topic: Zoonotic Diseases

topic: Zoonotic Diseases

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The potential for tracking wildlife health & disease via bioacoustics is great (commentary)
- Bioacoustics is the passive, non-invasive recording of sounds emitted by a wide range of animals.
- Analysis of this information reveals the presence and behavior of wildlife, and can also be valuable indicator of animal health, which can then be used in ecosystem monitoring.
- “As disease prevalence skyrockets in wildlife, we are desperately in need of tools to remotely monitor ecosystem health,” a new op-ed argues.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Peru’s illegal pet monkey trade is also an infection superhighway
- A recent study has found that monkeys trafficked in Peru are spreading viruses, parasites and bacteria to humans all along the trafficking route.
- These pathogens can lead to tuberculosis, Chagas disease, malaria, gastrointestinal ailments, and other diseases in humans.
- Those directly involved in illegal wildlife trafficking are the most at risk of infection; however, climate change is increasing the chances of broader community transmission.
- After a brief lull during the COVID-19 pandemic, the illegal monkey trade is in full swing again in Peru, with most of the animals sold ending up as pets in local households.

Impunity for Cambodia’s exotic pet owners as trade outpaces legislation
- High-profile interventions by Cambodia’s former leader and weak legislation have allowed the illegal wildlife trade to persist largely in the open.
- The case of a gas station menagerie in western Cambodia is emblematic of the ease with which even endangered species can be bought and sold.
- The collection, owned by a police officer, includes cockatoos from Indonesia, marmosets and parakeets from South America, and a native gibbon.
- Authorities said they were aware of the collection, but were “following the format” set in the wake of their 2023 seizure of peacocks from a breeder, which culminated in them having to return the birds after then-prime minister Hun Sen criticized their actions.

Cornell receives $35m gift for research at nexus of wildlife and health
- Our newfound global awareness that human health, animal health and the health of the planet are inextricably linked has underscored the importance of research at the interface of wildlife and health.
- Cornell University’s College of Veterinary Medicine has announced a donation of $35 million to support its work in this burgeoning field of research.
- The Cornell K. Lisa Yang Center for Wildlife Health aims to use the funds to further its research on how disease interactions affect wildlife, domestic animal and human health, and translate its findings into policy and action to protect wildlife and wild places.

Do virus-detecting ants hold the key to preventing zoonotic diseases?
- Researchers are using army ants in Congo Basin rainforests to better understand the presence and emergence of zoonoses, diseases transmitted from animals to humans.
- According to the World Health Organization, the number of zoonotic epidemics recorded in Africa between 2012 and 2022 rose by 63% compared to the previous decade.
- Researchers collected 200 army ants from 29 colonies in Gabon’s rainforest for analysis. They found nearly 50,000 different viral sequences, half of them belonging to viruses currently unknown to science.
- They hope that by regularly collecting ants for analysis from selected sites, they will be able to identify potentially-dangerous viruses as well as which animal species harbour them, and use this information to guide public health strategy to control zoonotic diseases.

Zika, dengue transmission expected to rise with climate change
- A new study foresees a 20% increase in cases of viruses like dengue, Zika and chikungunya over the next 30 years due to climate change.
- Higher temperatures are already causing the diseases carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito to spread in cooler regions like southern Brazil and southern Europe.
- Deforestation also favors the spread of these illnesses because biodiversity-rich forests with more predators tend to inhibit mosquito populations.
- Brazil set a historic record in 2022, when more than 1,000 deaths resulting from the dengue virus were reported.

Nepal’s climate change adaptation strategy needs One Health approach (commentary)
- It is expected that climate change will adversely affect Nepalese biodiversity, human well-being, and economy, from a retreat of glaciers, agricultural losses, and impacts on tourism.
- The spread of infectious diseases can also be fueled by rising temperatures and shifting precipitation patterns.
- “Given the simultaneous exposure of animal and human populations to climate change impacts such as floods and landslides, proactively preparing for and combating ensuing issues like epidemics are best tackled using an integrated One Health approach,” a new op-ed argues.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

DRC’s endangered bonobos face another threat to their survival: malaria
- Along with humans, great apes like gorillas and chimpanzees are known to get infected with malaria, but evidence about the parasite’s effects on bonobos has been scant.
- A recent study that analyzed the feces of bonobo across the species’ range found that one bonobo population showed evidence of both malaria infection and a genetic variation that would likely protect them against severe disease.
- This genetic variation was less common in other populations, suggesting that other bonobo groups could be in trouble if climate change brings malaria-carrying mosquitoes into their habitats.

SE Asia’s COVID legacy is less wildlife trade, but more hunting, study finds
- The wildlife origins of COVID-19 highlighted the risks of intruding into forests and consuming wildlife, but most discussions around the pandemic have focused on human health and wildlife conservation.
- A recent study investigated how the pandemic impacted hunting communities in Southeast Asia, a hotspot for wildlife hunting and trafficking.
- The results show that while there was a decrease in the wildlife trade as international borders were closed and people’s movements restricted, there was an increase in forest visits and hunting in these communities due to job losses and increasing prices of goods.
- The researchers suggest that to conserve wildlife in the region and rein in hunting, authorities need to work with hunting communities and support sustainable alternative livelihoods.

Deforestation could pose disease threat to Amazon’s white-lipped peccaries
- White-lipped peccaries are vital ecosystem engineers and an important source of food for people living in the Amazon.
- Deforestation has reduced their habitat and, in addition, researchers highlight that disease is an understudied factor in their conservation.
- Scientists say it could represent an additional threat to an already vulnerable species, as continuing deforestation and expanding agricultural frontiers can bring greater contact between domestic animals and wildlife, potentially leading to spillover events.

Avian flu hits Peru, killing thousands of sea birds and infecting some marine mammals
- H5N1, a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus carried generally by wild birds, has arrived in Latin America, causing unprecedented mortality in sea bird colonies along the west coast.
- The virus has killed tens of thousands of sea birds in Peru alone, including some species that are considered endangered in the country, and scientists worry other vulnerable species like the Andean condor might also become infected.
- Hundreds of sea lions and a dolphin have also been infected, which raises concerns regarding transmission to humans and is especially worrisome if it is confirmed that mammals can infect each other.
- The outbreaks also threaten Peru’s guano industry, which provides affordable fertilizer to many small-scale farmers in the region, and could expose people harvesting guano to H5N1.

Ebola-like African primate viruses ‘poised for spillover’ to humans, study finds
- A family of viruses that causes Ebola-like symptoms in African primate populations is “poised for spillover” to humans, a new study shows.
- Researchers say these arteriviruses, already a threat to macaques, use a specific receptor to enter and invade the body; humans have a similar form of the receptor, called CD163.
- Although there is no evidence of these viruses infecting humans to this point, researchers say they found similarities to the viruses that gave rise to HIV.
- Conservationists say the risks of animal-human disease transmission increase as human populations continue to encroach on wild animal spaces.

Probe finds Vietnam faltering in bid to curb wildlife trade, animal suffering
- In recent years, authorities in Vietnam have made a series of pledges to curb illegal wildlife trade and the sale and consumption of dog meat.
- However, a new investigation by animal rights groups reveals that protected wildlife species are still being sold at wet markets, where animal suffering and public health risks are rife.
- The findings also indicate the dog meat industry shows few signs of abating, with slaughterhouses and restaurants still doing business despite calls to phase out the industry in major cities.
- Experts say sustained and coordinated efforts from provincial authorities, enforcement agencies and the public will be needed to fully curb the practices throughout the country.

Who let the dogs out? Feral canines pose a threat to Nepal’s wildlife
- Dogs in Nepal enjoy a special status during the Tihar festival, but for the rest of the year are often overlooked or even abandoned.
- The latter often turn feral and pose a threat to the country’s iconic wildlife — from tigers to snow leopards to dholes — through potential disease transmission and competition for prey.
- Studies show a high prevalence of diseases such as canine distemper and parvovirus among dogs near key protected areas. Conservationists say it’s up to humans to better manage their pets, including vaccinating them routinely, sterilizing them, and not abandoning them.

Wild cats threatened by ‘underrecognized’ risk of spillover disease
- Researchers warn that disease spillover from livestock and domestic animals represents a serious conservation threat to wildlife, including felids in tropical areas around the world. Spillover is most likely to occur on rapidly advancing forest-agricultural frontiers or within fragmented habitats.
- Tracking the spillover and spread of diseases from humans and domestic animals to wildlife is extremely challenging, particularly among wild felid species, which tend to be secretive and solitary, making ongoing observation difficult.
- Possible cases of disease spillover have been documented in wild cats in India, Malaysian Borneo, Thailand, Brazil, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Russia and Nepal. These are likely the tip of the iceberg, say scientists, who believe much disease among wild species is going undetected, with case numbers and outbreaks unknown.
- Scientists stress the need for greater health monitoring of wildlife to reduce this “invisible threat.” But funding for health testing is often scant, and treatment difficult. One researcher sees disease transmission from domestic animals to wildlife as perhaps the most “underrecognized conservation threat today.”

Bonobos torn from the wild make their return, with a helping hand
- An NGO in the Democratic Republic of Congo has returned 14 bonobos into the wild — only the second time ever a bonobo group has been reintroduced to their natural habitat.
- Friends of Bonobos runs a bonobo sanctuary in the DRC where bonobos orphaned by illegal poaching are tended to and rehabilitated.
- The nonprofit released the first group of bonobos in the Ekolo ya Bonobo Community Reserve in 2009, and after more than a decade of preparation and several delays, the second batch was safely moved into the reserve in March.
- The Ekolo ya Bonobo Community Reserve was officially designated a protected area in 2019, and Friends of Bonobos plans to seek National Park status for the forest. This effort could help ensure the two groups remain safe in the wild.

‘A risky business’: Online illegal wildlife trade continues to soar in Myanmar
- A new report from WWF shows that trade in protected wild animals and their body parts in Myanmar via the social media platform Facebook rose by 74% in 2021 compared to the previous year.
- The scale of the online trade, the purpose of the trade, and the species seen in the trade are all of major concern in terms of impacts on biodiversity and the potential risks to public health from disease transfer, according to the report.
- Posts advertising live civets and pangolins as wild meat, as well as posts referring to their commercial breeding potential are a particular concern, argue the report authors. Both species are considered to be potential vectors in passing zoonotic diseases to humans.
- The report calls on online platforms to do more to monitor their platforms and take swift action, and for greater involvement and collaboration from multiple sectors to strengthen enforcement, disrupt the illegal wildlife trade, and increase awareness of the health risks posed by illegally traded wildlife.

