species-now-threatened-with-extinction-says-major-new-study-71441">threatened with extinction</a> mainly due to human activities, such as habitat loss, hunting, illegal trade, climate change and disease.</p>
<p>This extinction crisis makes effective conservation actions vital.
There are many different possible conservation <a href="https://www.conservationevidence.com/data/index/?synopsis_id%255b%255d=21">actions for primates</a>, like anti-poaching patrols, relocating animals, publicising conservation issues and reintroducing primates into their habitats. But <a href="https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/advance-article/doi/10.1093/biosci/biaa082/5896003">our new study</a> shows that very little is known about what actually works to protect primates. </p>
<p>I’m part of a team of expert primatologists and conservationists from 21 countries who examined the evidence for 162 primate conservation actions to see if they actually work. We found there wasn’t any research published testing the effectiveness of more than half of the actions. This lack of evidence means it’s impossible to know whether these actions work or not. </p>
<p>Even when studies on the effectiveness of a conservation action have been published, we found it was still difficult to draw valid conclusions about whether the action worked, due to problems with the design of the studies. This was even true for some actions that have been studied 20 to 30 times.</p>
<p>These huge gaps in knowledge are worrying, because without adequate information, researchers can’t learn from experience and can’t prioritise efforts and funding to best protect our primate relatives. Indeed, without access to evidence, conservationists might apply actions that are ineffective or even damaging to the animals they seek to protect.</p>
<h2>Missing species</h2>
<p>The studies we reviewed only cover about 14% of the more than 500 primate species and just 12% of threatened primate species. And they mainly focus on the great apes and some of the larger monkey species. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Primates sitting on tree branch in front of river." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357440/original/file-20200910-22-1ut18o1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357440/original/file-20200910-22-1ut18o1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357440/original/file-20200910-22-1ut18o1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357440/original/file-20200910-22-1ut18o1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357440/original/file-20200910-22-1ut18o1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357440/original/file-20200910-22-1ut18o1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357440/original/file-20200910-22-1ut18o1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Primates are essential to tropical rainforests, pollinating trees and dispersing seeds across these vital carbon stores.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pexels.com/@freestockpro">Pexels/VisionPic.net</a></span>
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<p>Worryingly, some whole families are completely left out of the studies we reviewed. There are, for example, no studies of the tarsiers of south-east Asia in our database, or of the night monkeys of Central and South America. This is a problem, because we can’t assume that an action that works for one primate species will work for another species, due to each species’ unique behaviour and ecology. </p>
<p>We also found that South America and Asia are underrepresented in current conservation research on primates. This is particularly worrying because both are home to a high number of threatened primate species.</p>
<h2>Why is this happening?</h2>
<p>Faced with limited budgets and time, competing priorities and the urgency of many conservation scenarios, it’s easy to understand why conservationists might not focus on evaluating their actions.</p>
<p>The question, “Does this conservation action improve the long-term future of a population?” may seem simple, but it’s particularly difficult to answer for many primates. This is because many primate species live in dense tropical forest, with poor visibility and difficult access, making it extremely tough to count them. If researchers can’t get a good idea of how many primates there are, they can’t find out if the numbers are decreasing, stable, or increasing. And without seeing the animals themselves, we can’t assess their wellbeing.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Group of primates in forest." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357438/original/file-20200910-14-ett5vo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/357438/original/file-20200910-14-ett5vo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357438/original/file-20200910-14-ett5vo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357438/original/file-20200910-14-ett5vo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357438/original/file-20200910-14-ett5vo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357438/original/file-20200910-14-ett5vo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/357438/original/file-20200910-14-ett5vo.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Without action, the number of endangered primates will grow and more species will disappear forever.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pexels.com/@tasveerwala">Pexels/Nitin Sharma</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Conservationists also need to monitor primates for a long time to measure the effect of any action taken, because they live a long time and reproduce very slowly. In a short study, for example, it might be easy to confuse the long life of the last few individuals with a persistent population. It’s also important to be confident that any effects seen are related to the specific conservation action taken, rather than coincidence. </p>
<p>Beyond these challenges, publishing a study is difficult. Worse, the pressure to publish in prestigious journals favours publication of success stories, rather than actions that didn’t work, meaning that published studies may give a biased picture of the real situation.</p>
<h2>Improving the evidence</h2>
<p>Now that the scale of the problem is known, the gaps need to be identified to ensure research focuses on threatened species and understudied regions, and that actions with insufficient evidence are evaluated. </p>
<p>Funding organisations should dedicate resources to evaluating conservation actions. Meanwhile, experts like the <a href="http://www.primate-sg.org/">Primate Specialist Group</a> can contribute by developing guidelines on how to test actions rigorously. </p>
<p>Academic scientists can also collaborate with conservationists to design appropriate studies. Evidence databases like the one <a href="https://www.conservationevidence.com/data/index/?synopsis_id%255b%255d=21">we assessed</a> provide easily-understood summaries of actions and their effectiveness, as well as a place to report findings – and partially address the problem of publication. </p>
<p>Conservationists also need to be cautious as it’s clear that in many instances it’s not yet known if an action is effective or not. This is important because primates and their habitats face ominous threats and urgent effective conservation measures are needed to protect them. But by adopting an evidence-based approach to the conservation of primates, we can ensure they continue to enchant us in the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/144755/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jo Setchell is affiliated with the IUCN Primate Specialist Group</span></em></p>Without adequate information, we can’t prioritise efforts and funding to best protect our primate relatives.Jo Setchell, Professor of Anthropology, Durham UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1296322020-01-14T14:10:06Z2020-01-14T14:10:06ZWe don’t know how many mountain gorillas live in the wild. Here’s why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/309274/original/file-20200109-80144-mnmkfn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Claire E Carter</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>A <a href="http://igcp.org/wp-content/uploads/Bwindi-Sarambwe-2018-Final-Report-2019_12_15.pdf">new census</a> – carried out by the Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration (a coalition of governments, non-profits and conservationists) in 2018 – shows that the population of mountain gorillas in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park is now at 459, up from 400 in 2011. This could bring the total number count for the subspecies to 1,069 gorillas. Katerina Guschanski explains that while this is great news, these figures may still not be accurate.</em></p>
<p><strong>How important are the mountain gorillas of Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park to global populations?</strong></p>
<p>Mountain gorillas are one of the two subspecies of eastern gorillas. They are divided into just two populations: one in the Virunga Massif that spans the borders of Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and one population that lives in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda and the adjacent Sarambwe Nature Reserve in DRC. </p>
<p>The Bwindi population holds a bit less than half of all mountain gorillas in the world, thus its importance for the global survival of these great apes cannot be overstated. </p>
<p>Mountain gorillas receive admirable conservation attention but they’re vulnerable <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/39994/115576640#threats">due to</a> habitat encroachment, potential disease transmission from humans, poaching and civil unrest. </p>
<p>Because there are only about 1,000 mountain gorillas left, it’s important that their population size be continuously monitored to evaluate whether, and which, conservation tactics work. </p>
<p>Their populations must keep growing because mountain gorillas <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982218315549">have very</a> low genetic diversity. This reduces their ability to adapt to future changes in the environment. For instance, if faced with new diseases, they are extremely susceptible because they don’t have genetic variants that would give them more resistance. Low genetic diversity was implicated in the extinction of some mammals, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982215004200">such as</a> the mammoth. </p>
<p>Continued population growth is also needed to make them less vulnerable to random events, such as habitat destruction through extreme weather events, which could wipe out an entire population.</p>
<p><strong>What can account for a rise in the number of gorillas?</strong></p>
<p>One of the main factors that explains the higher detected number of gorillas is the change in the census technique used. During mountain gorilla censuses researchers collect faecal samples from gorilla nests (where they sleep at night) to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320708004175">genetically identify</a> individuals. Gorillas that are used to human presence can be directly counted.</p>
<p>The teams in the latest census <a href="http://igcp.org/wp-content/uploads/Bwindi-Sarambwe-2018-Final-Report-2019_12_15.pdf">conducted</a> two full systematic sweeps through the forest. They covered the entire region twice from east to west. This is a physically and logistically demanding method, but it’s very thorough. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320714003929">previous census</a>, carried out in 2011, also covered the area twice, but only one of these attempts was a full sweep – meaning it started at one end of the forest and systematically progressed towards the other end. The other sweep was disjointed, in terms of how it covered the area and the timing, allowing gorilla groups to easily move and avoid detection. </p>
<p>In Bwindi, from the estimated 459 individuals, 196 are in groups that are used to people and can easily be counted. This means that population estimates are largely based on genetic profiles generated from night nests and so can’t be fully accurate because some will be missed.</p>
<p>Censuses of Virunga mountain gorillas are more accurate because more of their gorillas are used to human presence. In the most recent census, there’s been a rise in their population. It <a href="http://igcp.org/wp-content/uploads/Virunga-Census-2015-2016-Final-Report-2019-with-French-summary-2019_04_24.pdf">shows</a> an increase from 458 individuals in 2010 to 604 in 2016. Most of these gorillas – 418 out of 604 – belong to groups that are used to human presence, they can be followed daily and easily counted. </p>
<p>The population increases in the Virunga gorillas is <a href="http://igcp.org/wp-content/uploads/Virunga-Census-2015-2016-Final-Report-2019-with-French-summary-2019_04_24.pdf">strongly attributed</a> to active conservation. This includes continuous monitoring and veterinary attention, such as the removal of snares and treatment of respiratory diseases. </p>
<p><strong>Is this rise a significant number and how accurate do you think it is?</strong></p>
<p>The Bwindi census results were made publicly available in a somewhat unusual way. Scientific studies generally undergo a thorough peer-review before they are published, which has not yet happened for these findings. This means the findings haven’t yet been properly scrutinised and leaves the question about the gorilla’s population size open.</p>
<p>In addition, as mentioned above, the larger number of individuals detected in the 2018 census could be the result of the changed survey method. We therefore can’t make reliable comparisons to previous estimates from the 2011 and the 2006 censuses. </p>
