And now for some sadder conservation news

My last post addressed a hopeful development about a new park system in Pará, a state in northern Brazil. And today I'm posting about a more depressing story: Ebola has killed thousands of western lowland gorillas in northeastern Republic of Congo and threatens the species with extinction.

The area of activity is shown in the map, but the species (which is distinct from the more famous "gorillas in the mist" of Uganda, DR Congo, and Rwanda) is found all over the Central African lowland tropical rainforest, including parts of the Cradle of Our Fathers.


After a little research, I found that this development has been going on for a few years, but apparently it hasn't been as bad as it is now or commanded such attention.

Given the 90% mortality rate and continued pressures from habitat destruction and the trade in bushmeat, I'm fairly pessimistic. It is only a matter of time before the Ebola virus jumps to the eastern lowland populations, or, given our close kinship with gorillas, back into the human populations in the area. Especially if people keep eating them.