Call for COVID rules that reduced infections in gorilla parks to remain
- Respiratory infections recorded among mountain gorillas in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park dropped from a pre-pandemic average of 5.4 outbreaks among family groups to just 1.6 per year since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.
- Conservation group Gorilla Doctors, whose Rwanda team recorded the decrease in infections, says the decline correlates with lower visitor numbers to the park as well as masking requirements and an increase in the distance tourists must stay from habituated apes.
- In a recent letter in the journal Nature, Gorilla Doctors and the park’s chief warden called for these stricter measures to be kept in place permanently.

Preventing the next pandemic is vastly cheaper than reacting to it: Study
- A new study emphasizes the need to stop pandemics before they start, stepping beyond the quest for new vaccines and treatments for zoonotic diseases to also aggressively fund interventions that prevent them from happening in the first place.
- Researchers estimated that based on Earth’s current population and on past pandemics, we can expect 3.3 million deaths from zoonotic diseases each year in future. COVID-19 pushed numbers in 2020-21 even higher. These outbreaks are now happening more frequently, and their cost is calculated in trillions of dollars.
- Addressing the main drivers — deforestation, the wildlife trade and burgeoning agriculture, especially in the tropics — could prevent future pandemics, save lives and catastrophic societal disruptions.

Lockdown underscores Uganda’s overreliance on tourism to fund conservation
- When the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in March 2020, Uganda quickly shut down parks like Bwindi Impenetrable National Park to protect the gorillas and chimpanzees from getting infected.
- Tourism provides up to 60% of the Uganda Wildlife Authority’s operating revenue and is also an important source of income for communities living around Bwindi.
- Poaching in Bwindi rose sharply during lockdown in 2020 as some villagers entered the park to hunt for food or an income.
- One NGO reinforced its programs supporting public health and livelihoods in an attempt to reduce this pressure.

Uganda’s ‘Dr. Gladys’ honored by U.N. for work linking conservation and health
- The United Nations on Dec. 7 recognized Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka as one of its “champions of the Earth” for promoting the One Health approach to conservation in Africa.
- The Ugandan conservationist, a trained wildlife veterinarian, established the NGO Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) in 2003 to ensure better health care access for communities living around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and to lower the risk of human pathogens jumping to mountain gorillas.
- UNEP selected Kalema-Zikusoka for its science and innovation category; the other awardees were Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, Kyrgyz youth activist Maria Kolesnikova, and the nonprofit Sea Women of Melanesia.
- “If you make the community feel that you care about them, then there’s less need to fight them,” Kalema-Zikusoka said.

‘To change policies, insert yourself in them’: Q&A with biologist Liliana Dávalos
- Colombian biologist Liliana Dávalos has combined conservation research with evolutionary ecology from her laboratory at Stony Brook University.
- Dávalos was one of the first scientists to warn, in 2001, about the environmental risks that an eventual end to the civil war in Colombia would have — a scenario that is now playing out as Colombia’s forests are being opened up for commercial activity.
- Bats are another of Dávalos’s subjects of study: In addition to deciphering their genome to understand their evolution in space and time, more recently Dávalos has studied the relationship of these flying mammals with pathogens such as coronaviruses.
- In an interview with Mongabay, Dávalos, who is openly gay, also talks about attitudes in academia toward women and lesbians, and sends a message to young researchers not to be blinded by the awareness of obstacles.

In harm’s way: Our actions put people and wildlife at risk of disease
- While global attention is currently focused on COVID-19 and other zoonotic diseases that jump from animals to humans, diseases that breach the species barrier also pass from people and domestic animals to wild species.
- Human alteration of the planet — the felling of forests, the legal and illegal wildlife trade, climate change, and other disruptions — is driving escalating unnatural interactions between species, allowing diseases to mutate and infect new hosts.
- Infectious disease poses a serious threat to tigers, chimpanzees, Ethiopian wolves, African wild dogs and a host of other threatened species. Viral diseases spread by humans, livestock and other domestic animals could serve as the knockout punch to endangered species already teetering on the edge of extinction.
- There’s growing support for a One Health strategy, which recognizes that human health, animal health and the health of the planet are inextricably linked — that protecting the planet is crucial to the health of all.

Biosurveillance of markets and legal wildlife trade needed to curb pandemic risk: Experts
- Almost 90% of the 180 recognized RNA viruses that can harm humans are zoonotic in origin. But disease biosurveillance of the world’s wildlife markets and legal trade is largely absent, putting humanity at significant risk.
- The world needs a decentralized disease biosurveillance system, experts say, that would allow public health professionals and wildlife scientists in remote areas to test for pathogens year-round, at source, with modern mobile technologies in order to help facilitate a rapid response to emerging zoonotic disease outbreaks.
- Though conservation advocates have long argued for an end to the illegal wildlife trade (which does pose zoonotic disease risk), but the legal trade poses a much greater threat to human health, say experts.
- Governments around the world are calling for the World Health Organization to create a pandemic treaty. Wildlife groups are pushing for such an agreement to include greater at-source protections to prevent zoonotic spillover.

Indonesia investigates alleged abuse of Sumatran tigers at city zoo
- Indonesian conservation authorities have launched an investigation into alleged abuse of Sumatran tigers at a municipal zoo in North Sumatra province.
- The zoo’s tigers appear emaciated, with their bones protruding, raising concerns that they’re being underfed.
- The zoo management has denied the allegation, saying one of its tigers was ill while the others were healthy and properly fed.
- Zoos in Indonesia are notorious for their negligence, mismanagement and corruption, with animals dying of malnutrition or ill treatment, or sold off into the illegal wildlife trade.

Black-footed ferrets riding out COVID-19 with a vaccine and a lot of TLC
- Black-footed ferrets were nearly wiped out by plague in the 1980s, and were only saved by a last-ditch effort to pull the 18 remaining individuals into a captive-breeding program.
- The wild population now numbers about 300 individuals, but the species remains reliant on captive breeding and sensitive to disease outbreaks — a combination that proved especially nerve-wracking during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Luckily, black-footed ferret keepers are no stranger to disease-mitigating measures, and were able to successfully breed ferrets with the help of rigorous sanitation measures, dedicated staff, and even a vaccine.
- To date, no black-footed ferrets have tested positive for COVID-19, and after a 50% drop in the number of kits born last year, the program is back to producing its usual number of kits.

Domestic bushmeat consumption an “urgent” threat to migratory mammals, U.N. says
- A recent U.N. report has found that many migratory mammals are in grave danger of being hunted for meat for domestic consumption, which in many cases poses a greater risk to population numbers than international trade.
- There is also strong evidence that wild meat taking and consumption is linked to zoonotic diseases.
- The authors say that while wild meat consumption cannot be eliminated because it is an indispensable source of nutrition and income for rural communities, they call for improved national regulations and international cooperation to safeguard threatened species.

Fashions to die for: The fur trade’s role in spreading zoonotic disease
- It has long been known that zoonotic diseases, which originate in animals and can jump to humans and back again, have been a prime source and vector for pandemics, with COVID-19 the most recent example. What is less known is the role the global fur-for-fashion industry plays in the spread of zoonotic disease.
- In 2020, COVID-19 spread to minks on EU fur-to-fashion farms; the virus also spread from the animals to a farm worker. Denmark ordered the culling of 17 million farm-raised minks. Mink farms in 10 countries have since been hit by outbreaks, including the U.S., Canada, France, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Spain and Sweden.
- China is the largest producer and consumer of fur for fashion, with the U.S. and EU both major players as well. In China, government support, producer lobbying, weak regulation and popularity with Chinese consumers has kept that nation’s fur market strong. It is very well supplied by Chinese farms and EU fur farm joint ventures.
- The fashion trend today is not for full-length fur coats, but for fur trim on sports coats, caps, shoes and accessories. Animals killed for their fur include minks, sables, rabbits, chinchillas, foxes and raccoon dogs. All have the potential to serve as zoonotic disease sources and spreaders. Globally, an estimated 95% of fur comes from farms.

Study fails to find link between increased deforestation and COVID lockdowns
- Macroeconomic analysis suggests deforestation trends have not changed significantly in the past year as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Lockdowns and layoffs, and the unprecedented stimulus spending in response to them, were expected to lead to a spike in deforestation, but this wasn’t the case, the analysis shows.
- Still, campaign groups say there are signs of unsustainable expansion plans among the forest products sector in Asia.
- Conservationists are calling on world leaders to use the climate change conference later this year to make recovery programs more sustainable.

Studies debunk ‘nature is healing’ narrative from 2020 lockdowns
- Several new studies have tried to tally up the costs and benefits to the environment as a result of lockdowns around the world last year in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- One study showed that emissions of indirect greenhouse gases like CO and NO2 decreased significantly, but one of its authors says this likely won’t have much of an impact over the long term.
- Another study debunks the media hype behind the “animals are reclaiming the cities” trend last year, attributing the increased sightings to the fact that people forced to stay at home finally had time to start noticing the wildlife around them.
- In India, researchers concluded there were more negatives than positives for the environment, including a surge in the use of plastic packaging and PPE, as people shopped online and masked up.

Not just for humans — scientists turn to vaccines to save endangered species
- Vaccines developed for animals, including rabies or swine fever shots, have historically been aimed at protecting humans rather than the animals themselves.
- Scientists are now increasingly looking at animal vaccines as a means of saving wild populations of threatened species.
- As with vaccines for humans, development cycles can take a decade or more, and the challenge of administering doses is far more complex.
- But some initiatives have shown promise in protecting wildlife from infectious diseases that could otherwise lead to entire species being decimated.

Black Death aside, we know surprisingly little about rodents and disease
- Rodents make up 40% of all mammal species on the planet, and an estimated 10.7% of them are known hosts of zoonotic diseases, such as cat scratch disease, bartonella, hantavirus, Lyme disease, leishmaniasis, leptospirosis, and the plague.
- A recent letter in the journal Conservation Biology calls for more attention and funding to be directed toward studying small rodents, “the wildlife species most likely to be abundant, come into contact with humans, and be potential reservoirs in future zoonotic outbreaks.”
- Controlling and mitigating the risk of zoonotic diseases through rodent control is another area that lacks research, with the current approach of killing and poisoning rodents in urban areas actually posing the risk of causing more disease.
- Experts call for evidence-based, whole-system approaches to control rodents and champion the One Health approach to address zoonotic disease, acknowledging that human, environmental, and animal health are all interconnected.

