快猫短视频

HUNDREDS of wild orang-utans quarantined in Indonesian rehabilitation centres
could soon be released, following a major rethink in policies for conserving the
apes.

The orang-utans are infected with hepatitis B, which they were thought to
have caught from humans. Conservationists feared that wild populations could be
decimated if the captive animals were ever reintroduced, but research in Borneo
has now shown that the virus they are carrying in fact poses no threat to the
wild apes.

Kristin Warren of Murdoch University in Perth, Western Australia, made the
discovery with colleagues in East Kalimantan, Borneo. They found that the rare
apes are carrying a previously unknown form of hepatitis B virus, called
orang-utan hepadnavirus (OHV). It is endemic in wild orang-utans, they found,
and most carriers are not infectious. Warren says similar naturally acquired
strains of the virus have been found in wild woolly monkeys, gibbons,
chimpanzees and gorillas.

鈥淭here is no evidence that this virus causes hepatitis in orang-utans,鈥� says
Warren. 鈥淭here is no reason why these animals can鈥檛 be reintroduced into
protected forests.鈥�

In a separate investigation, in which Warren analysed the genetic material in
hairs taken from orang-utan nests, she has confirmed that the wild populations
found on on Borneo and Sumatra are two species in their own right, rather than
merely sub-species. The populations went their separate evolutionary ways 1.1
million years ago when Borneo and Sumatra separated. The researchers have named
them Pongo pygmaeus and Pongo abelli respectively.

In the light of the new findings, a report from the World Conservation Union
(IUCN) is recommending that all orang-utans be tested for genetic origin before
being reintroduced. It also says large areas of habitat must be preserved on
both islands to ensure the survival of these species.

鈥淭he implications are huge for how these animals are managed,鈥� says Tony
English, a conservation biologist from the University of Sydney. He calls
Warren鈥檚 investigation 鈥渁 marvellous model for all other programmes around the
飞辞谤濒诲鈥�.