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Myombe Reserve mercial hunting of these apes, the virus creates “a recipe for rapid ecological extinction.”. An ape habitat featuring gorillas and chimpanzees in a natural setting. This exhibit is magnifiConservation efforts include the Great Apes Surcent even at this time of the year when it is coolvival Project, a partnership between the United er, because the animals are all outside enjoying Nations Environment Programme and the UNEthe reserve. SCO, and also an international treaty, the Agreement on the Conservation of Gorillas and Their This is an oasis where they are protected. Even Habitats, concluded under UNEP-administered considering that they are in captivity, is is better Convention on Migratory Species. The Gorilthan being exposed to the dangers of the Jungle, la Agreement is the first legally binding instruwith poachers, climate desasters and devastatment exclusively targeting gorilla conservation; ing deseases. Gorillas must be protected in any it came into effect on 1 June 2008. way we can, they are special creatures that proIn a cooperative effort with other AZA (Ameritect each other and and still find a way to concan Zoo and Aquarium Association) institutions, nect with humans. They are the largest primate Busch Gardens Tampa Bay closely manages goby size and only eat leaves, herbs giving them the rilla populations through a program called the classification of herbivorous. Species Survival Plan (SSP), which works to improve the genetic diversity of managed animal Their original habitat are the forests of Central populations. Africa and carry a DNA that is the clorest from humans of all apes. The eastern gorilla is listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List, with the mountain gorilla listed as Critically Endangered. The western gorilla and its subspecies are also listed as Critically Endangered.Threats to gorilla survival include habitat destruction and poaching for the bushmeat trade. In 2004, a population of several hundred gorillas in the Odzala National Park, Republic of Congo was essentially wiped out by the Ebola virus. A 2006 study published in Science concluded more than 5,000 gorillas may have died in recent outbreaks of the Ebola virus in central Africa. The researchers indicated in conjunction with com-