New study finds that minority of animals host majority of zoonotic viruses
- After contracting COVID-19, a scientist in India delved into data on what mammal species pose the greatest risk for future pandemics.
- Researchers found that 26.5% of mammals in the wildlife trade housed 75% of known zoonotic diseases.
- The findings present an opportunity for greater risk management by governments more closely focusing on these species.

Address risky human activities now or face new pandemics, scientists warn
- The new, highly-contagious Delta variant — spread with the ease of chickenpox — is causing COVID-19 cases to skyrocket across the globe as health officials respond with alarm. “The war has changed,” said a recent internal U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) document.
- Globally, numerous infectious diseases are being transmitted between wildlife, livestock and humans at escalating rates, including outbreaks of COVID-19, Ebola, dengue, HIV and others, as the threat of new emergent zoonotic diseases grows ever greater. The cost is huge in lives lost and ruined economies.
- The driver: human activities, particularly intrusion into wild landscapes and eating and trading wild animals. Bringing people, domestic and wild animals into unnatural proximity exposes all to pathogens for which they lack immunity. International travel and a booming global wildlife trade quickly spread viruses.
- Experts say that a “One Health” approach is urgently needed to prevent future pandemics — simultaneously addressing human, animal and ecosystem health, protecting humanity and nature, and incorporating disease risk into decision-making.

Sri Lanka zoo lion contracts COVID-19 as reports of animal infections rise
- Thor, an 11-year-old lion at Sri Lanka’s national zoo, has been isolated after PCR tests showed he was infected with COVID-19.
- Several lions at zoos in neighboring India have also reportedly contracted the virus, with at least two dying.
- In the case of Thor, zoo authorities in Sri Lanka suspect the lion contracted the virus from a zookeeper; subsequent tests showed a gardener at the zoo had COVID-19.
- With the increasing threat of COVID-19 impacting both wild and farm animal populations, Sri Lanka is monitoring suspected cases of animal deaths.

Oil palm plantations a ‘threat to global health,’ says study on outbreaks
- From Ebola in Africa to malaria in Brazil to tick-borne illnesses in the U.S., there is a common thread linking outbreaks of vector-borne and zoonotic diseases: fluctuating forest cover, according to a recent study.
- Deforestation and even increases in green cover can fuel the rise of diseases, the research shows, citing the link between oil palm plantations and outbreaks of malaria and dengue as a case in point.
- The study examined linkages between forest cover changes with vector-borne and zoonotic diseases between 1990 and 2016 and found that outbreaks of both types of infections have increased.
- The evidence that human health can suffer even as a result of misguided afforestation or plantation shows that more research is needed on the role of forests in modulating diseases.

Hantavirus study shows restoring forests can reduce zoonotic disease risk
- Brazilian scientists have found that transmission of hantavirus, a deadly infection, could be reduced by 45% if Brazil restores its Atlantic Forest to levels mandated by its Native Vegetation Protection Law.
- Hantavirus, spresd by contact with infected rodents, can become more prevalent across a landscape when forests are cleared and rodent populations increase.
- While the study’s simulations must be confirmed by field studies, this initial research shows that lowering zoonotic disease risk through forest restoration holds promise.

We can prevent the next pandemic (commentary)
- Research has shown that agriculture, urbanization, and other human activities that degrade forests and other ecosystems can trigger viruses to jump from other species into humans, a process known as “spillover.”
- In this commentary, Prevent Pandemics at the Source co-founders Sonila Cook and Nigel Sizer argue that “it’s only when we prevent new diseases before they start — at the source, where humans and animals come into close contact – that we will become less vulnerable to pathogens.”
- Cook and Sizer say that prevention is much less costly than fighting pandemics once they start. “We can protect forests, clean up and reduce wildlife trade, improve farming practices and expand surveillance to detect spillovers as they are occurring for about $10 billion per year,” they write. “Compared with the massive human and economic cost of another pandemic, this price tag is tiny.”
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Brazilian Cerrado savanna: Wildcat miners descend on Indigenous reserve
- The Raposa Serra do Sol Indigenous reserve in Brazil’s Roraima state covers 1.75 million hectares (4.32 million acres) along the nation’s border with Venezuela and Guyana. It is home to 26,705 Indigenous people.
- The territory has been under pressure from invaders for decades, even after being demarcated in 2005. But illegal incursions are reaching a new peak now, with an estimated 2,000 to 5,000 gold miners operating in the reserve.
- Incendiary speeches by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro have emboldened the miners, say experts, while attempts to crackdown on wildcat mining in the Yanomami Territory in the Amazon rainforest may have pushed illegal miners operating there into the Cerrado savanna where most of Raposa Serra do Sol is located.
- The illicit miners are causing deforestation and contamination of the Cotinga River and other waterways with sediment and toxic mining waste, including mercury used to process gold. They’re also putting Indigenous people at risk from Covid-19, violence, and social ills including alcohol abuse and prostitution.

Captive lions kept in ‘stressful conditions’ create perfect recipe for disease, experts say
- Researchers have identified that captive and wild lions carry 63 pathogens that could result in about 83 diseases and clinical symptoms.
- Drawing on this research, conservationists have named five diseases that have the potential to spill over into the human population and impact public health: human ehrlichiosis, human babesiosis, toxocariasis, trichinosis, and African sleeping sickness.
- Animal welfare advocates say that captive lion facilities in South Africa tend to keep lions in unsanitary, stressful conditions that provide the perfect environment for disease.
- With this in mind, conservationists are advocating for the South African government to shut down the captive lion industry.

Brazil’s isolated tribes in the crosshairs of miners targeting Indigenous lands
- The Amazônia Minada reporting project has revealed 1,265 pending requests to mine in Indigenous territories in Brazil, including restricted lands that are home to isolated tribes.
- Brazil’s federal agency for Indigenous affairs, Funai, holds 114 reports of isolated tribes, of which 43 are within Indigenous lands targeted by mining.
- In addition to the spread of diseases such as COVID-19 and malaria, mining activity poses health threats from the mercury used in gold extraction, which contaminates rivers and fish.
- Indigenous groups have filed a lawsuit with Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court against the government, demanding protection for isolated Indigenous peoples.

Ending tropical deforestation is vital to public health, scientists say
- As tropical forests are destroyed and fragmented, mostly by agriculture, wildlife is forced into closer, more frequent, and novel contact with humans.
- This increased contact, especially with animals whose health and behavior have been altered by human pressures, means a greater risk of zoonotic diseases spilling over from animals to humans.
- The majority of global forest loss is caused by just four commodities — beef, soy, palm oil, and wood products — so the demand and incentives for these products needs to be addressed.
- Slowing deforestation will require major reforms of global agricultural and financial systems, as well as policies and commitments directly aimed at conserving ecosystems.

Indigenous groups blast Amazon state’s plan to legalize wildcat mining
- Brazilian legislators in the Amazon state of Roraima have passed a bill legalizing garimpo wildcat mining on state lands without studies. Amendments would also legalize the use of toxic mercury in gold processing, and greatly expand the legal size of mining claims.
- Indigenous groups say the law was passed without adequate consultation, and will invite gold miner invasions of Indigenous reserves in the state, including that of the Yanomami, the largest reserve in Brazil. Since the election of President Jair Bolsonaro more than 20,000 illegal miners have been reported on Yanomami lands.
- Wildcat mining is already legal in some Brazilian Amazon states. Based on that experience, experts say that legalization in Roraima will enable fraud, with gold illegally mined in Indigenous reserves “laundered” to become “legal” gold, and illicit “conflict gold” trafficked from neighboring Venezuela laundered in Roraima.
- The Roraima garimpo mining bill now awaits the state governor’s signature.

In ‘dire’ plea, Brazil’s Amazonas state appeals for global COVID assistance
- In a letter describing pandemic conditions as “dire,” the government of Brazil’s Amazonas state is pleading for urgent medical assistance from the international community. The authenticated letter apparently bypassed the Bolsonaro administration which critics say has been ineffectual in dealing with COVID-19.
- Manaus, the Amazonas state capital, was overwhelmed by the coronavirus last April, but this second wave, according to state authorities is far worse, impacting not only the city, but increasingly, the state’s rainforest interior. The soaring number of cases and deaths statewide is yet to be fully tallied.
- According to authorities, medical facilities in Manaus and Amazonas are presently being utterly overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases, with hospitals and clinics lacking beds, oxygen and other vital resources, resulting in deaths. The disease’s rapid spread may be the result of the P.I. viral lineage variant newly detected in Brazil.
- “The situation is dire, and our fear is that the same situation we are seeing in the capital Manaus will reach the inland of Amazonas, the traditional and indigenous populations that are in situation of greater vulnerability,” said the letter sent to international NGOs. The international response isn’t yet known.

Brazil’s collapsing health service, new COVID variant, raise Indigenous risk
- The city of Manaus made world headlines last April when a first wave of the coronavirus swept through the city. Now that city, and the entire state of Amazonas, is being swept by a second wave of the pandemic, which is shaping up to be far worse than the first.
- Indigenous people are especially vulnerable, with their mortality rate from COVID-19 at least 16% higher than the Brazilian average. Now, São Gabriel da Cachoeira, located 852 kilometers (529 miles) from Manaus, near the Colombia-Venezuela frontier, is being heavily impacted.
- São Gabriel has a large Indigenous population, and while it escaped the worst of the first wave of the pandemic, its meagre health system resources are now being overwhelmed. The state of Amazonas lacks sufficient hospital beds, its ICUs are overrun, and medical facilities lack sufficient oxygen.
- Of extreme concern is a new Brazilian coronavirus variant called P.1, which recently appeared in Amazonas state. While more research is needed, one possibility is that P.I. is bypassing the human immune response triggered by the initial coronavirus lineage that ravaged Manaus last year. This means people could be reinfected.

First COVID-19 cases in zoo gorillas raise alarm about wild populations
- Gorillas at San Diego Zoo in California have tested positive for COVID-19, the first cases of the novel coronavirus infecting great apes.
- Gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos and orangutans share more than 95% of the human genome and are known to be at risk from certain human diseases.
- Zoo authorities said an asymptomatic staff member might have infected the gorillas.
- The news is likely to send alarm bells ringing, especially in Africa, home to the only wild populations of gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos.