<p>Consider that in the latest census, of the 33 gorilla groups – which weren’t used to the presence of people – <a href="http://igcp.org/wp-content/uploads/Bwindi-Sarambwe-2018-Final-Report-2019_12_15.pdf">only</a> 14 (or 42%) were detected during both sweeps. Similarly, only one of 13 solitary individuals was detected in both sweeps. So, even with full, systematic sweeps, more than half the groups and solitary individuals were missed every time.</p>
<p>This shows we still do not have a good understanding of the actual population size of Bwindi mountain gorillas. The previous surveys are likely to have missed multiple groups and individuals so we can’t derive conclusions about population size changes. If another sweep were to be conducted, researchers could find more individuals, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the population has grown. </p>
<p>What we can say is that there are more mountain gorillas than we thought, which is great news.</p>
<p><strong>What can be done to improve census methods?</strong></p>
<p>Using the results of the two census sweeps in Bwindi, researchers will estimate the likely number of gorillas. The accuracy and precision of the estimate depends strongly on how many gorilla groups and individuals were detected in both sweeps. </p>
<p>To make census figures more concrete, more sweeps need to be included so that more individuals are confirmed. This would make the population size estimates more accurate with less uncertainty.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/129632/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katerina Guschanski receives funding from the Swedish Research Council FORMAS, The Royal Physiographic Society of Lund, and the Carl Tryggers Foundation. </span></em></p>Surveys are likely to have missed multiple groups and individuals due to differences in survey techniques.Katerina Guschanski, Associate professor, Uppsala UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1143762019-04-03T12:47:57Z2019-04-03T12:47:57ZRwanda’s gorillas have figured out where to find their sodium fix. But it’s dangerous<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/267521/original/file-20190404-131437-psnnwu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There are about 600 Mountain gorillas left in the Virunga Volcanoes</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Onyx9/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Mountain Gorilla conservation in Rwanda is a great <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/kidspost/rare-conservation-win-as-mountain-gorilla-population-slowly-grows/2018/11/14/e12ea5c4-e21d-11e8-b759-3d88a5ce9e19_story.html">success story</a>. A number of extreme conservation measures – like daily monitoring and protection, veterinary interventions and controlled ecotourism – have enabled the population to bounce back after a precarious low in the 1960s and 1970s that was brought about by habitat destruction and poaching. </p>
<p>But the population remains fragile. Today <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/264335852_Mountain_gorilla_tourism_generating_wealth_and_peace_in_post-conflict_Rwanda">only around</a> 1,000 mountain gorillas live in two isolated populations: one in the Virunga Volcanoes – straddling the borders of Rwanda, Uganda and DRC – which has increased from 250 to 600 individuals in about 30 years; and a group in the Bwindi National Park in Uganda with about 400 individuals. </p>
<p>The survival of this particular species is important for a number of reasons. Firstly, mountain gorillas are some of our closest living relatives. They can therefore help us understand human evolution and behaviour. Secondly, they fulfil an important role in maintaining the health of tropical forest ecosystems – for instance by dispersing seeds. And finally, they are a tourist attraction that generates revenue for Rwanda and supports conservation activities throughout the country. In the last two years, tourism <a href="https://www.awf.org/blog/mountain-gorilla-tourism-drives-economic-growth-and-conservation">has contributed</a> over US$400 million to the national economy. </p>
<p>In Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park gorillas have been leaving the confines of the protected area to raid crops – like eucalyptus and bamboo – on nearby agricultural plots. Leaving protected areas is a huge risk to their safety.</p>
<p>My colleagues at the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund’s <a href="https://gorillafund.org/karisoke-research-center/">Karisoke Research Centre</a> and <a href="https://www.mpg.de/en">Max Planck Institute</a> and I wanted to understand why the gorillas were ranging outside protected areas into croplands. <a href="https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/publications/going-to-extremes-for-sodium-acquisition-use-of-community-land-an">We found</a> that when the gorillas left the national park they often headed straight to eucalyptus trees. Our nutritional analyses showed that eucalyptus are more than a hundred times richer in sodium than the gorillas’ staple foods inside the park. </p>
<p>This led us to conclude that sodium was the main incentive for the gorillas’ escapades. All plants inside the park are low in sodium except a couple of species that grow near the top of the volcanoes. </p>
<h2>For the love of sodium</h2>
<p>We measured sodium content in samples from 34 of the gorilla’s main dietary items and quantified sodium intake by 22 gorillas in three social groups over one year.</p>
<p>The gorillas obtain up to two thirds of their sodium when consuming eucalyptus.</p>
<p>Sodium is a micro-nutrient that’s critically important for physiological processes, like muscle and nerve function and maintaining fluid levels in various parts of the body. </p>
<p>Sodium deficiency can affect bones, growth, and reproduction. A sodium deficit <a href="https://www.elsevier.com/books/wildlife-feeding-and-nutrition/robbins/978-0-12-589382-4">can trigger</a> a specific hunger for it which causes animals to go out of their way to obtain it. </p>
<p>This is as true for gorillas as it is for humans. </p>
<p>It’s possible that the gorillas were eating eucalyptus for other reasons. Perhaps for minerals we didn’t investigate – like iodine – or because of the medicinal benefits that it has. But we also found that gorillas often ventured into the region’s colder subalpine or alpine zones where they targeted plants known as giant groundsels and lobelias. These turned out to be rich in sodium as well.</p>
<h2>Human-wildlife conflict</h2>
<p>Crop raiding is the main source of conflict between people who live in close proximity to the park and wildlife. Farmers <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283489950_HUMAN-WILDLIFE_CONFLICT_MANAGEMENT_EXPERIENCES_AND_LESSONS_LEARNED_FROM_THE_GREATER_VIRUNGA_LANDSCAPE">generally perceive</a> crop damage by mountain gorillas as a big deterrent to their agricultural development. </p>
<p>The risk is that encounters between gorillas and local people will add to tensions, and lead to local communities being hostile towards wildlife, hampering wildlife conservation efforts. </p>
<p>Close contact between gorillas and people also increases the risk of disease transmission – such as respiratory diseases and intestinal parasites – which could have a detrimental impact on this highly vulnerable ape population.</p>
<p>To discourage the gorillas from crossing into farmlands near the forest, there may need to be a change in agricultural practices such as relying less on plants sought by gorillas for their nutrients. </p>
<p>An ideal scenario would be to establish a buffer zone containing nutritionally unattractive and unpalatable plants. If sufficiently wide, it would discourage gorillas from crossing into croplands.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114376/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cyril Grueter received funding from Swiss National Science Foundation and Max Planck Society. He works for The University of Western Australia. </span></em></p>In Rwanda gorillas have been leaving protected areas to raid sodium rich crops.Cyril Grueter, Senior Lecturer, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1039112018-10-16T05:28:58Z2018-10-16T05:28:58ZHow catching malaria gave me a new perspective on saving gorillas<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240765/original/file-20181016-165903-xviq9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mountain and lowland gorillas are vulnerable to malaria.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Zoos Victoria</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Conservationists are in a desperate fight to save the last of the world’s gorillas. Numbers of some subspecies are so low that organisations are literally saving the species <a href="http://www.gorilladoctors.org/">one gorilla at a time</a>.</p>
<p>A perhaps unlikely foe in this battle is <a href="http://www.gorilladoctors.org/saving-lives/gorilla-health-threats/infectious-disease/">human-borne disease</a>, including malaria, which has the potential for transmission from people to gorillas via bites from female <em>Anopheles</em> mosquitoes. Central Africa, the home of the gorillas, is highly susceptible to this disease, driving poverty and desperation amongst its communities.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-why-do-humans-not-have-fur-like-chimpanzees-and-gorillas-80320">Curious Kids: Why do humans not have fur like chimpanzees and gorillas?</a>
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<p>As human populations expand and deforestation increases, gorillas are brought into closer contact with people and the risk of disease transmission rises – with devastating effects.</p>
<h2>Malaria infects people and our great ape cousins</h2>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240769/original/file-20181016-165885-17kp2ji.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240769/original/file-20181016-165885-17kp2ji.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240769/original/file-20181016-165885-17kp2ji.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240769/original/file-20181016-165885-17kp2ji.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240769/original/file-20181016-165885-17kp2ji.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=449&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240769/original/file-20181016-165885-17kp2ji.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240769/original/file-20181016-165885-17kp2ji.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240769/original/file-20181016-165885-17kp2ji.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=564&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">A male mountain gorilla in Virunga National Park.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Marissa Parrott/Zoos Victoria</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>In 2012 and 2017, I was lucky to see the magnificent, gentle and intelligent gorillas up close in both Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in Uganda, and Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. </p>
<p>I learned about the vital work of <a href="https://www.zoo.org.au/fighting-extinction/our-fighting-extinction-goal">Zoos Victoria</a>’s partner, Gorilla Doctors, in the protection and veterinary treatment of gorillas. </p>
<p>Malaria is the <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/2002/021003/full/news021001-6.html">biggest disease killer of humans</a> of all time, having claimed billions of human lives. Roughly half of the world’s population is at risk, and around <a href="http://www.who.int/malaria/media/world-malaria-report-2017/en/">half a million people die</a> from the disease each year. </p>
<p>While the effects of malaria on human communities are horrifying, the effects of this and other human-borne diseases on gorillas, with so few remaining, pose the threat of extinction. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-drones-are-helping-in-the-fight-against-malaria-97197">How drones are helping in the fight against malaria</a>
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<p>At least 10 species of malaria can infect gorillas, with three being the same or highly similar <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/107/4/1458">to those</a> <a href="http://www.parazitologie.cz/protozoologie/Personal%20homepages/Votypka/Malaria_gorillas_DSPA_2015.pdf">found in</a> <a href="https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/24/8/pdfs/18-0010.pdf">humans</a>. In one study, <a href="http://www.parazitologie.cz/protozoologie/Personal%20homepages/Votypka/Malaria_gorillas_DSPA_2015.pdf">more than 30% of gorillas</a> were infected with malaria parasites. However, difficulties in studying the often remote and critically endangered gorillas means potential transmission pathways remain unknown. More research is required to determine the effects of this disease and how to protect gorillas in the future. </p>
<h2>My own battle against malaria</h2>
<p>Despite never feeling or seeing a mosquito bite, I learned about these issues first-hand when I caught malaria myself. </p>
<p>During my PhD, I taught practical classes on malaria, and it was this knowledge that led me to believe I was in trouble in 2017.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240767/original/file-20181016-165909-1652roy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240767/original/file-20181016-165909-1652roy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240767/original/file-20181016-165909-1652roy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240767/original/file-20181016-165909-1652roy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240767/original/file-20181016-165909-1652roy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=456&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240767/original/file-20181016-165909-1652roy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=574&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240767/original/file-20181016-165909-1652roy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=574&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240767/original/file-20181016-165909-1652roy.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=574&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The author wearing a face mask to protect gorillas in Virunga National Park.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Marissa Parrott/Zoos Victoria</span></span>
