Endangered great apes are further threatened by the new coronavirus, according to researchers who say there is a 鈥渄ifficult battle鈥� ahead to protect the animals from possible infection.
Gorillas, orangutans, chimpanzees and bonobos聽are known to be susceptible to human respiratory illnesses, sometimes becoming much more ill from them than people do.
For example, a virus called metapneumovirus typically causes an infection with cold-like symptoms in humans, but has led to more severe outcomes in chimpanzees, including the deaths of young chimps.
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鈥淛ust as we don鈥檛 really know how far this [coronavirus] will go in terms of its impact on human populations, it鈥檚 the same for the apes,鈥� says Thomas Gillespie at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. 鈥淭he most susceptible are those that have overlap with us, and the most habituated apes are the most at risk in that regard.鈥�
Although there haven鈥檛 yet been any confirmed cases of the covid-19 virus in any other great apes, chimpanzees have similar cell biology to humans, which might make them susceptible to the virus. In the Ivory Coast in 2016, a human coronavirus called OC43 was transmitted from humans to wild chimpanzees.
Global pressure
Researchers are calling for governments to take precautionary measures to protect great apes, especially populations that come into regular contact with people.
from around the world co-signed an open letter published in on 24 March. They called for great ape tourism to be suspended and field research curtailed to reduce the risk of covid-19 transmission from humans. With the exception of in Tanzania, almost all such activities have since been suspended.
The threat of covid-19 to these animals cannot be underestimated, says Gillespie, because the coronavirus is so infectious, it can persist outside the body 鈥� and the effect of the virus on apes is still unknown. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 going to be a very difficult battle to keep it out of ape populations,鈥� he says.
Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have temporarily suspended gorilla tourism and restricted access to their national parks to protect critically endangered mountain species. All of the 1000 or so mountain gorillas live in two protected areas near the borders of the three countries, and about 70 per cent of the total population are habituated to people.
Kirsten Gilardi at non-profit organisation says mountain gorillas are the only great ape species whose numbers in the wild are growing, largely due to tourism and good veterinary care 鈥� but this necessary contact with people puts them at risk of infection.
鈥淲ith mountain gorillas, it鈥檚 a unique situation because such a big portion of the population is habituated to the presence of people, but that could be a double-edged sword,鈥� says Gilardi.
Gilardi and her team already kept at least 10 metres away from gorillas when they were conducting health checks and wore surgical masks during the assessments. Since the pandemic outbreak, they have also introduced daily temperature checks of people entering the park and are disinfecting their boots. 鈥淐ovid-19 has been a wake-up call for all of us,鈥� says Gilardi.
Sanctuaries, with their high footfall, are at the highest risk. The in the Malaysian part of the island of Borneo has closed to the public, saying that coronavirus 鈥渋s a risk that we cannot afford to take鈥�. There are 100,000 orangutans in the wild across Indonesian and Malaysian Borneo.
The in Indonesian Borneo has also taken precautions to protect its eight orangutan orphans. The youngest rely on their human surrogate mothers to teach them the skills they need to be reintroduced into the wild, says Signe Preuschoft, who is head of the programme. 鈥淯nfortunately, there is no 100 per cent protection,鈥� she says.
Coronavirus poses a new threat, with more than 1600 cases confirmed in Indonesia as of 1 April. Staff at Jejak Pulang now keep their uniforms on site and wear face masks while they are with the orangutans. The team has also begun stockpiling food and cleaning materials 鈥撀燽ut some medical equipment is already in short supply.
The long-term implications of the pandemic on great-ape conservation are unclear, but the loss of earnings from tourism could lead to an increase in poaching, says Gillespie. 鈥淛ust as various industries are struggling, tourism has dried up, research is on hold and many funders of this work and protection are reeling back.鈥�
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