Vaccinations may be vital for saving Amur tigers from virus outbreaks (commentary)
- In this commentary, authors Dale Miquelle and Martin Gilbert, argue it is incumbent upon science-based conservation agencies to consider vaccinating high-risk tiger populations where epidemiological research indicates that it is necessary to mitigate extinction risks.
- The authors state this approach is increasingly important because “more species are relegated to small islands of habitat that support fewer individuals. An outbreak could be the “straw that breaks the camel’s back,” driving these small populations to extinction locally.”
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Top 10 environmental news stories of 2020
- 2020 is a year that many people would like to forget. Here’s a look at 10 of the biggest environmental storylines to remember.
- The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic transcended virtually everything in 2020, including the environment, from canceled summits on climate and biodiversity to a temporary dip in air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, to greater awareness of the link between human health and planetary health.
- Conservation efforts in tropical countries were especially hard hit by the pandemic.

In China, public support grows to rein in the wildlife trade in the wake of the pandemic
- After the December 2019 outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, Chinese researchers surveyed the Chinese public on their opinions of wildlife consumption and trade.
- An overwhelming majority supported stricter policies and legislation to protect wildlife.
- NGOs based in China report parallel findings that public awareness and support of wildlife conservation has increased dramatically. They see the pandemic as a promising opportunity to make substantial changes

Can whales and dolphins catch COVID-19 from wastewater? It’s murky
- A new study identifies 15 marine mammal species, including whales, dolphins, seals and sea otters, that could be susceptible to the SARS-CoV-2 virus through contact with wastewater.
- According to the researchers, vulnerable populations of marine animals that congregate near wastewater discharge sites face elevated risks.
- To minimize these risks, the researchers suggest closely monitoring vulnerable populations for possible infection and vaccinating if necessary, and also restricting access to at-risk captive marine mammals.
- However, other experts say it is implausible for marine animals to get sick through contact with wastewater since virus transmission through water is unlikely.

Coronavirus risk grows as animals move through wildlife trade
- Animals consumed by people in Vietnam are increasingly likely to carry coronavirus as they move from the wild to markets to restaurants, a new study shows.
- The animals with the highest rates of infection are most likely to come into contact with humans.
- When animals are confined in crowded and stressful conditions, it makes it even easier for the virus to spread.

Indigenous leader who fought for communities and conservation mourned in Peru
- Benjamín Rodríguez Grandez, a leader from the Huitoto tribe who dedicated his life to preserving Indigenous customs and the natural resources they depend on in the Peruvian Amazon, died of COVID-19 on July 16, 2020.
- Rodríguez was a key player in efforts to lobby for the creation of Peru’s Yaguas National Park, an area of 868,927 hectares (2.15 million acres) of forest home to more than 3,000 species of plants, 500 species of birds, and 550 fish species.
- He was also a teacher and a “judge of the peace,” a special title in Peru that allows community leaders to resolve certain disputes even if they don’t have a law degree.
- “If Benjamín convened the meeting, everyone attended,” one source told Mongabay. “He had that influence in the area.” His work for the Yaguas National Park would later be noted by the 2021 Goldman Environmental Prize.

The Amazon’s Yanomami utterly abandoned by Brazilian authorities: Report
- A new report highlights the escalating existential crisis among the 30,000 Indigenous people living in the Yanomami Territory, covering 9,664,975 hectares (37,317 square miles) in northern Brazil. Data shows that the Yanomami reserve is in the top ten areas now most prone to illegal deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon.
- The report accuses Jair Bolsonaro’s Brazilian government of abandoning the Yanomami to the invasion of their territory by tens-of-thousands of illegal miners. While the administration has launched sporadic operations to stop these incursions, the miners return as soon as police leave the reserve.
- Bolsonaro is also accused of having done little to combat COVID-19 or provide basic healthcare. As a result, pandemic case numbers have grown by 250% in the last three months, now possibly infecting 10,000 Yanomami and Ye’kwana, about a third of the reserve’s entire population, with deaths recorded among adults and children.
- “Children, young people and the generations to come deserve to live healthy lives in their forest home. Their futures should not be cut off by the actions of a genocidal administration,” says the report compiled by the Yanomami and Ye’kwana and a network of academics. Brazil’s Health Ministry denied the charge of negligence.

One Health: A necessary blend of biodiversity and human health goals (commentary)
- This week, the German Federal Foreign Office & WCS will co-host “One Planet, One Health, One Future: Moving forward in a post-COVID19 world.”
- The One Health approach acknowledges the interconnectedness of human, animal, and ecosystem health.
- COVID-19 provides an unfortunate but essential opportunity to demonstrate the fundamental importance of the One Health approach, and make connections with important biodiversity targets.
- This article is a commentary, the views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

Lemurs might never recover from COVID-19 (commentary)
- This World Lemur Day, it is worth pointing out that the Covid-19 pandemic poses a threat to Madagascar’s endemic primates, which are some of the planet’s most endangered species.
- Almost all 115 species of lemurs are threatened with extinction and their habitats are rapidly disappearing on the island nation.
- The pandemic and the resulting economic crisis has emerged as a moment of reckoning for conservation efforts, exposing the risks of relying heavily on foreign revenue and not focusing enough on communities at the frontline of safeguarding biodiversity.
- This post is a commentary: the views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

IPBES report details path to exit current ‘pandemic era’
- A new report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) calls for a “transformative change” in addressing the causes of virus outbreaks to prevent future pandemics and their devastating consequences.
- Human-driven climate change, the wildlife trade, and conversion of natural ecosystems all increase the potential for the spillover of viruses that infect animals to people.
- The current COVID-19 pandemic is likely to cost the global economy trillions of dollars, yet preventive measures that include identification of the hundreds of thousands of unknown viruses that are thought to exist would cost only a fraction of that total.

Could disruptions in meat supply relieve pressure on the Amazon? (commentary)
- Ranching and beef production have put great pressure on the Brazilian Amazon, resulting in significant deforestation which harms biodiversity, could add to the destabilization of the global climate, and even lead to future pandemics. While much Brazilian meat is consumed domestically, a large portion is exported to China.
- With the pandemic raging out of control in Brazil, meat plants have become viral “hot spots” and helped to spread COVID-19 in several places around the country. Meanwhile, the global pandemic has, for a variety of reasons, now reduced meat consumption in both Brazil and China.
- Meat and dairy are responsible for public health problems and for 18% of global greenhouse emissions, so any reduction in consumption could be good for the health of the planet. Though the pandemic has led to untold human suffering, could cratering demand for meat lead to a new environmental consciousness?
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Crisis in Venezuela: Non-governmental organizations adapt to survive
- Many non-governmental organizations in Venezuela — which many analysts now call a failed state — have decided to reduce their operations to stay alive.
- As Venezuelan inflation rates soar, environmental NGOs are learning to skillfully juggle currency exchange rates that complicate their international funding.
- Alliances between NGOs, volunteerism, along with the efficient use of small donations from businesses, are all helping keep environmental organizations going, as they prioritize which of their programs should survive and which must be cut or passed on to other groups.

Global wildlife being decimated by human actions, WWF report warns
- Between 1970 and 2016, wild populations of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish shrank by 68% on average, according to a new report by WWF and the Zoological Society of London.
- The most catastrophic declines were documented from Latin America and the Caribbean, where populations of monitored species contracted by more than 90% during that 46-year period.
- Among the 3,741 populations of freshwater species they tracked, the researchers found overall declines of more than 80%, underlining the threat from excessive extraction of freshwater, pollution and the destructive impacts of damming waterways.
- The assessment aims to grab the attention of world leaders who will gather virtually for the U.N. General Assembly that kicks off Sept. 15.

Survival of Indigenous communities at risk as Amazon fire season advances
- The number of major Amazon fires this year has more than doubled since August 13, with most of those fires being illegal. 674 major fires were detected between May 28 and September 2, with a sharp increase inside Indigenous territories in the last two weeks, raising concerns among Indigenous leaders.
- Indigenous groups are being left to fight the fires on their own, without support from government institutions. IBAMA, Brazil’s environmental agency has been largely stripped of funds and lacks adequate equipment to fight the blazes, while the Army, sent to the Amazon in May, is reportedly failing to suppress most fires.
- Combined with COVID-19, smoke from fires poses a serious threat to Indigenous health. Native peoples have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic, and have weaker immune systems for respiratory disease. A recent study shows that Indigenous hospitalizations for respiratory disease coincide with deforestation rates year-by-year.
- Isolated Indigenous groups are especially under threat as fires put their food sources at risk. Experts say that isolated and uncontacted groups, to fend off hunger, are sighted more often roaming during Amazon fires, potentially risking exposure to Western diseases.

Brazil green recovery plan could boost economy, add jobs, cut emissions: Report
- If Brazil shifts to a low carbon economy, carbon emissions would be cut by a third while also creating jobs, benefiting economic growth and infrastructure, according to a recent report by the World Resources Institute.
- Brazil’s post-COVID-19 economic recovery plan could provide an opportunity to implement long-term solutions across multiple sectors that could reduce carbon emissions and Amazon deforestation.
- Study authors hope that the economic benefits of the plan will push the current Jair Bolsonaro administration to adopt a green agenda, even if conservation is not a priority.
- “Climate denial is at a peak, but cost-benefit will be the leading decision-maker, whether or not it benefits the environment.… Due to post-COVID-19 economic recovery plans, we have a window of opportunity that will close in a year and a half or less.” — World Resources Institute Climate Policy Director Carolina Genin.

As wild areas become farmland, species that carry diseases flourish
- A study in the science journal Nature found that the conversion of wild areas into farmland, cities and other forms of managed land increases the abundance of species that carry pathogens capable of jumping to humans.
- The study drew on a database of nearly 7,000 ecological communities and 376 “host species” on six continents.
- The biggest population increases were measured in species of passerine birds, rodents and bats.
- Species that carry infectious pathogens did better on converted land than their close “non-host” relatives.

Goldminers overrun Amazon indigenous lands as COVID-19 surges
- Reports filed by NGOs including the Socioenvironmental Institute (ISA) and Greenpeace Brazil say that a major invasion of indigenous reserves and conservation units is underway, prompted by miners well backed with expensive equipment supplied by wealthy elites.
- Miners are emboldened, say the NGOs, by the inflammatory anti-indigenous and anti-environmental rhetoric of the Jair Bolsonaro administration which has sent a clear signal so far, that it has no major plans of stopping the invasions or penalizing the perpetrators.
- Through June of this year, deforestation by mining within conserved areas represented 67.9% of total tree loss in Legal Amazonia. From January to June, illegal mining destroyed 2,230 hectares (5,510 acres) of forest inside conservation units (UCs) and 1,016 hectares (2,510 acres) inside indigenous territories (TIs).
- The miners’ onslaught also poses a serious COVID-19 threat. The virus has so far infected at least 14,647 indigenous people and caused 269 deaths on indigenous lands. Meanwhile, Bolsonaro is pressing for passage of legislation authorizing mining on indigenous lands; presently the bill is stalled in the house of deputies.