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<p>Despite taking malaria-prevention medication, I had encountered one of the few diseases found in both <a href="https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/24/8/pdfs/18-0010.pdf">humans and gorillas</a>: <em>Plasmodium ovale</em>, a parasite that appears to be growing a resistance to some medications.</p>
<p>My local Australian doctors had never encountered this species, and despite blood tests showing massive liver damage, I was not diagnosed for weeks. I spent a week in hospital, hooked to intravenous fluids, and left in a wheelchair.</p>
<p>The effects of malaria are horrific. <em>P. ovale</em> has a <a href="https://cmr.asm.org/content/cmr/18/3/570.full.pdf">49-hour life cycle</a>, bursting in their millions out of blood cells to infect and multiply. The first sign is nerve pain – every touch feels like sandpaper – followed by a loss of circulation to your arms and legs, then crippling fevers, sometimes over 41°C. You shake so violently and uncontrollably that you tear your muscles. In the aftermath, your blood pressure drops, in my case close to half of what it should have been.</p>
<p>Malaria is also called “Blackwater Disease”, because your urine turns the colour of Coca Cola while your body excretes all your destroyed blood cells. On one hand this was fascinating to see. On the other, it was terrifying. I really needed those blood cells.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-kenya-isnt-winning-the-war-against-malaria-in-some-counties-95101">Why Kenya isn't winning the war against malaria in some counties</a>
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<p>Twelve months on, I’ve been lucky with my recovery. We don’t know whether a gorilla infected with <em>P. ovale</em> would suffer the same symptoms, but I can’t fathom the fear a gorilla could feel with this crippling disease. Or the pain a mother could feel while watching her baby convulse with fevers. As with <a href="http://www.who.int/malaria/areas/high_risk_groups/children/en/">human children</a>, malaria and other diseases are often <a href="http://www.parazitologie.cz/protozoologie/Personal%20homepages/Votypka/Malaria_gorillas_DSPA_2015.pdf">most prevalent in younger gorillas</a>.</p>
<h2>To protect gorillas, you must protect people</h2>
<p>Thankfully, there is hope. <a href="http://www.gorilladoctors.org/">Gorilla Doctors</a> monitor Eastern Lowland and Mountain Gorilla families deep in the jungles for signs of illness and injury. They deliver hands-on treatment for viral, parasitic and bacterial diseases, often via darts, or in severe cases under anaesthetic. They also support research, with PhD students studying a variety of <a href="http://www.gorilladoctors.org/phd-candidate-alisa-kubala-conducts-research-malaria-eastern-gorillas/">diseases including malaria</a>.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240768/original/file-20181016-165905-1y3oh4l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240768/original/file-20181016-165905-1y3oh4l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/240768/original/file-20181016-165905-1y3oh4l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=816&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240768/original/file-20181016-165905-1y3oh4l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=816&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240768/original/file-20181016-165905-1y3oh4l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=816&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240768/original/file-20181016-165905-1y3oh4l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1026&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240768/original/file-20181016-165905-1y3oh4l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1026&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/240768/original/file-20181016-165905-1y3oh4l.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1026&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A young mountain gorilla in Virunga National Park.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">ZoosVictoria/Marissa Parrott</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With such devastating diseases, the work of organisations to protect both local communities and gorillas is paramount. Ecotourism brings new people, and potentially new diseases in contact with gorillas. But it also brings crucial funding for the species and management of national parks. It is a delicate balancing act.</p>
<p>Studies suggest the greatest risk of disease transmission comes from local communities. Gorillas Doctors support <a href="http://www.gorilladoctors.org/saving-lives/one-health-medicine/">One Health Initiatives</a> for local communities and their domestic livestock. You cannot care for wildlife without caring for local communities and the health of staff who work in the national parks to protect the great apes.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-origin-of-us-what-we-know-so-far-about-where-we-humans-come-from-54385">The origin of 'us': what we know so far about where we humans come from</a>
</strong>
</em>
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<p>Visiting national parks and supporting well-run ecotourism brings much-needed income and attention to these areas, although you should see your doctor for appropriate malaria prophylaxis. Zoos Victoria also supports Gorilla Doctors’ work in the wild through their mobile-phone recycling program “<a href="https://www.zoo.org.au/get-involved/act-for-wildlife/theyre-calling-on-you">They’re Calling on You</a>”.</p>
<p>Support organisations to protect gorillas and the people who care for and live beside them.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/103911/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marissa Parrott works for Zoos Victoria, a not-for-profit zoo-based conservation organisation.
Zoos Victoria raises funds via the collection of mobile phones for recycling through their 'They're Calling on You' campaign to Gorilla Doctors to support their work protecting gorillas in the field.</span></em></p>Malaria can be transmitted from humans to gorillas, with devastating effects.Marissa Parrott, Reproductive Biologist, Wildlife Conservation & Science, Zoos Victoria, and Honorary Research Associate, BioSciences, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/722952017-02-15T13:44:57Z2017-02-15T13:44:57ZWhy fighting fire with fire in DRC’s Virunga Park isn’t helping conservation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156548/original/image-20170213-23350-rl55gg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A patrol post in Virunga.
Using the army to fight illegal resource exploitation aggravates conflict.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author supplied</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Conserving nature in areas immersed in prolonged violent conflict is challenging. One such area is the Virunga National Park, located in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The park management tries to face these challenges head-on with the aim of protecting Virunga’s rich biodiversity. In particular, the survival of the well-known endangered mountain gorilla is at stake.</p>
<p>It would be wrong to question the objectives, dedication, and sacrifices made by the park management and staff. Many rangers have lost their lives in the line of duty. But based on <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03066150.2016.1203307">our research</a> in the region, we have doubts about the effects of the park’s current policies on conflict and violence in the wider Virunga area.</p>
<p>As we show certain conservation practices – like strict law enforcement to combat illegal resources exploitation by armed groups – can inadvertently aggravate violent conflict. They may, for example, reinforce the links between populations and the armed groups on whom they depend for their livelihoods. This undermines conservation efforts in the long-term. </p>
<p>Devising alternative policies for addressing armed groups is no easy task. But as we discuss in <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016718516301993">a recent article</a>, there’s remarkably little debate on this issue. The media and policymakers pay limited attention to the effects of the park’s policies on the dynamics of violent conflict. In fact, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2014/nov/29/virunga-national-park-congo">dominant story line</a> is that the Virunga National Park contributes to peace building. But the reality on the ground is much more complex, as we discovered talking to people who live in the area. </p>
<h2>Battling armed groups</h2>
<p>A plethora of armed groups operates in and around the Virunga National Park. Their presence isn’t specific to the park: <a href="http://riftvalley.net/publication/understanding-armed-group-proliferation-eastern-congo#.WJmsMrGcZ0s">tens of dozens of armed groups</a> roam the eastern Congo, reflecting a militarisation that has become <a href="http://riftvalley.net/publication/stable-instability#.WJmsfLGcZ0s">self-sustaining</a>. But there’s a particularly high concentration of such groups in the park. </p>
<p>It provides cover and access to populations and natural resources needed to generate revenue. For instance armed groups are engaged in facilitating charcoal production, poaching, illegal fishing, and “<a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03066150.2014.993623">guerilla agriculture</a>”, or cultivation where it’s forbidden.</p>
<p>The effects of these activities on Virunga’s biodiversity are devastating. Illegal fishing contributes to the <a href="https://enanga.org/testimonies/lake-edward-crossroads/">rapid depletion of fish stock</a>, not least as it often takes place in the waters where fish breed. Charcoal production, for its part, is at the root of intense deforestation, which has grave consequences for the entire ecosystem.</p>
<p>But while depleting the park’s resources, thousands of people living in the Virunga area depend on illegal resources exploitation for their livelihoods. They pay armed groups to access the park and protect such revenue generating activities. The resulting links between people and armed groups complicate efforts to tackle illegal resources exploitation. </p>
<p>As we discuss in <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03066150.2016.1203307">recent work,</a> the park management tries to address armed groups by collaborating with the Congolese army. So park rangers conduct joint operations with army soldiers to push armed groups out of the park. As a result, conservation has come to merge with counter-insurgency. But this approach is counterproductive. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156549/original/image-20170213-23337-11hklzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156549/original/image-20170213-23337-11hklzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/156549/original/image-20170213-23337-11hklzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156549/original/image-20170213-23337-11hklzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156549/original/image-20170213-23337-11hklzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156549/original/image-20170213-23337-11hklzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156549/original/image-20170213-23337-11hklzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/156549/original/image-20170213-23337-11hklzn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The park management tries to address armed groups by collaborating with the Congolese army, this approach is counterproductive.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author supplied</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Clashes in the park</h2>
<p>First, the operations are not part of wider political and socio-economic measures to deal with armed groups. Thus far the Congolese government has failed to develop such measures. This means that the armed groups are temporarily dislocated, rather than dissolved. The result is a vicious cycle of attacks and counter-attacks between armed groups and the mixed units of park guards and army soldiers. This rising violence doesn’t only increase the insecurity of inhabitants, but also puts the lives of the park guards further at risk.</p>
<p>Second, the tensions sparked by the operations seem to drive people closer to armed groups, causing the park guards in turn to develop growing animosity towards them. Because populations depend on illegal revenue generation activities in the park, and no alternative livelihood activities are offered after the operations, people feel they have little choice but to solicit the protection of armed groups to re-access the park. </p>
<p>Third, the operations feed into conflicts over land, local authority and between different communities. In the Rutshuru area, for instance, <a href="http://groupelavenir.org/nord-kivu-le-torchon-brule-entre-communautes-hutu-et-nande/">tensions between Hutu and Nande populations</a> have intensified over the past months. This is partly due to military operations by the Congolese army against a Hutu armed group that operates in the park.</p>
