MOUNTAIN GORILLAS - Ebola Virus Threatens Gorillas, Chimps

News from ENN: Environmental News Network on the threat that the deadly Ebola Virus poses to endangered animals such as the gorillas and chimpanzees of Central Africa.

Conservationists say the dreaded Ebola virus along with decades of hunting and logging are putting some ape species on the brink of extinction in Central Africa.

Ebola, which kills through massive internal bleeding, has long been known to infect primates in Africa. It was first identified in 1976 and has since killed about 1,000 people, some of whom are believed to have contracted the disease by consuming or handling infected meat from wild animals.

Most at risk are western lowland gorillas and the Central African chimpanzee, both of which live in the dense rain forests of Central Africa, Conservation International said in a statement.