Anticipated new restrictions on wildlife trade in Vietnam fall short of a ban
- Earlier this year, in response to the coronavirus pandemic, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc called for the drafting of a ban on wildlife trade and consumption by April 1.
- After a delay of several months, on July 23, the government finally released a directive aimed at strengthening enforcement of existing rules governing the wildlife trade, but not banning the trade outright, as conservationists had hoped.
- Conservationists expressed support for the directive as a major step forward, but cautioned that much work remains, particularly in terms of enforcement.

On World Tiger Day, let’s recommit to the goal of doubling wild tiger populations by 2022 (commentary)
- A goal to double the number of wild tigers by 2022 remains one of the most ambitious conservation targets for a single species ever adopted, and deserves renewed attention for International Tiger Day on July 29.
- However, a recent survey of people charged with managing 40 protected areas in tiger range countries reveals that funding for half of them has been cut since the global pandemic began.
- Investing in ‘tiger protected areas’ is an investment in ecosystems that millions of people also depend on, and should not be cut if the world wants to achieve the goal of doubling the animals’ populations.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

What funds are needed to prevent another pandemic? Just 2% of COVID-19’s estimated cost
- The authors of a new research-based opinion piece in the journal Science estimate that the total cost of COVID-19 could reach $16 trillion, but spending between $20 billion and $30 billion every year to stem deforestation and regulate the wildlife trade could drastically lower the risk of another pandemic.
- COVID-19 has already claimed nearly 650,000 lives and could wipe out $5 trillion in global GDP this year alone.
- Zoonotic diseases that jump from animals to humans are emerging with increasing frequency in recent decades, but investments in preventing these spillover events are paltry, the authors argue.
- The rapid rate of forest loss and incursions into previously untouched woodlands, especially in the tropics, and a poorly regulated global wildlife trade, have exposed humans to a host of novel viruses.

Niobium mining in Brazilian Amazon would cause significant forest loss: Study
- A recent study found that large-scale niobium mining proposals, if carried out in the remote northwest portion of the Brazilian Amazon, would likely cause significant forest loss and threaten biodiversity and fragile ecosystems.
- The study comes as President Jair Bolsonaro pushes for an expansion of industrial mining on indigenous lands and his administration turns a blind eye to expanding illegal mining that is threatening indigenous communities in the northern Amazon.
- There are two known niobium deposits in the region, at Seis Lagos and at Santa Isabel do Rio Negro, located in the Rio Negro River basin. The Brazilian portion of the Rio Negro River basin is home to 23 Indigenous groups, including the Yanomami people, and holds vast tracts of undisturbed rainforest, rich in biodiversity.
- The recent niobium study offers an example of how science can be proactive in analyzing the environmental impact of infrastructure development well before it happens, potentially helping guide policy decisions to prevent deforestation, pollution, the spread of disease and other problems.

Expand conserved areas to boost global economy ravaged by COVID-19: Report
- Protecting 30% of the world’s lands and oceans would cost $140 billion annually, with the target reachable by 2030, according to a report by an international team of scientists and economists released this month.
- Dramatically increasing protected areas would provide a buffer between human and wildlife communities, helping prevent pandemics such as COVID-19, while also greatly boosting economic growth and sustainability.
- The benefits of implementing the 30% conservation goal outweigh the costs by a five-to-one ratio, according to this first economic analysis of the U.N. protected areas target.
- Some countries have already met this goal, including Bolivia, Germany, Namibia, Poland, Tanzania, Venezuela and Zambia, but Brazil, home to the world’s largest remaining rainforest, is slipping on its previous conservation commitments.

Indonesia identifies rhino to capture for breeding, but will have to wait until next year
- Indonesian officials have identified a wild Sumatran rhino they plan to catch in Borneo for a captive-breeding program, but have not said whether it’s a male or female.
- The planned capture will have to wait until next year at least, with officials citing the COVID-19 pandemic as an obstacle.
- Officials already have a female Sumatran rhino at the Kelian Lestari captive-breeding facility in Borneo, and hope to either find her a mate from the wild or fertilize her eggs with sperm from rhinos held at the Way Kambas facility in Sumatra.
- The Sumatran and Bornean populations are distinct subspecies of the Sumatran rhino, and conservationists agree on the need to interbreed them to boost the genetic diversity of a species that numbers fewer than 80.

Gold priced at $1,700 per ounce brings new gold rush to Brazilian Amazon
- Global instability brought on by the Coronavirus and the meltdown of the world economy has sent gold prices soaring to US$1,700 per ounce, their highest value in 10 years. That surge has triggered a new, intensified gold rush in the Brazilian Amazon as entrepreneurs invest in expensive equipment and cheap labor.
- While some Amazon gold mining is legally permitted, much isn’t. The lucrative, unpoliced industry is causing deforestation, river destruction, mercury contamination (the element used in gold ore processing), and an invasion by hundreds of thousands of miners who could spread COVID-19 to the region.
- Despite being an illegal activity, large gold mining dredges operate openly in Porto Velho, the capital of Rondônia state. Our Mongabay reporting team followed the daily lives of a dredge-owning entrepreneur and his crew of garimpeiros as they searched for the precious metal in the waters of the Madeira River.

COVID-19 halts matchmaking attempt for female Sumatran rhino in Borneo
- Conservationists searching for a wild male Sumatran orangutan to join a lone female as part of a captive-breeding program have had to call off the search for the rest of the year.
- The field work by conservationists in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan province has been halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, along with other activities.
- The captive breeding programs is believed by experts to be the most viable means left to save the global population of the nearly extinct species.
- Indonesia is now the last refuge for Sumatran rhinos, with a population of fewer than 80 individuals.

Indonesia reopens national parks to tourists as COVID-19 cases rise
- Indonesia is reopening 29 national and nature parks to local and foreign tourists despite a growing number of COVID-19 cases in the country.
- The parks were closed earlier this year to prevent the possible spread of the novel coronavirus to wildlife populations.
- Authorities say the parks will be allowed to open with strict health protocols, including limiting visitors to half capacity.
- Some of the parks allowed for reopening are home to rare and threatened species such as orangutans, proboscis monkeys, Javan hawk-eagles, and silvery gibbons.

Brazil’s indigenous hit especially hard by COVID-19: why so vulnerable?
- At least 78 indigenous peoples in the Brazilian Amazon are infected by COVID-19, with 3,662 individuals testing positive and 249 dead among 45 of those peoples. Detailed data is lacking for the other 33 peoples. Experts say poverty, poor resistance to Western diseases, and lack of medical facilities may explain high vulnerability.
- The Coordination of Indigenous Organizations in the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB), which gathered and tallied this data, expects cases and deaths are underreported. Many leaders and elders continue dying among indigenous people, including elders of the Munduruku, Kayapó, Arara, Macuxi, and Tuyuka peoples.
- COVID-19 has now penetrated the Xingu river basin, a vast area south of the Amazon River in Pará and Mato Grosso states. The Arara people there were devastated by disease and violence in the 1980s. Now, of 121 remaining Arara, almost half have tested positive for the coronavirus.
- Of the 1,818 Xicrin in southwest Pará state, 270 (15%) have tested positive, with seven deaths. Analysts speculate this high infection and death rate (higher than Brazil’s general populace, and even many other indigenous groups), may be due to poor underlying health due to water allegedly polluted by a Vale nickel mine.

Indonesia resumes release of captive wildlife amid COVID-19
- Indonesia has allowed the release of captive animals back in to the wild to continue, after freezing the activity to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus to wildlife populations.
- Orangutan rescue centers in Indonesia have welcomed the decision as they struggle with crowded facilities and rising operational costs.
- But the centers say they won’t release any orangutans anytime soon, as the great apes are likely vulnerable to the coronavirus.
- Experts have recommended that the apes also undergo COVID-19 testing prior to being released back into the wild.

Nature needs cities, and cities need nature (commentary)
- At a time when the world is losing its biodiversity at an alarming rate, and that loss has been linked to disease outbreaks, urban nature is more important than ever. Yet urbanization is a major cause of habitat loss – which drives much of the staggering loss of biodiversity
- With thoughtful planning, cities can connect habitats within and outside of city limits in ways that help protect populations of animals and plants that would otherwise be fragmented and vulnerable to extinction.
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Amazon poor go hungry as Brazil slashes social safety net, cuts forests: Study
- Living along the rivers of the Amazon rainforest, many imagine, would make for a sustainable diet packed full of freshwater fish. But a recent study finds this is not the case. A combination of interacting factors is now causing many poor families in riverine communities to go hungry.
- Researchers found that Amazon fish catch rates are naturally 73% lower in the highwater season. In the past, this lull was supplemented by hunting. But Brazilian deforestation, increased under former Pres. Michel Temer and now under Pres. Jair Bolsonaro, has replaced biodiverse forests with soy and other kinds of plantations.
- Add to this Bolsonaro’s and Temer’s rapid deconstruction of internationally-lauded social welfare programs, implemented by Presidents Lula and Rousseff and their Workers’ Party, which fed many riverine families when fish catches dropped.
- Figure in climate change too: its deep droughts harm forest and river diversity, while extreme floods keep stream levels high and fish catches low, and for longer. Now, COVID-19 has come to the Amazon, with food shopping trips made from rural riverine settlements to cities now requiring a serious element of risk.

Audio: Conservationists find opportunity and community amidst current crises
- On today’s episode of the Mongabay Newscast we look at how the environmental crises we’re currently facing intersect with two other major crises: the Covid pandemic and the systemic racism and police brutality that have sparked protests around the world in recent weeks.
- We welcome two guests onto the Mongabay Newscast today. Leela Hazzah, founder and executive director of Lion Guardians, joins us to discuss conservation as an essential service, how the Covid pandemic has impacted Lion Guardians’ community-based conservation work, and what she sees as opportunities for transformative change in conservation due to the pandemic.
- We’re also joined by Earyn McGee, a herpetologist and science communicator who helped organize the first-ever Black Birders Week, a week-long celebration of black birders and outdoor enthusiasts. McGee tells us how Black Birders Week came together so quickly and why it is necessary to celebrate black nature lovers.