<p>Any attack against an armed group alters the fragile power equilibrium between armed groups, allied elite networks, and associated civilian communities which often have the same ethnic background as armed group leaderships. So efforts to push armed groups out of the park risk setting in motion a chain of reactions that may spiral out of control.</p>
<h2>Dominant stories</h2>
<p>It’s widely reported that the Virunga Park is plagued by armed conflict. But this reporting often echoes <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/EthanBaron1/of-blood-and-magma-mountain-56388470">heart of darkness clichés</a> or simple storylines pitting bad guys (savage rebels) against good guys (usually the park guards and staff). These narratives are rarely accompanied by indepth reflections on the causes of the violence, which tend to be simply ascribed to <a href="http://enoughproject.org/reports/mafia-park-charcoal-syndicate-threatening-virunga-africa%E2%80%99s-oldest-national-park">resources plunder</a>.</p>
<p>Also, by stressing that Virunga is the <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2016/12/wildlife-watch-rangers-killed-virunga-national-park/">most dangerous park in the world to work</a>, it becomes <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p03tkq1t">taken for granted</a> that conservation has merged with counter-insurgency.</p>
<p>Attention to spectacular figures like the heroic park guards and evil rebels overshadows attention to the people living in or along the borders of the park. Their <a href="https://www.zammagazine.com/chronicle/chronicle-10/161-machineguns-in-the-mist">voices</a> are <a href="http://www.ipsnews.net/2016/09/militarised-conservation-threatens-drcs-indigenous-people-part-1/">rarely heard</a>. But their accounts give a different picture than mainstream representations and show how people are suffering under the rising insecurity. </p>
<p>Another reason why the park’s current policies aren’t questioned is that donors and the park management have institutional interests in diffusing a seductive <a href="http://www.africanconservation.org/wildlife-news/congo-s-virunga-national-park-announces-partnership-for-economic-revival-in-war-torn-eastern-province">“triple-win rhetoric.”</a> They emphasise that the park promotes at once conservation and development as well as peace building. This would prove that Virunga is an area that works compared with the rest of the DRC, which is viewed as a “failed state”. Such narratives of success ensure that aid, mainly coming from the <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01436597.2017.1282815">European Commission</a>, and donations continue to flow.</p>
<p>The current park management is based on a <a href="https://virunga.org/who-we-are/">public private partnership (PPP)</a> between the Congolese state agency for nature conservation and a British NGO, the Virunga Foundation. The NGO has assumed full responsibility for the park’s management. As it’s a European NGO who supervises the park guards -– who moreover have received <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/10/151014-virunga-women-rangers-mountain-gorillas-congo/">military training by former Belgian commandos</a> -– western audiences appear to ask less questions about the ways in which violent force is employed and how this affects conflict dynamics and people’s security.</p>
<p>So the blind spots in the complex interplay between conservation and violent conflict stem to a large extent from deeply rooted unequal power relations between the North and the South. These inequalities cause certain narratives, policy options and voices to be heard, and others to be excluded. This means that the decolonisation of nature conservation is a precondition for its demilitarisation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/72295/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Judith Verweijen receives funding from the Swedish Research Council and Research Foundation Flanders (FWO)</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Esther Marijnen receives funding from the Max Batley fellowship, University of Sheffield. </span></em></p>The Virunga National Park is home to many people living off the land. Clashes between the army and those illegally extracting resources is causing huge problems for conservation.Judith Verweijen, Postdoctoral Research Fellow Conflict Research Group, Ghent UniversityEsther Marijnen, Postdoctoral research fellow, University of SheffieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/700002016-12-09T14:16:49Z2016-12-09T14:16:49ZDawn of ‘Trumpocene’ era spells disaster for world’s primates<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/148971/original/image-20161206-13648-d70ak4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The grey mouse lemur (_Microcebus murinus_): at 60 grams, nearly the smallest primate in the world. I studied this primate in Madagascar.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.jasongilchrist.co.uk">Jason Gilchrist, www.jasongilchrist.co.uk</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Eight years ago, in the middle of the night in a damp forest in Madagascar, I found myself standing alongside a similarly wet but happy Russell Mittermeier, then president of <a href="http://www.conservation.org/Pages/default.aspx">Conservation International</a>. We were very happy because we were both, for the first time in our lives, peering through the darkness at the world’s smallest primate, <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/41573/115579496">Madame Berthe’s mouse lemur</a>.</p>
<p>About ten years before, I was one of a group of visitors to Uganda who were led through a similarly damp forest (this time during daylight) to come upon a family of the world’s largest primate – the <a href="http://www.arkive.org/eastern-gorilla/gorilla-beringei/">mountain gorilla</a>. This is the species that David Attenborough famously <a href="http://www.wildfilmhistory.org/film/241/clip/419/David+Attenborough%92s+legendary+encounter+with+a+family+of+mountain+gorillas.html">got more than he bargained for</a> in 1979’s Life on Earth.</p>
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<p>These two experiences are united, not simply by the extremes of scale – the pygmy mouse lemur weighs in at just 30g, and the mountain gorilla up to an impressive 160kg – but also by the fact that they are two of the most endangered primate species.</p>
<h2>A changed world</h2>
<p>The world has since changed. When I met the mountain gorilla, scientists classified it as a distinct species. Now, it is a subspecies of the eastern gorilla: <em>Gorilla beringei beringei</em>. Recently, ecologists revealed that the mountain gorilla is <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2016/11/gorilla-warfare/508529/">not so gentle after all</a>, and shares a violent streak with its nearest primate relatives, chimpanzees and humans. Since I visited the eastern gorilla, numbers have declined due to habitat loss and poaching, and its conservation status has been <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/39994/0">uplisted to “critically endangered”</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149079/original/image-20161207-18073-8su51i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149079/original/image-20161207-18073-8su51i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149079/original/image-20161207-18073-8su51i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149079/original/image-20161207-18073-8su51i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=387&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149079/original/image-20161207-18073-8su51i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149079/original/image-20161207-18073-8su51i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149079/original/image-20161207-18073-8su51i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A young male mountain gorilla, <em>Gorilla beringei beringei</em>, under threat from habitat loss and poaching.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ian Redmond/Wildscreen Arkive</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Madame Berthe’s mouse lemur, <em>Microcebus berthae</em>, was only recognised as a distinct species (separate from the pygmy mouse lemur, <em>Microcebus myoxinus</em>) in 2000. While it clings on to survival in that same small pocket of Madgascar’s tropical forest, other lemur species have fallen to <a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/lemur-extinctions-are-harmful-madagascars-plant-life-too-180958717/">extinction due to the destruction of their habitat</a>. Sadly, as soon as enough was known about it, Madame Berthe’s mouse lemur was <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/41573/0">classified as “endangered”</a>.</p>
<p>All primate species with restricted or fragmented ranges, including <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/look-out-lemurs-climate-change-is-taking-your-land/">mouse lemurs</a> and <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/how-will-climate-change-affect-mountain-gorillas/">gorillas</a>, are at risk from climate change. </p>
<h2>Primate politics</h2>
<p>The day I met Mittermeier he was leaving the forest early the next morning to fly back to the US for the inauguration of the then new president, Barack Obama. There was an optimism surrounding the US and wildlife conservation at that point. Obama has since been <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/obama-hawaii-monument_us_57c7269de4b078581f10c56e">a positive force for nature conservation</a>, even <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/dec/18/barack-obama-bear-grylls-promote-action-climate-change">going wild with Bear Grylls</a> to highlight the detrimental effects of climate change on wildlife.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/148977/original/image-20161207-25742-s1izu3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/148977/original/image-20161207-25742-s1izu3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148977/original/image-20161207-25742-s1izu3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148977/original/image-20161207-25742-s1izu3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148977/original/image-20161207-25742-s1izu3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148977/original/image-20161207-25742-s1izu3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148977/original/image-20161207-25742-s1izu3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Grey mouse lemur: habitat loss is the main danger to mouse lemurs and climate change will affect future habitat suitability for these and other primates.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jason Gilchrist, www.jasongilchrist.co.uk</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We now face a very different landscape. Obama is preparing to hand over the reins to a new president-elect, Donald Trump – a vocal climate change denier who has vowed to “<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/if-elected-trump-pledges-to-abolish-the-environment_us_57b38b10e4b014a587fba5c5">abolish the environment</a>”. The prognosis for the natural world (which, incidentally, we live within and rely upon) is not good. Trump <a href="http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/donald-trump-will-destroy-environment-if-he-follows-through-climate-change-rhetoric-1590618">has claimed</a> that climate change is a Chinese invention to gain competitive advantage over American businesses. </p>
<p>Trump’s appointment of <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/07/us/politics/scott-pruitt-epa-trump.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=first-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news">Scott Pruitt</a> – an avowed climate-change sceptic and ally of the fossil fuels industry – as head of the US Environmental Protection Agency is causing serious concern, as have Trump’s hints that he plans to disband the EPA and withdraw from the global UN Paris climate agreement.</p>
<h2>Trumpocene era</h2>
<p>Some scientists refer to the current geological period <a href="https://theconversation.com/dawn-of-the-anthropocene-five-ways-we-know-humans-have-triggered-a-new-geological-epoch-52867">as the Anthropocene</a> as a mark of the human species’ impact on the planet’s biodiversity and ecosystem function. There are those who believe that the mark of Trump’s presidency will also be <a href="http://matadornetwork.com/life/damage-trump-will-cause-environment-within-just-100-days-presidency/">notably recorded in geological time</a>.</p>
<p>Are we now on the (in some minds, apocalyptic) threshold of the Trumpocene? Some argue that we already are, at least in terms of social philosophy, with mass rejection of science and expertise in favour of populist posturing – or misinformation. Scientists <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/11/30/scientists-are-really-really-worried-about-donald-trump/?utm_term=.53053bdf5302">are worried on numerous fronts</a>. It may be agreeable to some business sectors – fossil fuels, for example – to dismiss <a href="https://www.epa.gov/climate-change-science/future-climate-change">climate change</a> and the importance of the environment, but doing so places our planet’s future in serious jeopardy, and human populations with it.</p>
<h2>All primates great and small</h2>
