Uganda gorillas affected by human disease.

2001/09/04 Elhuyar Zientzia

• Zoologia

The gorillas of the Uganda mountain (Gorilla gorilla beringei) have caught the scabies because they are in repeated contact with the man. In the area protected by the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, every day a group of ten tourists visit the gorillas always accompanied by guides. It seems that the disease can be a direct consequence of the loss of fear to humans, since tourists, in addition to getting too close, often forget clothes and food and play with them.

Due to the disease, dermatitis and lack of hair have been detected in some gorillas that present the skin swelling, painful and full of scales. This is the first time it has been seen in the free primates, but according to the expert Michael Cranfield, at the moment human diseases are the greatest danger for the 650 mountain gorillas that survive. If measles and tuberculosis were to expand in the gorlian population, the consequences can be devastating and put the species in serious danger.

The success of the trips to Gorilas among tourists has increased the relations between both species. But for the parasitologist Thaddeus Graczyk, the way to avoid diseases to wild animals is not to develop ecological tourism, since the lot of money that generates this type of tourism has served to conserve these species. And is that every tourist who wants to see gorillas has to pay about 100 dollars. However, to avoid this type of pests, Graczyk has called for stricter measures to be imposed on tourists, who are often in contact with wild animals.