Ebola Killed 5000 Gorillas

A report in today's Science magazine extrapolates that the Ebola virus has killed more than 5000 gorillas in West Africa. Ebola could be a more important factor in the decline of great apes (by almost 50%) across central Africa in the last two decades than the bushmeat trade or deforestation. The basis of the report was a study of a group of western gorillas in the Lossi Sanctuary in northwest Republic of Congo.

There are two species of gorilla: the western and eastern gorillas. Nearly all gorillas found in zoos are western gorillas. Mountain gorillas studied by Dian Fossy and featured in 'Gorillas in the Mist' are a sub-species of the eastern gorilla.

Ebola haemorrhagic fever is one of the most virulent viruses ever seen, killing 50-90% of victims. The World Health Organization says that it killed 1200 people infected between its discovery in 1976 and 2004.

The story is on Science Magazine's most recent podcast (mp3 - 42 minutes) that also includes stories on 'Cratering and Water Flows on Mars' and 'Entrepreneurship in a Science Career'