<p>There are many threats to the world’s primates, not only climate change. <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/crisis-in-madagascar-90-percent-of-lemur-species-are-threatened-with-extinction/">Habitat destruction and loss</a> due to deforestation are major drivers of population decline. I have observed this during <a href="http://www.jasongilchrist.co.uk/research.html">my own research</a> of <a href="http://amazon.clikpic.com/JasonGilchrist/clik_media/Jason_Gilchrist-BBC_Wildlife_Magazine-July_2008-Grey_Mouse_Lemur-Microcebus_murinus-Small_is_Beautiful_1.pdf">grey mouse lemurs</a> in Madagascar and <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs00265-005-0081-0">chimpanzees</a> in Uganda. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/148976/original/image-20161207-25721-1emdn2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/148976/original/image-20161207-25721-1emdn2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148976/original/image-20161207-25721-1emdn2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148976/original/image-20161207-25721-1emdn2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148976/original/image-20161207-25721-1emdn2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148976/original/image-20161207-25721-1emdn2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/148976/original/image-20161207-25721-1emdn2z.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Chimpanzee, <em>Pan troglodytes</em> at Pretoria Zoo. I studied these primates in Uganda where snares set by poachers are a threat.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jason Gilchrist, www.jasongilchrist.co.uk</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These species often exist within finite and shrinking patches of forest. Direct persecution also looms large. It is not unusual for chimps and gorillas to bear the scars of poacher’s snares, including lost limbs. Numerous primate species are <a href="http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/10/people-are-hunting-primates-bats-and-other-mammals-extinction">endangered by the bushmeat trade</a>.</p>
<p>So, what future is there for Madame Berthe’s mouse lemur, the Eastern gorilla … all primates? When we talk of primate conservation, we would do well to remember that we are also primates. Looking after the species and habitats of our planet are as important to the future survival, health and welfare of the human species, as they are to the other species that we care about.</p>
<p>Presidents and politicians are important, but we can all make a difference as individuals. Eating less meat and dairy, selecting goods with sustainable palm oil, reducing fuel consumption, and recycling will <a href="https://www.fix.com/blog/green-diet-resolutions/">reduce your environmental impact</a>. And give hope for the future of primates, ourselves included, and other animals.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149330/original/image-20161208-31402-1gusxqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/149330/original/image-20161208-31402-1gusxqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149330/original/image-20161208-31402-1gusxqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149330/original/image-20161208-31402-1gusxqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=300&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149330/original/image-20161208-31402-1gusxqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149330/original/image-20161208-31402-1gusxqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/149330/original/image-20161208-31402-1gusxqv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Monkey Business, a world-first exhibition featuring primates from around the world. From l to r: Sulawesi Crested Macaque (<em>Macaca nigra</em>), critically endangered; Emperor Tamarin (<em>Saguinus imperator subgrisescens</em>), least concern; Mandrill (<em>Mandrillus sphinx</em>), vulnerable.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jason Gilchrist, www.jasongilchrist.co.uk</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Monkey Business, <a href="http://www.nms.ac.uk/national-museum-of-scotland/whats-on/monkey-business/">a new exhibition</a> at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, will feature taxidermy specimens that showcase the diversity of primates and threats to their survival.</p>
<p>I am one of the few people in the world to have seen both the world’s smallest and largest primates in the wild. I don’t want to be one of the last.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70000/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jason Gilchrist received funding for mouse lemur research from the British Ecological Society, the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour, and Edinburgh Napier University. </span></em></p>As Donald Trump prepares to enter the White House, there may be dark days ahead for some of the world’s rarest and most beautiful primates.Jason Gilchrist, Ecologist, Edinburgh Napier UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/618692016-07-06T03:36:55Z2016-07-06T03:36:55ZConservation efforts can’t afford to shy away from high-risk conflict zones<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129063/original/image-20160702-18337-389wb9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Despite ongoing conflict in the DRC, the number of endangered mountain gorillas in the Virunga National Park has increased.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Between 1950 and 2000, 80% of the world’s armed conflicts took place within <a href="http://www.livescience.com/5315-wars-occur-biodiversity-hotspots.html">biodiversity hotspots.</a> These are places that contain unusually high concentrations of animals and plants. The correlation between biodiversity hotspots and conflicts is striking. It has complex beginnings, and gives rise to both opportunities and challenges.</p>
<p>There is a high prevalence of conflict in biodiversity hotspots for a variety of reasons. Biodiversity hotspots are often expansive areas of forest in remote places. Here, it is possible for militias to <a href="http://islandpress.org/book/state-of-the-wild-2010-2011">remain hidden</a> from government control. </p>
<p>Many of these hotspots also house valuable species that can be harvested to <a href="https://news.vice.com/article/the-illicit-wildlife-and-resource-trade-is-financing-militias-and-terrorists">fund paramilitary activities</a>, including those of some high-profile groups like the Lord’s Resistance Army, for example. This is a rebel group that is known to operate in northern Uganda, South Sudan, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). It is believed to have <a href="http://www.nationalgeographic.com/tracking-ivory/article.html">acquired funds</a> from the ivory trade.</p>
<p>The isolated nature of biodiversity hotspots may also mean that the impact of the conflict is magnified. Refugees may be forced to rely heavily on natural resources for subsistence. This is demonstrated by the <a href="http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/Pnadt022.pdf">deforestation of 113km²</a> near Goma, at the edge of the Virunga National Park in the DRC, after the settlement of refugees.</p>
<p>The potential for conflict to affect biodiversity necessitates strategic planning, active intervention and good management. Understanding the spatial overlap between <a href="http://www.livescience.com/5315-wars-occur-biodiversity-hotspots.html">high conflict risk and high biodiveristy</a> is important to achieve this.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129055/original/image-20160702-18328-1fa3d3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129055/original/image-20160702-18328-1fa3d3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129055/original/image-20160702-18328-1fa3d3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=288&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129055/original/image-20160702-18328-1fa3d3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=288&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129055/original/image-20160702-18328-1fa3d3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=288&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129055/original/image-20160702-18328-1fa3d3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129055/original/image-20160702-18328-1fa3d3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129055/original/image-20160702-18328-1fa3d3l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=362&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mammal richness index and conflict
history map.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Edward Hammill</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Successful conservation is possible in conflict zones</h2>
<p>Conflicts and effective biodiversity conservation are not mutually exclusive.</p>
<p>The eastern side of the Virunga National Park – one of the most biologically diverse areas on the planet – is home to the world’s critically <a href="https://virunga.org/">endangered mountain gorillas</a>. The area has experienced sustained instances of armed conflict over the past 40 years. Yet it has managed to sustain African <a href="https://wildnet.org/updates/new-protections-put-place-embattled-elephants-virunga-national-park">elephants</a> and seen an <a href="http://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/?206716/Mountain-gorilla-population-grows">increase in mountain gorilla</a> numbers, despite the conflict.</p>
<p>The most crucial factor in Virunga’s continued success has been the willingness of staff to maintain operations in times of conflict. Park rangers have vowed to continue working <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/12/africa/virunga-national-park-mountain-gorilla/">despite mortal danger</a>. Director Emmanuel de Merode, a high-profile <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhnGzaEOE34">conservationist, anthropologist</a> and Belgian prince remains dedicated to working within the park, despite <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-27049627">an attempt on his life</a>. </p>
<p>From a government perspective, managing conflicts can reduce the relative priority of biodiversity conservation. During times of conflict this can lead to domestic spending being diverted away from conservation and towards military activities or protecting vital infrastructure. But during ongoing conflicts within sub-Saharan Africa and Afghanistan, <a href="http://www.iucn.org/content/rising-murder-toll-park-rangers-calls-tougher-laws">provision of resources</a> by the Wildlife Conservation Society, USAID and the United Nations Environmental Programme enabled effective biodiversity conservation to continue. It also aided rapid post-conflict development.</p>
<p>Providing financial support can also lead to positive outcomes beyond saving species, and in some cases provide a pathway to peace. This can be seen in the success of <a href="http://www.tbpa.net/newsletters/39_TB_BPG_-_FINAL_WEB_COMPLETE3.pdf">transboundary protected areas</a>. These areas can foster communication between separated communities, and provide a common goal that allows conflicting factions to <a href="https://biol420eres525.wordpress.com/2014/04/06/transboundary-protected-areas-making-peace-with-nature-melanie-c-berger/">work in partnership</a>.</p>
<p>Given the increased impact of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/20/armed-conflict-deaths-increase-syria-iraq-afghanistan-yemen">armed conflict globally</a>, it is prudent to explicitly account for this type of risk in conservation decision-making.</p>
<h2>Incorporating conflict risk</h2>
<p>The resources available for biodiversity conservation are limited. They must be used wisely. A basic requirement is data, particularly data that looks at where threatened species occur, how much conservation would cost in these areas, and what risks are associated with conserving those areas.</p>
<p>There are examples of how conflict data have been used effectively in the past. Several national-scale conflict risk maps have been created showing where conflicts have taken place before and where they’re happening now. These mapping exercises have been done by the <a href="http://economicsandpeace.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Global-Peace-Index-Report-2015_0.pdf">Institute for Economics and Peace</a> and work led by <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233727516_Predicting_Armed_Conflict_2010-2050">Håvard Hegre</a>, a professor of peace and conflict research. </p>
<p>But conflicts are not distributed evenly across nations. The <a href="http://www.acleddata.com/visuals/maps/dynamic-maps/">Armed Conflict Location Event Data Project</a> shows how conflict risk varies substantially within countries. For example, the DRC has experienced some of the highest levels of conflict within Africa. But the majority of these conflicts occur along the eastern border, leaving a comparatively safe area to the west.</p>
<h2>An expensive process</h2>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129056/original/image-20160702-18291-lrrn2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129056/original/image-20160702-18291-lrrn2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/129056/original/image-20160702-18291-lrrn2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129056/original/image-20160702-18291-lrrn2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129056/original/image-20160702-18291-lrrn2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=355&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129056/original/image-20160702-18291-lrrn2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129056/original/image-20160702-18291-lrrn2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/129056/original/image-20160702-18291-lrrn2a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=447&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Edward Hammill</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2016/160330/ncomms11042/full/ncomms11042.html">High conflict risk areas in Africa</a> could be avoided entirely when planning and implementing conservation. But this will lead to the avoidance of many highly biodiverse areas, which is far from ideal. So if the placement of new African protected areas were conducted without accounting for the dangers posed by conflict, this could lead to losses that result in half of all species receiving <a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2016/160330/ncomms11042/abs/ncomms11042.html">insufficient protection</a>. </p>
