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New results raise hopes for effective Ebola treatment |
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Friday, 04 June 2010 09:23 |
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A report published on May 28 in the scientific journal The Lancet reports on the development of a potential new drug to treat the extremely lethal Ebola hemorrhagic fever, which endangers the lives of people and animals and is one of the main threats to gorillas, especially the Western Lowland subspecies. A team at Boston University has used an experimental drug to protect monkeys from the most lethal strain of Ebola. "We were stunned," the team leader said. "I've been working with this virus for my whole career — 23 or 24 years — and we've had some mild successes where maybe we could go up to 50 percent protection, but I was really shocked that we got complete protection." Though not fully applicable to real-life scenarios, these results may hold the key to further developments, aimed at protecting people and gorillas. To read the whole article, click here. |
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New UN report provides update on Situation of Gorillas |
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Wednesday, 24 March 2010 09:20 |
 The Future for Gorillas in Africa is Getting Bleaker, says the Report, which was funded by France and the UNEP Great Ape Survival Partnership as a Contribution to the UNEP/CMS Year of the Gorilla. Accelerating Impacts from Poaching to Illegal Timber Trade are Hitting Great Ape Populations and Habitats Faster Than Previously Supposed. UNEP and INTERPOL Call for More Support for Border and Customs Controls.
Doha, 24 March 2010 - Gorillas may have largely disappeared from large parts of the Greater Congo Basin by the mid 2020s unless urgent action is taken to safeguard habitats and counter poaching, says the United Nations and INTERPOL - the world's largest international police organization.
Previous projections by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), made in 2002, suggested that only 10 per cent of the original ranges would remain by 2030. These estimates now appear too optimistic given the intensification of pressures including illegal logging, mining, charcoal production and increased demand for bushmeat, of which an increasing proportion is ape meat.
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UN Year of the Gorilla boosts conservation of the world’s most endangered great apes |
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Thursday, 11 March 2010 13:46 |
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Bonn, 11 March 2010 - The plight of gorillas was brought to millions through hundreds of Year of the Gorilla articles, interviews, lectures, conferences and films last year - more than through any similar global species campaign. In addition, the UN Year of the Gorilla 2009 generated € 100,000 for field projects to prevent critically endangered gorilla species from going extinct. The educational and awareness raising campaign was led by the UNEP Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (UNEP/CMS). Member states to the Convention, members of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), the Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP), conservation bodies, individuals at grass root level and online donations helped to raise funds. For the full Press Release, click here (Pdf). |
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YoG Epilogue, thoughts on Copenhagen, and more |
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Monday, 25 January 2010 14:30 |
 This article was provided to us by YoG Ambassador Ian Redmond. Thank you Ian for your outstanding and exemplary efforts throughout the YoG!!
“A belated Happy New Year to all readers – in fact Happy New International Year of Biodiversity! (see http://www.cbd.int/2010/welcome/).
This year the UN has broadened its scope to raise awareness of all biodiversity – the millions of species of animals, plants, fungi and microorganisms with whom we share the planet. This is partly because the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) set targets for 2010 to reduce the loss of biodiversity. These 2010 targets (and how badly we have missed them) will be on the agenda at the 10th Conference of the Parties to the CBD in Japan this September (http://www.cbd.int/cop10/).
Sliding smoothly from YoG to IYB (for some reason it was decided the Year of Biodiversity acronym wouldn’t follow the pattern of YoG…) is quite fitting, given that gorilla habitat is among the most bio-diverse on earth, and directly or indirectly many of the species therein are ecologically linked to gorillas.
I’ll return to this theme later, but first I must report on my visit to the Climate Conference in Copenhagen.
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Year of the Gorilla event mobilizes a major audience in Paris |
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Monday, 07 December 2009 14:08 |
 Paris, 5 December - A major outreach event to mark the Year of the Gorilla at the Museum of Natural History in Paris attracted an interested public in large numbers.
The event on 5th December, organized by the French Ministry for the Environment (MEEDDM), was held in the run-up to the United Nations’ climate change conference in Copenhagen.
Theatre performances (click for images), which were inspired by African oral traditions, raised awareness on the plight of gorillas and their role to conserve rainforests as keystone species.
A series of films which was screened in the auditorium of the Museum dealt with threats to gorillas as a result of logging, charcoal production, mining activities, armed conflicts and poaching. The role of Lowland and Mountain Gorillas for biodiversity was emphasized in the film “Retour aux Virungas” directed by André Lucas, who guided the audience though the film sessions.
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