Saturday, March 28, 2020

Covid-19 could be harmful to gorillas




A mountain gorilla in the Virunga national park, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). WWF-UK has welcomed decisions to close protected areas for mountain gorillas to eco-tourism during the pandemic. Cath Lawson, the Africa conservation manager, said: ‘Mountain gorillas are known to be susceptible to other human respiratory illnesses, so we have to assume that they are susceptible to the virus which causes the disease Covid-19 in humans. That means that right now, minimising human-mountain gorilla interaction, and the opportunity for disease transmission, is the priority.’

Photograph: Sabrina Schumann/WWF-UK


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