<p>Accounting for, and mitigating conflict risk is, however, a costly undertaking. A protected area network that would protect Africa’s 236 endangered mammals and <a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2016/160330/ncomms11042/abs/ncomms11042.html">mitigate the effects of conflict</a> is predicted to be 50% more expensive than one that ignores conflict risk. </p>
<p>This 50% increase in costs would lead to 100% more conservation targets being met. This means returns on investment would be considerably higher. The funds required to conserve all 236 endangered mammals in Africa while accounting for the risk of armed conflict would be substantial, amounting to <a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2016/160330/ncomms11042/abs/ncomms11042.html">US$9.1 billion</a>.</p>
<p>The key issue is that decisions around protecting biodiversity in conflict areas must go beyond simply avoiding areas perceived as being unstable. In Africa, opting simply to avoid conflict-prone areas would result in iconic mammals like the eastern lowland gorilla being essentially abandoned. </p>
<p>It is crucial to incorporate conflict risk into conservation. Understanding and incorporating conflict risk will allow managers to make informed decisions about the placement of protected areas and recruit rangers willing to work under these challenging conditions. Only through a continued commitment to long-term management will conservation in Africa’s conflict-affected, biodiverse regions continue to succeed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/61869/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Edward Hammill receives funding from the River Reclamation Commission (Utah), the Division of Natural Resources, the Utah State Legislature, and Utah State University.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ayesha Tulloch receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hugh Possingham receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Department of the Environment. He is affiliated with the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists and Bush Heritage Australia.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kerrie Wilson receives funding from the Australian Research Council, Australian Department of Environment,
Woodspring Trust and the University of Queensland.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Niels Strange receives funding from the Danish National Research Foundation (grant number DNRF96). He is affiliated with Department of Food and Resource Economics & Center for Macroecology, Evolution and Climate at University of Copenhagen. </span></em></p>For the survival of iconic species in Africa, it is crucial that conservation efforts do not ignore conflict zones.Edd Hammill, Professor of Watershed Sciences, Utah State UniversityAyesha Tulloch, Research Fellow, Australian National UniversityHugh Possingham, Director ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions, The University of QueenslandKerrie Wilson, Associate Professor and ARC Future Fellow, The University of QueenslandNiels Strange, Professor in Management Planning of Forest and Nature, University of CopenhagenLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/606982016-06-08T06:59:19Z2016-06-08T06:59:19ZHow do we weigh the moral value of human lives against animal ones?<p>Imagine a unique set of scales that measures the value of life. If a single human were on one side, how many chimpanzees (our closest genetic relatives) would need to be on the other side before the scales tipped in their direction?</p>
<p>This may seem like an abstract, irrelevant or even offensive question to some people. But it was made horrifically real by the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-36414813">death last week of Harambe</a>, the Cincinnati Zoo gorilla who was shot after a young boy fell into his enclosure.</p>
<p>Zoo handlers were faced with the agonising decision to take Harambe’s life to ensure the young boy would not lose his. The response to this event online has varied from anger, to sadness, through to considerations of <a href="https://theconversation.com/harambe-the-gorilla-put-zoo-in-a-lose-lose-situation-by-being-himself-60278">how much choice the zoo’s staff really had</a>. How do we decide what our own lives are worth compared with other species?</p>
<p>Perhaps we can try to frame the comparison in relative terms. There are <a href="http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/">7.4 billion human beings on the planet</a>, whereas Western lowland gorillas are <a href="http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/9406/0">critically endangered</a>. Does a human life hold more value than that of a member of a critically endangered animal species?</p>
<p>Harambe’s death suggests that the instinctive answer is yes, but is there a point at which some people’s moral scales might tip the other way? Our research suggests there might be.</p>
<h2>The concept of ‘moral expansion’</h2>
<p>No one expects an easy answer to this question. But the fact that we can even ask it shows that our <a href="http://press.princeton.edu/titles/9434.html">moral sensibilities have expanded</a> beyond the boundaries of our own species.</p>
<p>Many of us feel a deep moral responsibility not just to protect our fellow humans, but to guard the moral rights of entities the world over. This change, which has <a href="http://stevenpinker.com/publications/better-angels-our-nature">spanned the past few centuries</a>, has resulted in some serious ethical challenges to the ways we interact with other species and the environment.</p>
<p>Recently, animal rights organisations in the United States have fought for the legal personhood status of chimpanzees like <a href="http://www.nonhumanrightsproject.org/category/courtfilings/tommy-case/">Tommy</a>, while animal advocates have petitioned the United Nations for a <a href="http://www.projetogap.org.br/en/noticia/universal-declaration-rights-great-apes/">Declaration of the Rights of Great Apes</a> since 1993. </p>
<p>In the meantime, a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/18/new-zealand-whanganui-river_n_1894893.html">river in New Zealand</a> has been officially granted legal personhood status (similar to the status <a href="http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10830586">given to corporations</a>), making the river a legal “person” with its own rights and interests under law.</p>
<p>In line with the concept of <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/animal-emotions/201508/compassionate-conservation-meets-cecil-the-slain-lion">compassionate conservation</a>, these examples highlight the narrowing of the gulf between the moral rights of humans, non-humans and the environment.</p>
<p>For supporters of these causes, human rights and corresponding moral standing should no longer be restricted to humans.</p>
<h2>Are you willing to sacrifice?</h2>
<p>The legal semantics are interesting, but what about when it really comes to the crunch? <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26751743">Our recent research</a> has examined how widely people spread their moral concern to others. We found that this is a key predictor of the type of moral decision-making that compares the value of a human life to that of another animal.</p>
<p>We asked people the following question: how many other human beings would need to be in danger before you sacrificed your own life to ensure their survival? But our research didn’t stop at humans.</p>
<p>We also asked how many chimpanzees would need to be at risk. How many ants? How many redwood trees?</p>
<p>Responses to these questions were as varied as the responses to the shooting of Harambe.</p>
<p>Some people said they would sacrifice their life if it meant that just a few chimpanzees would keep theirs. Others said it wouldn’t matter how many animals or trees were in danger; a human life was simply worth more.</p>
<p>We found that we could predict people’s responses to specific questions based on their position on what we call the “moral expansiveness scale” (you can find out your own score <a href="https://uqpsych.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_ahgXNP6p53wz5Jz">here</a>). Those whose moral outlook stretched further beyond humans were more likely to say they would sacrifice themselves to benefit other animals or nature.</p>
<h2>A moral dilemma</h2>
<p>Human beings are becoming increasingly morally expansive. As a species we are adopting a moral standard that represents ethical and altruistic responsibilities on a global scale. This is reflected in the extension of human rights to chimpanzees and the granting of legal rights to elements of our natural environment.</p>
<p>However, this trend is accompanied by an <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/295800797_The_Moral_Psychology_of_Resource_Use">escalating moral conflict</a>. The extension of our moral boundaries is happening just as the global human population is growing exponentially, leading to tension and competition over scarce resources.</p>
<p>As a consequence, we are increasingly likely to face ethical dilemmas over the value of human versus non-human life. It won’t be in the form of a quick decision to kill an animal to save the life of a child. These dilemmas will play out in courtrooms and parliaments, as human needs are pitted against environmental ones, and as the battle for natural resources brings threats of deforestation and species extinction.</p>
<p>As we edge ever closer to the brink of the Earth’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/earths-sixth-mass-extinction-has-begun-new-study-confirms-43432">sixth mass extinction</a>, perhaps we need to consider just exactly what a human life is worth.</p>
<p><em><a href="https://uqpsych.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_ahgXNP6p53wz5Jz">Complete our survey to find out how morally expansive you are</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60698/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brock Bastian receives funding from The Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charlie Crimston, Matthew Hornsey, and Paul Bain do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We tend instinctively to value human lives over non-human ones. But is there a point where the scales might tip the other way?Charlie Crimston, PhD Candidate in Psychology, The University of QueenslandBrock Bastian, ARC Future Fellow, Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of MelbourneMatthew Hornsey, Professor, University of Queensland Business School, The University of QueenslandPaul Bain, Lecturer in Psychology, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/603602016-06-03T15:06:53Z2016-06-03T15:06:53ZGorilla’s death calls for human responsibility, not animal personhood<p>My reaction to <a href="https://theconversation.com/harambe-the-gorilla-put-zoo-in-a-lose-lose-situation-by-being-himself-60278">the killing of Harambe the gorilla</a> at the Cincinnati Zoo when a child went into the gorilla’s enclosure is probably typical: I am sickened and I am angry. This must not happen again. </p>
<p>One step that <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/names/2016/05/30/people-upset-about-gorilla-death-may-want-see-unlocking-cage-coolidge/Prnh0wwepYzkRIKVZZPOCI/story.html">some advocates</a> will <a href="http://gizmodo.com/zoos-suck-for-both-animals-and-humans-1779656042">surely press</a> for in light of Harambe’s killing is to change our legal system to designate gorillas and other great apes such as chimpanzees as <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/harambe-rights-violated-long-tragic-death-article-1.2654881">legal persons</a>.</p>
<p>Expanding legal personhood to include intelligent nonhuman animals would give them legal rights, and would create standing for a human guardian to initiate legal actions on their behalf – much like children’s rights are protected in courts by guardians. </p>
<p>At first blush this may sound progressive and enlightened, but in reality the concept is fundamentally flawed and dangerous for society. </p>
<p>Turning to our legal system in responding to Harambe’s tragedy is the right approach, but our legal focus should be on ensuring effective human responsibility for the proper treatment of gorillas and other nonhuman animals rather than on pretending that gorillas are people. </p>
<h2>Protections for animals</h2>
<p>At surface, legal personhood for intelligent nonhuman animals has an edgy appeal and is often compared by its advocates to the noble battles to <a href="http://www.llrx.com/features/animall-rights-personhood.htm">attain civil rights</a> for marginalized humans.</p>
<p>Illustrating growing popular interest in the concept, a documentary about the legal battle for nonhuman animal personhood entitled <a href="http://www.unlockingthecagethefilm.com/">“Unlocking the Cage”</a> made its debut in January at the Sundance Film Festival. It is now opening in some theaters, and <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2775288">will be aired on HBO, BBC and other television outlets later this year</a>. The documentary highlights <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2775288">lawsuits filed in New York</a> seeking to have intelligent chimpanzees treated as legal persons so that the chimpanzees would be removed from confined environments and placed in less restrictive, more natural environments.</p>