‘Every time an elder dies, a library is burnt’: Amazon COVID-19 toll grows
- COVID-19 kills the elderly, those with underlying health conditions, the poor and vulnerable. It is now doing so in the Brazilian Amazon where the virus killed nine Munduruku indigenous elders in just a few days. Forest people elders are typically leaders and keepers of culture, so their loss is especially destabilizing.
- Officially, 218 indigenous people had died of COVID-19 and 2,642 were infected as of 7 June. But experts say that the numbers are at least three times higher, with poor government recordkeeping and Amazon community remoteness resulting in a severe undercount.
- The Munduruku, Kokama, and Xavante groups are already seeing cases, with the virus now threatening Brazil’s two largest indigenous territories: Yanomami Park and Javari Valley Indigenous Territory. These two reserves are home to most of Brazil’s uncontacted peoples. COVID-19 spread there would be a disaster.
- Indigenous groups are pursuing independent efforts, such as setting up COVID-19 communication websites, to protect their communities. In response to what they call government inaction, indifference and blundering, advocates remind the Brazilian government and the world that “indigenous lives matter.”

Climate conundrum: Could COVID-19 be linked to early Arctic ice melt?
- The COVID-19 pandemic has yielded unexpected environmental benefits, as wildlife explore urban streets and 2020 carbon emissions drop by the largest amount since World War II. But now researchers are wondering if a record hot and sunny start to the Arctic sea ice melt season could be linked to the Coronavirus lockdown.
- The possible cause: a reduction in atmospheric sulphate aerosol pollutants emitted by factories, ships and other sources. Sulphate aerosols increase the amount of clouds and brighten the atmosphere, reflecting more solar heat, thus masking global warming intensity — and making the Arctic cloudier and colder.
- Scientists are working to determine if, and by how much, sulphate aerosols have declined due to the industrial slowdown brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- These figures could help them more precisely determine how aerosols have been inhibiting atmospheric heating around the world, especially in the Arctic. One study found that sulphate aerosol-seeded clouds could be masking about a third of all warming from greenhouse gases. However, the question is far from settled.

Triple crisis of pipelines, pesticides and pandemic is an existential threat to Ecuador’s indigenous peoples (commentary)
- Days after Ecuador declared a state of emergency for COVID-19, the Secoya people’s principal fishing river, the Shushufindi, was poisoned by a massive pesticide runoff from nearby African palm plantations, decimating local fish stocks.
- Three weeks later, a devastating rupture of the country’s biggest oil pipelines spilled crude oil into the Napo river, a tributary of the Amazon, leaving dozens of indigenous villages and tens of thousands of peoples without access to clean water
- Despite dozens of people showing symptoms of COVID-19, Secoya people spent nearly a month in an infuriating battle to get the government’s attention. In response, Secoya families took matters into their own hands, turning to medicinal plants and going deeper into the forest to both escape disease and find food and clean water
- This article is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Mystery ailments, asymptomatic individuals: Spotlight on monkeypox in chimps
- In 2017 and 2018, monkeypox viral outbreaks struck three chimpanzee communities in Taï National Park in Côte d’Ivoire.
- Researchers investigating the outbreaks found that very few individuals actually showed the characteristic smallpox-like skin rashes on their bodies associated with monkeypox; many chimps that only exhibited respiratory symptoms like coughing with few or no rashes also had high viral loads of monkeypox virus DNA in their feces.
- Detecting monkeypox viral DNA in individuals with only respiratory symptoms suggests that the same might be true in humans, researchers say, which could mean that monkeypox cases could be going undiagnosed.
- This study is the first-of-its kind deep dive into monkeypox virus transmission among wild primates.

MRN bauxite mine leaves legacy of pollution, poverty in Brazilian Amazon
- Mineração Rio do Norte (MRN) arrived in the Trombetas River basin in the 1970s with plans to mine bauxite on a gigantic scale. Today, MRN is the fourth largest producer of bauxite in the world, providing the valuable aluminum ore to nations and manufacturers around the planet.
- On arriving in the Amazon, MRN immediately annexed lands from the traditional riverine community of Boa Vista, reportedly displacing 90 families to build its port company town. Boa Vista is a quilombo, a community of Afro-Brazilians (known as quilombolas), the descendants of runaway slaves.
- While MRN says it provided jobs, education and health services, quilombo residents report a decade of horrendous water pollution from mine waste — never cleaned up — the loss of fisheries and hunting grounds, rampant poverty, a lack of electricity, health services, and proper sanitation.
- The harm done by industrial mining to Boa Vista, and lessons learned, and not learned, over the last 40+ years, are especially relevant today, as Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro aggressively pushes forward his agenda to open indigenous reserves and other Amazon conserved lands to industrial mining.

Loss, resilience and community amid an outbreak: Q&A with gorilla researcher Magdalena Bermejo
- Magdalena Bermejo, a prominent expert on western lowland gorillas, experienced the loss of thousands of the great apes to Ebola, including two groups she and her team were studying and had worked to habituate.
- Having remained in the Republic of Congo, Bermejo is now facing the arrival of a new epidemic that could potentially spread between humans and gorillas.
- In this interview, Bermejo discusses her ongoing work in the Congo, the importance of working with communities, parallels between Ebola and COVID-19, and how researchers can find the strength to persevere and rebuild in the aftermath of catastrophe.

Amazon deforestation gig economy booms despite COVID-19 (Photo Essay)
- Illegal deforestation has become an omnipresent part of economic activity in the Brazilian Amazon. Mongabay went to Rondônia state to meet some of the loggers who benefit from the dodgy market, then traces the path of logs going to “informal” sawmills, moved by river to ports, maybe to become decking in the U.S. or EU.
- Some experts hoped that COVID-19 would slow Amazon deforestation, but early indications are that the reverse is happening. From January to April 2020, the rate of Amazon deforestation alerts rose sharply by 55%. Deforestation is linked closely with fires, so a challenging fire season is expected this year.
- In this exclusive two part story and photo essay, we first follow the activities of Amazon loggers seeking highly-valued woods, and then trace the actions of miners scratching out a meager living seeking gold in the rivers of Rondônia state.

Offensive against the Amazon: An incontrollable pandemic (commentary)
- The acceleration of Amazonian deforestation and environmental degradation — powered by the Bolsonaro government’s successive blows to environmental protection policies — is directly related to the precarious state of public healthcare in the region, amplifying the lethality of diseases like Covid-19.
- This commentary is being published at a time when Brazil is suffering from the worst deforestation in a decade, and is second only to the United States in the number of Covid-19 cases (515,000 in Brazil today) and fourth in the world regarding the number of Coronavirus deaths (topping 29,000).
- The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Poaching in Indonesia’s biodiverse Leuser Ecosystem on the rise amid COVID-19
- Poaching is on the rise in the Leuser Ecosystem in northern Sumatra, the last place on Earth that’s home to rhinos, tigers, orangutans and elephants.
- Conservationists say the illegal hunting appears to be by locals targeting wildlife for food, and not for the trade in animal parts or pets that typically target the more exotic species.
- They attribute the increase to economic hardship faced by local communities amid shutdowns imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The pandemic response has also halted patrols in Leuser, with ranger teams unable to mobilize as normal.

A new sanctuary for the Sumatran rhino is delayed amid COVID-19 measures
- Indonesia has been working on a new sanctuary for the captive breeding of Sumatran rhinos in the Leuser Ecosystem in Indonesia’s Aceh province.
- But measures imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic have slowed down the progress of the facility, which had been slated for completion next year.
- Aceh’s Leuser Ecosystem is touted by experts as the most promising habitat for wild rhinos because it’s believed to hold the largest population of the species, at about 12 individuals.
- Indonesia is now the last refuge for the world’s Sumatran rhino population, which numbers between 30 and 80 individuals.

Brazil judge blocks appointment of missionary to indigenous agency
- A Brazilian judge has blocked the highly controversial appointment of a former Christian Evangelical missionary to head FUNAI’s isolated and recently contacted indigenous tribes department. FUNAI is Brazil’s federal indigenous affairs agency.
- Ricardo Lopes Dias, an anthropologist and Evangelical pastor, was picked to head the department in February amid a barrage of criticism. He was a long-time missionary with New Tribes Mission (recently renamed Ethnos360), a fundamentalist Christians group notorious for past attempts to contact and convert isolated indigenous people.
- Indigenous groups and their advocates celebrated the court decision, with one leader saying: “It’s a really important victory, not just for indigenous [people] of the Javari Valley [Reserve in Amazonas state where most of Brazil’s isolated groups are located], but for all those who respect rule of law.”
- As COVID-19 continues spreading into the Brazilian Amazon, already infecting at least 500 indigenous people, FUNAI still hasn’t presented a contingency plan to deal with Coronavirus outbreaks in the region, or among isolated indigenous groups, another factor that weighed on the judge’s decision to block Dias’ appointment.

Vietnam wildlife trade ban appears to flounder amid coronavirus success
- In March, responding to the novel coronavirus pandemic, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc requested a draft of measures to restrict the trade and consumption of wildlife in Vietnam by April 1.
- That date has come and gone, but no information on the requested draft has been made public since March.
- Some conservationists are concerned that Vietnam’s thus far successful containment of the coronavirus outbreak means the government is no longer prioritizing wildlife regulations.
- NGOs are still working, both behind the scenes and in public, to press the issue.

Coronavirus puts Brazil’s quilombos at risk; will assistance come?
- The Boa Vista Quilombo in Oriximiná, Pará state, is like many Brazilian quilombola communities. Quilombolas are Afro-Brazilian runaway slave descendants, and point to centuries of inequality and neglect by the government. Quilombos often lack running water, basic sanitation and health services.
- In the 1970s, Mineração Rio do Norte (MRN) annexed much of Boa Vista’s land and established the world’s fourth largest bauxite mine, along with a company town, Porto Trombetas, built on the former quilombo property; MRN also polluted local fisheries and provided mostly badly paid menial jobs to residents.
- Now, the pandemic is exacerbating fundamental governmental and corporate inequalities, say residents. MRN, for example, asked Boa Vista residents to clean a quarantine facility used by new arrivals. The residents refused. Meanwhile, the mine is fully operational, with planes and ships coming and going regularly.
- MRN says it has implemented strong preventative measures against the virus. But residents point out that the company’s hospital has just six intensive care beds; they fear, in keeping with past inequities, these beds would be reserved for MRN employees, leaving infected quilombolas without care.

For Indonesia’s captive wildlife, lockdown measures may prove deadly
- Zoos have been shuttered and wildlife rehabilitation centers barred from releasing animals into the wild as a result of measures imposed in Indonesia to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Without revenue from visitor fees, zoos in the country, long notorious for the egregious conditions in which they keep the animals, are looking at the possibility of killing some of their animals to feed the others.
- Wildlife rehab centers, which mostly care for orangutans and other apes, have been ordered to keep taking in rescued animals but not to release them for fear of spreading the virus to wild populations.
- This has raised concerns about overcrowding at rescue centers, many of which are also under financial pressure as donations decline.

