Global News - January 2008

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Human viruses 'threaten' endangered ape populations

Wed 30 January 2008 13:00 UK — Africa,Primates

Tourism may expose great apes to potentially harmful human viruses, a new study has warned.

The research, undertaken by a team of scientists from Germany and the Ivory Coast and published in the Current Biology journal, discovered direct evidence of virus transmission between humans and chimpanzees.

However, the report also indicated that research and tourism projects had a significant effect on reducing chimpanzee poaching, with the study's authors claiming that this outweighed the impact of human diseases on the apes.

"We need to be much more proactive about instituting strict hygiene precautions at all ape tourism and research sites," said senior author Fabian Leendertz.

"One possibility for promoting compliance is a certification process similar to the green labelling system now used in the timber industry," he suggested.

Efforts to increase Africa's chimpanzee population received a boost earlier this month with the news that Rwanda is set to establish its first ever national conservation park, with much of the new project's focus aimed at increasing the area's population of the apes.

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