<p>These lawsuits do not seek to set the captive chimpanzees loose on the streets, but rather seek to have them moved to chimpanzee sanctuaries. Their arguments are based primarily on chimpanzees’ impressive cognitive abilities, asserting that as <a href="http://www.nonhumanrightsproject.org/qa-about-the-nonhuman-rights-project/">“self-aware, autonomous beings”</a> they are <a href="http://www.nonhumanrightsproject.org/qa-about-the-nonhuman-rights-project/">“entitled to such basic legal rights as bodily liberty and integrity.”</a> Significantly, the organization behind the lawsuits has indicated that it also plans to pursue legal personhood <a href="http://www.nonhumanrightsproject.org/qa-about-the-nonhuman-rights-project/">for other great apes (which include gorillas), as well as elephants and dolphins.</a></p>
<p>Would Harambe’s tragic killing have been avoided if our legal system considered a gorilla to be a legal person? Probably. A zoo likely would not be permitted to confine a legal person for viewing by the public. But although the nonhuman animal personhood approach has dramatic flair, it is not needed to change our laws regarding great apes and zoos. </p>
<p>Whether animals with the intelligence of great apes should be kept in any zoos, even high-quality zoos, is an increasingly serious question appropriate for thoughtful deliberation. And if the argument that they should not carries the day, this can be readily accomplished by changing the laws within our existing legal framework. </p>
<p>In other words, we do not need to pretend that great apes are people to protect them. Engaging in this pretension would be, in my view, both illogical and dangerous.</p>
<p>Society is rapidly evolving to demand greater protections for nonhuman animals, and appropriately so. Maintaining the status quo regarding levels of protection is in many instances neither <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2788309">feasible nor desirable.</a> </p>
<p>But we are also increasingly facing a question with weighty societal implications. Will we channel this evolution through the animal welfare paradigm of enhanced human responsibility toward nonhuman animals? Or will we channel it through the radical paradigm of legal personhood and human-like rights for nonhuman animals?</p>
<p>In our society, legal personhood is <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2775288">anchored in the human community’s expectations of reciprocity from moral agents</a>. We recognize that humans have rights, but we also generally expect them to accept responsibilities that come with belonging to or interacting with our society. Extending personhood beyond humans and their proxies would be inconsistent with our society’s core foundational principles. </p>
<p>When an adult chimpanzee at the Los Angeles Zoo <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/adult-chimpanzee-kills-baby-chimp-in-front-of-shocked-los-angeles-zoo-visitors/">mauled a baby chimpanzee to death</a> in front of zoo visitors in 2012, of course officials did not consider putting the chimpanzee on trial for murder. Although chimpanzees are highly intelligent as compared to most nonhuman animals, none of them are capable enough to be held morally responsible under our society’s laws. We should not dilute the protections and responsibilities connected to personhood by extending it to nonhumans incapable of the level of accountability we generally impose on humans.</p>
<h2>Cognitive test?</h2>
<p>Corporate personhood – the granting of legal standing and some legal rights to corporations – does not negate humanity’s centrality to personhood, because corporate personhood <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=14118t63">was created merely as a proxy for the rights and responsibilities of the humans who own the corporation.</a> Regardless of whether corporate personhood is good or bad or whether it has been extended too far in recent Supreme Court cases, it is undeniably intended as a tool for representing human interests.</p>
<p>Further, analyzing courts’ and advocates’ rationales for assigning legal personhood and rights to humans who lack significant moral agency, such as <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2038063">young children</a> and <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2775288">humans with significant cognitive impairments</a>, demonstrates that their belonging in the human community, rather than an assessment of their cognitive abilities, is the anchor of their rights and legal personhood. I have published separate law review articles addressing in much more detail why the legal personhood of <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2038063">young children </a>and the legal personhood of <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2775288">humans with significant cognitive impairments</a> do not support legal personhood for intelligent nonhuman animals.</p>
<p>Humans are the only beings that we know of where the norm is capacity to shoulder the mutual obligations that are at a foundational level related to legal rights in our society. Among other beings of which we are aware, not only do no other types of animals meet this norm, no individual members of any other types of animals meet this norm.</p>
<p>The most vulnerable humans, those with significant cognitive limitations, would face the greatest risks in a shift to considering individual cognitive capacities as a basis for legal personhood. Although the legal personhood paradigm we assign to them would not immediately collapse, over time thinking of personhood in terms of individual abilities could <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2775288">erode their protections</a>. </p>
<p>Nonhuman animal legal personhood presents other intractable problems, such as articulating a workable approach to determining how far down the intelligence chain personhood should extend.</p>
<p>Every species of mammals and many other nonhuman animals demonstrate some level of autonomy, indeed probably more autonomy than some humans with particularly severe cognitive limitations, such as, for example, humans in a <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2775288">persistent vegetative state.</a> To ensure “equality,” should all of these animals be designated as legal persons?</p>
<h2>More legal cases to come</h2>
<p>Fortunately, New York’s courts have unanimously rejected nonhuman animal legal personhood thus far. By my count at least <a href="http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2775288">23 New York judges have participated in ruling against the cases at various stages of the litigation.</a> In <a href="http://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2014/2014_08531.htm">the most prominent appellate opinion to date</a> the court dismissed one of the lawsuits by focusing on chimpanzees’ incapacity to bear the societal responsibilities that are at a foundational level associated with rights. </p>
<p>But we are just at the beginning of what will be a long-term struggle. Many more lawsuits will likely be filed over the years in many jurisdictions. The ultimate outcome is far from clear, and the stakes are high.</p>
<p>Concluding that intelligent nonhuman animals such as Harambe should not be legal persons does not excuse us from doing more to protect them. Harambe’s outrageous death provides a powerful illustration. The facts surrounding his death must be extensively investigated to determine whether the zoo, the child’s parents, or any other humans or human proxies should be held legally accountable. </p>
<p>Regardless of whether the zoo’s employees made the right decision in shooting Harambe, wrong decisions must have been made earlier that allowed this tragedy to take place. </p>
<p>If no laws or regulations were violated, the laws and regulations almost certainly need to be changed to ensure that this does not happen again. But our focus needs to be on demanding appropriate responsibility from morally accountable humans and human institutions, rather than on the dangerous pretense of nonhuman animal personhood.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60360/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard L. Cupp does not work for, consult, own shares in or presently receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article. He was previously awarded research grants by the National Association of Biomedical Research in support of his 2009 and 2013 law review articles cited in this article; his more recent law review articles cited in this article were not supported by external grants.</span></em></p>The death of Harambe the gorilla has sparked outrage and raised questions over the adequacy of zoos, but protecting some animals through legal personhood is flawed and dangerous, says legal scholar.Richard L. Cupp, John W. Wade Professor of Law, Pepperdine UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/525032016-01-12T04:29:08Z2016-01-12T04:29:08ZWhy millions chose Africa as their safari destination<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107506/original/image-20160107-13986-14209ym.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Africa is the go-to destination for tourists seeking animal safari trips.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>More than <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/Worldbank/document/Africa/Report/africa-tourism-report-2013-factsheet.pdf">30 million</a> tourists visit Africa every year. Over half of the international arrivals are for business purposes, and may partake in tourist activities as well, while 15% travel for pure tourism and 30% visit friends and family. </p>
<p>Tourists select the continent as a destination for wildlife viewing and to enjoy the sunny skies. Africa is the world’s number one destination for safaris which range from the exotic to the very simple. </p>
<p>The tourism industry is one of the most important for the continent: it provided 12.8 million people with jobs, directly and indirectly, in 2011. Tourism in 2012 contributed over US$36 billion or 2.8% of the continent’s <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/Worldbank/document/Africa/Report/africa-tourism-report-2013-factsheet.pdf">GDP</a>.</p>
<p>The continent’s vast and diverse nature makes it complex and difficult to decide on the best region for a safari. But the east, central and southern parts of the continent are by far the <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/Worldbank/document/Africa/Report/africa-tourism-report-2013-extracted-figures.pdf">preferred choices</a>. These areas generally have well developed or fast developing tourism sectors. There is an abundance of wildlife as well as low to no visa requirements. Tourists to these regions mostly come <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/Worldbank/document/Africa/Report/africa-tourism-report-2013-extracted-figures.pdf">from</a> countries like France, the UK, the USA, Germany and Portugal.</p>
<p>Below is a quick guide to some of the safari hot spots on the African continent.</p>
<h2>East Africa</h2>
<p>East African countries are strongly reliant on the tourism industry for generating income. Strong improvements in marketing and cooperation between these nations will help to ensure the success of this vital tourism <a href="http://www.eac.int/travel/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=114&Itemid=85">sector</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.eac.int/travel/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=113&Itemid=84">Standardised criteria</a> for hotels, restaurants and other services across these countries will make it easier for tourists to find suitable services. These countries possess various natural and cultural resources that make tourism possible.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.expertafrica.com/tanzania/info/serengeti-wildebeest-migration">Serengeti wildebeest migration</a> is the main reason Kenya and Tanzania have become popular safari destinations. This migration sees millions of wildebeest, accompanied by various other animal species, move between Tanzania and Kenya. The best places to view this migration include Kenya’s <a href="http://www.masaimara.com/">Masai Mara</a> and Tanzania’s <a href="http://www.tanzaniaparks.com/serengeti.html">Serengeti National Park.</a> .</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107507/original/image-20160107-13983-64ru4t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107507/original/image-20160107-13983-64ru4t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/107507/original/image-20160107-13983-64ru4t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107507/original/image-20160107-13983-64ru4t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107507/original/image-20160107-13983-64ru4t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=305&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107507/original/image-20160107-13983-64ru4t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107507/original/image-20160107-13983-64ru4t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/107507/original/image-20160107-13983-64ru4t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=384&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A wildebeest crosses a river during the Serengeti migration.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And while in the area, don’t forget to visit Africa’s highest mountain - <a href="http://www.tanzaniaparks.com/kili.html">Mount Kilimanjaro</a> in Tanzania’s Kilimanjaro National Park.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.ngorongorocrater.org/">Ngorongoro Crater Conservation Area</a> is also a great choice with an abundance of <a href="http://big5.southafrica.net/#intro-video">big 5</a> - the African elephant, African lion, white/black rhinoceros, African leopard and the Cape buffalo - and will not disappoint.</p>
<h2>Central Africa</h2>
<p>Civil wars and terrorist groups have made it dangerous to travel to some countries in this region. Many tourists still take their chances, though, as Central Africa is an area of immense natural beauty. </p>