It’s time to implement solutions that make the bushmeat trade unnecessary (commentary)
- Since the coronavirus emerged, there has been public outcry demanding the closure of wildlife markets that seem likely to have caused the global health crisis.
- So far, though, the highly destructive and ongoing mass trade of wildlife by bushmeat hunters in rural communities has stayed largely outside of the debate.
- There is an opportunity now to address the health and environmental issues the bushmeat trade presents, and to put forward solutions that will relegate it to the history file.
- This article is a commentary and does not necessarily reflect the views of Mongabay.

Indigenous COVID-19 cases top 500, danger mapped in Brazil agricultural hub
- 537 COVID-19 cases and 102 deaths are being reported by 38 indigenous groups in Brazil. Most of the cases are in the remote Brazilian Amazon, where communities are located far from medical assistance. Experts, citing the vulnerability of indigenous peoples to outside disease, worry the pandemic could result in a many more deaths.
- In response to the pandemic, indigenous groups in Mato Grosso state have partnered with an NGO to produce a daily updated map monitoring COVID-19 outbreaks in urban areas near indigenous villages. The website is meant to keep indigenous people informed, and put pressure on national and international groups to respond.
- Amid the pandemic, indigenous land rights in Mato Grosso are increasingly threatened by federal and state government policy shifts that critics say would encourage and legitimize land grabbing, illegal logging and mining inside indigenous territories.
- Particularly impacted by the policy changes, should they go into effect, are isolated indigenous groups, including the Kawahiva and Piripkura peoples who roam as yet federally unrecognized indigenous reserves near the city of Colniza, Mato Grosso.

As COVID-19 pandemic deepens, global wildlife treaty faces an identity crisis
- The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) is a global environmental agreement of great consequence: it regulates the global trade in some of the most threatened species on Earth.
- While many conservation groups jumped at the chance the COVID-19 pandemic offered to highlight the link between pandemics and wildlife exploitation, the CITES Secretariat appeared to distance itself from the crisis, drawing criticism and scrutiny.
- The treaty, one of the few binding environmental conventions, should be part of the solution, many believe, but it would need to expanded and strengthened to respond to new challenges like COVID-19.
- Doing this and tackling larger issues of biodiversity and habitat loss would require leadership from the countries that are party to this and similar conventions, experts say.

Will fish boom amid pandemic-driven fishing bust?
- The COVID-19 pandemic has created an exceptional crisis for fishing communities and the fishing industry as a whole.
- Since March 11, when the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, global fishing activity has been down by nearly 10% compared to the 2018-2019 average, according to a new estimate, and in some places the decline has been much greater.
- But it’s difficult to tell whether the global fishing slowdown will give marine life a chance to recover, experts say.
- Factors include the duration and timing of the slowdown, as well as whether illegal fishing may rebound in the absence of enforcement.

Bats: Resistant to viruses, but not to humans
- Despite the many benefits they provide to the planet, bats are subject to unjustified stigmas and beliefs.
- These are being further aggravated by a widespread belief that bats caused the COVID-19 outbreak.
- However, scientists say that bats are not responsible for the pandemic.
- Rather, wildlife trafficking and the destruction of ecosystems have increased the possibility of humans coming into contact with viruses present in various animal species.

Market-based solutions cannot solely fund community-level conservation (commentary)
- In the last two decades, conservation and the market economy merged into what is called “neoliberal conservation,” where economic growth and the protection of nature are thought to be essentially compatible.
- However, conservation in places like North Sumatra will be last on the agenda when markets tumble and the economic system that people are now addicted to – in even the most remote places – collapses.
- Schemes like ecotourism and payment for ecosystem services should be paired with programs like sustainable local agriculture to prevent the re-emergence of poaching and illegal logging, and to ensure that conservation-oriented behaviors persist when markets fail.
- This article is a commentary and does not necessarily reflect the views of Mongabay.

In defense of bats in a COVID world (commentary)
- Bats seem to be among the least popular of all animals. Covid-19 hasn’t helped their reputation. But we’ve gotten them all wrong. As you drink a Margarita, think of why that may be.
- Through pest-control, pollination, and seed dispersal of agricultural crops, bats play a critical role in our collective well-being, yet they are commonly scapegoated and persecuted as vectors of disease, writes Enrique G. Ortiz, Senior Program Director at the Andes Amazon Fund.
- The time has come for us to recognize bats contributions and treat them as the magnificent creatures they are, he argues. We need to protect them and their habitats.
- This post is a commentary and does not necessarily reflect the views of Mongabay.

Get sick or go hungry? Workers face dilemma at Freeport’s Grasberg mine
- U.S.-based miner Freeport McMoRan is continuing operations at its Grasberg mine in the Indonesian province of Papua, despite 56 of its employees testing positive for COVID-19.
- Workers say that if they opt to leave the site over health concerns, they won’t get paid and risk losing their job.
- The company says it has redoubled health protocols at the mine to a level that its CEO says is “more advanced” than in many communities in the U.S.
- The Papua deputy governor says the province may consider ordering a halt to operations if the trend worsens over the next three weeks.

Plans to prevent future pandemics must consider gender issues, too (commentary)
- Battling the illegal wildlife trade and its connection to the coronavirus has garnered recent headlines, but are these plans considering the impacts of gender-based issues?
- Deep-rooted issues such as sex-trafficking and forced labor bear heavily on the possible success or failure of the planned-for outcomes.
- Tyler Nuckols of the Colorado State University argues that women’s inclusion in conservation issues and the global response to COVID-19 are entwined.
- This article is a commentary by its author and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of Mongabay.

As COVID-19 batters fishery, Indonesia’s sharks get a respite
- The shark and ray fishery in Indonesia has largely ground to a halt as a result of plummeting demand due to COVID-19-related export restrictions and a domestic lockdown that has hit the restaurant industry.
- West Nusa Tenggara province, the heart of the country’s shark fishery and home to one of the world’s biggest markets for the species, saw trade volume drop by 68% in the first quarter of the year.
- Conservationists say this is an opportunity to evaluate and improve the fishery by beefing up monitoring and traceability to protect the sustainability of wild populations, while also supporting fishers with alternatives sources of income.
- Indonesia, which has the world’s highest diversity of sharks, allows the catch of some endangered species for domestic consumption, but loopholes effectively allow the illegal export of protected species.

Jane Goodall: COVID-19 is a product of our unhealthy relationship with animals and the environment (commentary)
- Dr. Jane Goodall, DBE, is the founder of the Jane Goodall Institute and a U.N. Messenger of Peace.
- In this commentary Goodall argues that our exploitation of animals and the environment has contributed to pandemics, including the current COVID-19 crisis.
- Goodall says that wildlife trafficking, the production of animal-based medicines, factory farming, and the destruction of critical habitats all can create enabling conditions for viruses to spill over from their animal hosts into humans.
- This post is a commentary and does not necessarily reflect the views of Mongabay.

No more business as usual: Halt dangerous development projects that put our health at risk (commentary)
- Liberia’s Ebola outbreak provides a cautionary tale of how powerful industries exploit public health crisis for short-term profit.
- Madan argues that international norms of free prior informed consent must be upheld to ensure recovery efforts do not endanger peoples’ or the planet’s health.
- This post is a commentary and does not necessarily reflect the views of Mongabay.

As a campaigner against deforestation, almost dying of COVID-19 was ironic (commentary)
- Etelle Higonnet has worked for years to reform the palm oil, rubber, soy, and cocoa industries, which are heavily involved in tropical deforestation.
- Pandemics like COVID-19 are linked with deforestation and the wildlife trade, and she’s married to a public health expert, so it was ironic that she nearly lost her life to the disease last month.
- Higonnet argues that ending the wildlife trafficking which seems to have caused the pandemic is of no use if animals’ forest homes continue to be bulldozed, sending them into contact with people.
- This post is a commentary and does not necessarily reflect the views of Mongabay.

As calls to shutter wildlife markets grow, China struggles with an industry worth billions
- China issued a provisional ban on wildlife consumption in late February, but on Thursday the U.S. called for the ban to be made permanent.
- “Wet markets” have made headlines, but China’s wildlife trade is vast and includes tens of thousands of online sellers and rural farmers.
- Despite using products made from animals known to be coronavirus hosts, China’s traditional medicine industry has thus far escaped new regulation.

Madagascar’s president promotes unproven herbal cure for COVID-19
- Madagascar’s president, Andry Rajoelina, unveiled an unproven cure for COVID-19 that is derived from a plant, Artemisia annua.
- His comments at a launch of the herbal remedy on April 20 suggested that the remedy, called COVID-ORGANICS, would act both as a cure and a vaccine.
- No evidence from any clinical trials was shared to back up the claims.
- The World Health Organization did not respond to Mongabay’s questions about COVID-ORGANICS, but the agency has warned against the spread of misinformation and purported miracle cures.

How to prevent the next COVID-19? Conservationists weigh in
- As the death toll from COVID-19 crosses 140,000 and cases surpass the 2 million mark there are growing calls for a permanent ban on trade in wild animals for human consumption.
- The available evidence suggests that a wet market in Wuhan, China, where live animals were bought and sold, was the site where the novel coronavirus jumped to human hosts from animals.
- Conservationists, however, are urging for a broader examination of the factors that led to the emergence of COVID-19 and a careful evaluation of measures that could prevent the next zoonotic pandemic.
- One Health, the idea that the well-being of humans is inextricably linked to the health of the planet, is gaining currency and could emerge as the guiding principle for international agencies and national governments in their fight to avert another COVID-19-like crisis.

As Indonesia fights COVID-19, warmer temperatures drive up dengue cases
- Dengue fever has been on the rise in Indonesia this year, even as the country focuses on dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Experts have attributed the increase to warmer average temperatures and unsanitary conditions that allow the mosquitoes carrying the virus to thrive.
- Authorities have ordered fumigation drives in response to the outbreak, but health experts warn the mosquitoes are developing a resistance to the insecticides used.

Indonesia’s new capital in the Bornean jungle on hold amid COVID-19 crisis
- Plans to kick off the construction of Indonesia’s new capital city in Borneo have been put on hold pending the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a top official says.
- The government had planned to begin building the infrastructure for the new city in the second half of this year, but has come under criticism for seeming to prioritize this project over its handling of the pandemic.
- Environmental experts who continue to oppose the project, citing its impact on the forests, people and wildlife of Borneo, have welcomed the news of its sidelining and say its funding should be reallocated to the COVID-19 fight.
- As of April 15, the Indonesian government has recorded 5,136 infections from the coronavirus and 469 deaths — the most of any Asian country outside China, where the outbreak began.