<p>The Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda are great places to view the endangered <a href="http://www.animalfactguide.com/animal-facts/mountain-gorilla/">mountain gorillas</a>. The best places for viewing them include the <a href="https://virunga.org/">Virunga National Park</a> in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, <a href="http://www.ugandawildlife.org/explore-our-parks/parks-by-name-a-z/mgahinga-gorilla-national-park">Mgahinga Gorilla National Park</a> in south-west Uganda, or <a href="http://www.volcanoesnationalparkrwanda.com/">Volcanoes National Park</a> in north-west Rwanda.</p>
<p>Various factors have threatened the population of gorillas, including poaching, habitat loss, disease, war and unrest and poverty. Today, due to conservation efforts, the population of mountain gorillas is showing steady growth. The fact that many tourists want to get up close to these animals also drives conservation efforts, since with tourism comes economic improvement. </p>
<p>If you’d prefer to take part in Africa’s best on-foot chimpanzee encounters, visit <a href="http://www.kibaleforestnationalpark.com/">Kibale Forest</a> in Uganda.</p>
<h2>Southern Africa</h2>
<p>South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi offer very diverse wildlife. This is because of the variety of <a href="http://www.plantzafrica.com/frames/vegfram.htm">biomes</a> in the region.</p>
<p><a href="http://chobenationalpark.co.za/">Chobe National Park</a> is home to the biggest concentration of elephants in the world - 70 000 of them. It lies between the Chobe River and the Okavango Delta in the north eastern parts of Botswana. Also in Botswana, the <a href="http://www.botswanatourism.co.bw/destination/moremi-game-reserve">Moremi Game Reserve</a>, in the iconic Okovango Delta, is the first reserve in Africa to be established by local residents.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://etoshanationalpark.co.za/">Etosha National Park</a> in the northern arid region of Namibia offers great chances of spotting endangered black rhinoceros as well as flamingos in the salt pans.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.sanparks.co.za/parks/kruger/">Kruger National Park</a> in South Africa is in its own league because of its <a href="https://www.safaribookings.com/kruger/wildlife">diversity of animals</a> as well as advanced environmental management techniques and policies.</p>
<p><a href="http://isimangaliso.com/">iSimangaliso Wetland Park</a> was the first site in South Africa to be awarded World Heritage status. It contains most of South Africa’s remaining swamp forests and is Africa’s largest estuarine system, which is a partially enclosed body of water where fresh water from rivers and streams mix with salt water from the ocean. The park borders Kosi Bay and St Lucia Lake which is the only place in the world where you can find sharks, hippopotamus and crocodiles in the same body of water.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.sanparks.org/parks/addo/tourism/get_there.php">Addo Elephant National Park</a> in the Eastern Cape province is the only park where you can find the <a href="http://www.southafrica.net/za/en/articles/entry/article-southafrica.net-the-big-7">Big 7</a>: the African elephant, Cape buffalo, African lion, African leopard, African rhino as well as whales and Great White sharks.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.sanparks.co.za/parks/kgalagadi/">Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park</a> consists of mostly unspoiled wilderness in the north of South Africa, crossing over into Botswana. This park is largely located in a desert area and is famous for animal species such as the <a href="http://www.southafrica.net/za/en/articles/entry/article-southafrica.net-kalaharis-black-maned-lions">Kalahari black-maned lions</a> and the <a href="http://www.krugerpark.co.za/africa_gemsbok.html">Gemsbok or Oryx</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/52503/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marco Scholtz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Safaris are a major tourist attraction for those travelling to Africa - and visitors are spoiled for choice on the continent.Marco Scholtz, Senior Lecturer in tourism at Tourism Research in Economic Environs & Society(TREES), North-West UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/494752015-10-27T04:14:52Z2015-10-27T04:14:52ZThe threats humans present to wildlife through infectious diseases<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99646/original/image-20151026-18424-89rj7a.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Frog chytrid may have been spread by humans. It is a fungus that has decimated amphibian species.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The threat of diseases moving from animals to people has been the focus of many studies and is well documented in public and scientific communications. 60% of infectious diseases in humans have been estimated to come from <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/onehealth/zoonotic-diseases.html">animals</a>. Nevertheless we need to be concerned about the threat that people present to the health of animals. </p>
<p>According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the health of humans is connected to the health of animals and the environment. This approach is known as the <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/onehealth/">One Health concept</a>.</p>
<p>A recent <a href="http://planetearth.nerc.ac.uk/news/story.aspx?id=1698">study</a> suggests animals that have been domesticated for longer periods of time are more likely to share their diseases with humans. And we’ve witnessed the devastating <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.15252/emmm.201404792/pdf">diseases</a> that have emerged from wildlife hosts to affect humans – including the Ebola virus, Hantavirus, SARS, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Yet the impact that the increasing presence of humans and domestic animals in previously pristine habitats has on wildlife is under-reported.</p>
<h2>People spread diseases unintentionally</h2>
<p>Pathogens usually co-evolve with their hosts. This means they reach a balance within a population so that a species will develop defences resulting in co-existence of pathogen and host. But when new interfaces between species occur or there is a disturbance in the ecosystem, this balance may be upset. This results in increased vulnerability to emerging <a href="https://wwww.nwf.org/Wildlife/Threats%20-to=Wildlife/Diseases.aspx">diseases</a>.</p>
<p>An example of this is in chytrid fungus (Bactrachochytrium dendrobatidis) that causes a <a href="http://www.savethefrogs.com/threats/chytrid/">lethal skin disease</a> to amphibian populations <a href="http://www.amphibianark.org/the-crisis/chytrid-fungus/">globally</a>. Some species, like American bullfrogs and African clawed frogs, are resistant to the <a href="http://www.amphibianark.org/the-crisis/chytrid-fungus/">fungus</a>. The accidental or intentional movement of these animals may lead to the introduction of the disease to naïve frog populations. </p>
<p>In the case of some frog species there are a number of human factors which have led to the spread of the disease. These factors have also contributed to the extinctions of some populations. The factors include: global trade in pet and laboratory amphibians, habitat destruction, and the transfer of fungus on equipment and boots of people entering habitats.</p>
<p>People have moved their livestock and pets for centuries. This is not a new phenomenon, as diseases have been introduced to native peoples and wildlife during the European exploration of the New World, the colonisation of Africa, and the establishment of trade routes to the <a href="http://www.jareddiamond.org/Jared_Diamond/Guns,_Germs,_and_Steel.html">Far East</a>.</p>
<h2>The diseases that are spread</h2>
<p>Humans are reservoirs of many diseases. They have an impact on diseases in wildlife through direct interaction as well as indirect activities. </p>
<p>Direct interaction with wild animals include ecotourism, bushmeat hunting, research, and the movement of pets – which carries a risk of disease spread in both directions. </p>
<p>Endangered gorillas live in the mountains of Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They are surrounded by some of the densest human communities in Africa. As a result there has been regular contact between these animals and humans because of: habituation, gorilla movement, human encroachment and beneficial research programs. This has brought these animals into close proximity with people and their pathogens. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99643/original/image-20151026-18443-rcg2q2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/99643/original/image-20151026-18443-rcg2q2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99643/original/image-20151026-18443-rcg2q2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99643/original/image-20151026-18443-rcg2q2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=365&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99643/original/image-20151026-18443-rcg2q2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99643/original/image-20151026-18443-rcg2q2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/99643/original/image-20151026-18443-rcg2q2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=459&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">From continued interaction with humans mountain gorillas have suffered a decline in numbers because of measles.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Thomas Mukoya/Reuters</span></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>As a result, respiratory infections and parasites have spread. Disease outbreaks and fatalities have been <a href="http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/17/4/10-0883">recorded</a> in gorillas due to measles and bacterial pneumonia. We’ve also seen poliomyelitis and measles in wild chimpanzees in <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/02/opinion/apes-need-vaccines-too.html?_r=0.ls">Tanzania</a>.</p>
<p>Human tuberculosis (TB), caused by Mycobacteria tuberculosis, is another disease which <a href="http://www.sanparks.co.za/parks/kruger/conservation/scientific/noticeboard/science_network_meeting_2008/Friday/michel.pdf">affects</a> a wide variety of wild animals, including chimpanzees, elephants and rhinoceros. </p>
<p>Although most cases have occurred in captivity, the increased contact between wildlife and humans in these settings presents a risk to animal health. There is also a disease risk in semi-captive situations where animals may also interact with their wild counterparts, especially in countries with a high rate of TB like <a href="http://www.rense.com/general77/eleph.htm">Nepal</a>. </p>
<p>Human TB has been recognised as the cause of deaths in working elephants in Nepal. Awareness has allowed implementation of programs to prevent spread from humans to elephants and minimise the impact of the disease on the <a href="http://www.ntnc.org.np/sites/default/files/publicaations/Nepal%20Elephant%20TB%20Control%20and%20Mgt%20Action%20Plan.pdf">elephants</a>.</p>
<p>Bovine tuberculosis caused by Mycobacterium bovis in cattle was initially recognised in South Africa in 1880, where it is considered an alien disease. By 1928, the first cases were identified in a greater kudu and common duiker. In less than 100 years, this disease has been <a href="http://theconversation.com/why-bovine-tb-is-a-threat-to-more-than-just-cattle-42336xx">found</a> in more than 21 different wildlife species in South Africa.</p>
<p>Bovine tuberculosis has also become established in other populations worldwide. These include badgers and wild boars in Europe, deer in North America, and brush-tailed possums in <a href="http://vet.sagepub.com/content/50/3/488.long">New Zealand</a>.</p>
<p>Indirect activities stem from human development in previously pristine habitats, global travel and climate change. This too has resulted in the increased risk of disease transmission through indirect activities. For example, the human protozoal parasite, Giardia duodenalis, has been <a href="http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/Factsheets/pdfs/giardiasis.pdf">found</a> in the endangered African wild dogs, mountain gorillas, and beavers. It is believed that people contaminate the environment, resulting in exposure of animals through sewage runoff.</p>
<p>Other less apparent indirect impacts caused by humans include movement or expansion of geographical boundaries for disease vectors such as mosquitoes. The <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/westnile/">West Nile Virus</a> was introduced to the US in 1999, probably as a result of movement of an infected bird or mosquitoes, or possibly travel of an infected <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2094770/">human</a>. </p>
<p>Since that time, massive mortalities have occurred in wild birds, and other native and non-native wildlife in the US. There has also been serious health consequences for horses and humans.</p>
<p>Increased knowledge is needed to understand the role that humans play in diseases of domestic and wild animals. We may contribute to emerging diseases through climate change, habitat use, global and local movements of species, and interactions with animals and their environment. We need to understand better how to mitigate the effects of disease on our <a href="http://www.sun.ac.za/english/faculty/healthsciences/Molecular_Biology_Human_Genetics/animaltb">wildlife</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/49475/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michele Miller receives funding from the South African National Research Foundation. </span></em></p>As much as animals may pass on viruses to humans, humans pass on viruses which are sometimes lethal to the animal world as well.Michele Miller, Research Chair in Animal Tuberculosis, Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.