Rapid deforestation of Brazilian Amazon could bring next pandemic: Experts
- Nearly 25,000 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Brazil, with 1,378 deaths as of April 15, though some experts say this is an underestimate. Those figures continue growing, even as President Jair Bolsonaro downplays the crisis, calling it “no worse than a mild flu,” and places the economy above public health.
- Scientists warn that the next emergent pandemic could originate in the Brazilian Amazon if Bolsonaro’s policies continue to drive Amazon deforestation rates ever higher. Researchers have long known that new diseases typically arise at the nexus between forest and agribusiness, mining, and other human development.
- One way deforestation leads to new disease emergence is through fire, like the Amazon blazes seen in 2019. In the aftermath of wildfires, altered habitat often offers less food, changing animal behavior, bringing foraging wildlife into contact with neighboring human communities, creating vectors for zoonotic bacteria, viruses and parasites.
- Now, Bolsonaro is pushing to open indigenous lands and conservation units to mining and agribusiness — policies which greatly benefit land grabbers. Escalating deforestation, worsened by climate change, growing drought and fire, heighten the risk of the emergence of new diseases, along with epidemics of existing ones, such as malaria.

Audio: Celebrating the 50th Earth Day amidst a global pandemic
- On today’s episode of the Mongabay Newscast we discuss what it means to be celebrating the 50th Earth Day amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
- How have Earth Day celebrations changed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic? How do we keep attention focused on environmental issues during such a widespread health crisis — a health crisis born of our mistreatment of the environment? How do we push back on attempts to use the crisis as cover for pushing through environmentally damaging projects and policies?
- To help answer these questions, we’re bringing two guests onto the show today. Trammell Crow is a Dallas, Texas-based businessman and the founder of EarthX, which is billed as the largest Earth Day event in the world. We also welcome to the program Ginger Cassady, executive director of the Rainforest Action Network, an environmental advocacy group that targets the companies driving deforestation and the climate crisis.

Chinese ban on eating wild animals likely to become law: Q&A with WCS’s Aili Kang
- Wildlife Conservation Society’s China program director, Aili Kang, spoke to Mongabay about an ongoing review of wildlife legislation in China in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, which would permanently ban the consumption of wild animals.
- The current debate in China is not about whether there should be such a ban, which could come in as soon as two months, but what shape the ban should take, according to Kang.
- Businesses that breed wild species are pushing for these species to be excluded because they are raised in captivity and can be considered livestock.
- While conservationists are calling for the permanent ban to apply to all species, the public health risk from interacting with reptile and amphibian species is lower than from birds and animals, so there is still uncertainty about whether the former would be included.

Will the next coronavirus come from Amazonia? Deforestation and the risk of infectious diseases (commentary)
- Many “new” human diseases originate from pathogens transferred from wild animals, as occurred with the COVID-19 coronavirus. Amazonia contains a vast number of animal species and their associated pathogens with the potential to be transferred to humans.
- Deforestation both brings humans into close proximity to wildlife and is associated with consumption of bushmeat from hunted animals.
- Amazonian deforestation is being promoted by the governments of Brazil and other countries both through actions that encourage clearing and by lack of actions to halt forest loss. The potential for releasing “new” diseases adds one more impact that should make these governments rethink their policies.
- The views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily Mongabay.

Sinking feeling for Indonesian fishers as COVID-19 hits seafood sales
- Indonesia is taking measures to prop up declining sales of fish amid a slump in demand caused by the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Restaurants and shopping malls have been shut down in most large cities across the country as part of social distancing measures, leading to the decline in demand for seafood.
- Fish exports have also slowed as Indonesia, like many other countries, has restricted its trade with other affected countries.
- Indonesia had nearly 2,500 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of April 6, mostly in Java, with 209 deaths.

Indigenous Papuans initiate own lockdowns in face of COVID-19
- The outbreak of the novel coronavirus has prompted authorities and indigenous peoples in Indonesia’s Papua region to shut down air and sea traffic and lock down villages.
- There are fears that a COVID-19 outbreak here, particularly among the more than 300 indigenous tribes, could have a disastrous impact.
- While experts have praised local officials’ decisions, the national government in Jakarta has criticized it, citing dire economic impacts.
- Papuan authorities insist that their initiatives are legally valid and justified to protect public health in a region twice the size of Great Britain but with just five referral hospitals for COVID-19.

First known case of tiger contracting COVID-19 at Bronx Zoo
- A Malayan tiger housed at Bronx Zoo in New York City has tested positive for COVID-19.
- Four tigers and three African lions showed symptoms of the disease, which they likely contracted from an asymptomatic caretaker, who had COVID-19.
- There are a handful of cases of pets getting infected from their owners who had the disease but there is no evidence of these animals transmitting the virus to humans.
- The rapid spread of the virus has sparked concerns about humans infecting other wildlife populations, especially great apes that are susceptible to human diseases because they share more than 95% of genetic material with humans.

COVID-19 disrupts a major year for biodiversity policy and planning
- The COVID-19 pandemic has scrambled this year’s packed schedule of international meetings and negotiations to hash out what the future will hold for Earth’s ecosystems and wildlife.
- Amid a string of delayed meetings, today, the IUCN announced that its World Conservation Congress, scheduled for June in Marseille, France, has been postponed to January, 2021.
- Experts worry the world will lose critical time to turn around alarming trends in biodiversity loss and climate change, and that the resources allocated to fight COVID-19 might mean fewer resources for biodiversity initiatives later on.
- Given the new coronavirus’s likely origins in an animal, however, some experts hope the pandemic will motivate efforts to address the relationship between drivers of biodiversity loss and human health, in particular the way land-use change, ecosystem degradation and other drivers are believed to increase the risk of new zoonotic diseases spilling over into humans.

First COVID-19 case among indigenous people confirmed in Brazilian Amazon
- A 20-year-old Kokama indigenous woman in northern Amazonas state tested positive for the virus, according to the federal government’s body in charge of health services for indigenous people in Brazil (SESAI).
- She is one of 27 people who are being monitored after being in contact with Dr. Matheus Feitosa, who was diagnosed with COVID-19 last week. Feitosa is a SESAI doctor and he gave treatment to 10 indigenous people in a Tikuna village before developing a fever and going into voluntary isolation.
- Dr. Sofia Mendonça, coordinator of the Xingu Project at the Federal University of São Paulo fears that coronavirus could have a similar impact to the big epidemics of the past. “There is an incredible risk that the virus spreads through the communities and causes genocide,” she told the BBC.

Audio: The links between COVID-19, wildlife trade, and destruction of nature with John Vidal
- On today’s episode of the Mongabay Newscast, we speak with acclaimed environmental journalist John Vidal about the coronavirus pandemics’ links to the wildlife trade and the destruction of nature.
- As the current coronavirus pandemic spread across the world, Vidal penned an article co-published by The Guardian and non-profit media outlet Ensia that looks at how scientists are beginning to understand the ways that environmental destruction makes zoonotic disease epidemics more likely.
- We speak with Vidal about what we know about the origins of COVID-19, what he’s learned while reporting from disease outbreak epicenters in the past, how the destruction of nature creates the perfect conditions for diseases like COVID-19 to emerge, and what we can do to prevent future zoonotic disease outbreaks.

As COVID-19 rages, evangelical pastor may contact remote Amazon tribes
- U.S. Christian Baptist evangelical missionary Andrew Tonkin, from Frontier International, is allegedly planning to contact and convert isolated indigenous groups in the Javari Indigenous Reserve in western Amazonas state, Brazil — an accusation Tonkin denies. Ethnos360, another evangelical group has similar plans.
- Missionary work among isolated indigenous peoples is currently banned by FUNAI, Brazil’s indigenous agency. Marubo and Mayoruna indigenous leaders made the accusation against Tonkin, who has invaded the Javari Reserve, flouting FUNAI regulations, in the past.
- Brazil’s independent federal prosecutor’s office (MPF) has asked federal police to investigate Tonkin’s alleged plan of an illegal expedition to an area known as Igarapé Lambança, populated by isolated Korubo tribespeople. However, it is as yet unknown what action the federal police will take.
- The risk of evangelicals unknowingly spreading coronavirus is just one threat to Javari Reserve inhabitants. Major invasions by traffickers, illegal miners and loggers, along with an upswing in violence are well underway there, while President Jair Bolsonaro continues planning to open indigenous reserves to large-scale mining.

Ending illegal deforestation is good for our health (commentary)
- The threat of COVID-19 has led humanity to curl up into a little ball, blind to the continued ravaging of what’s left of the planet’s tropical forests—and the resulting surge in contact between people and animals that leads to new viruses, from avian bird flu to zika, when the trees are gone.
- Without forests as a buffer, hunting, mining, and logging exposes people to animals. These interactions lead to the spread of animal diseases to humans, known as “zoonotic diseases.” We’ve seen this with Zika, Avian Bird Flu, Ebola, and SARS, as well as Nipah, which leads to respiratory problems similar to those from COVID-19, and Kyasanur Forest Disease, spread by ticks.
- Ending illegal deforestation offers a solution for safeguarding forests for the sake of human health. Countries that both supply and import products stemming from unlawful forest loss—whether it’s beef, soy, palm oil, or wood products—must act to end this trade. Producers, traders, and sellers of illicit products also have a role to play.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

First possible COVID-19 indigenous cases detected near key Amazon reserve
- It is widely suspected that Brazil’s indigenous people will be very vulnerable to COVID-19, as they have shown little resistance to Western respiratory illnesses in the past. Isolated indigenous groups, lacking all healthcare support, would be particularly defenseless.
- UPDATE: After this story was first published, the city of Atalaia do Norte claimed that an indigenous Marubo man, suspected of coronavirus infection, tested negative for COVID-19. However, a journalist double-checking the facts found that no test was ever analyzed; when confronted, the city claimed a “communication mistake.”
- On 13 March, FUNAI potentially opened a new route for disease spread as it weakened its “no contact” isolated indigenous group rule, broadening sole decision-making power for contact from its central authority to 39 regional coordinators. Outcry quickly caused FUNAI to reverse itself, reinstating the “no contact” policy.
- Experts are very concerned about the indigenous harm coronavirus could cause, especially due to Jair Bolsonaro’s weakening of the rural public health service. Some analysts worry the health and social chaos COVID-19 would bring could cause ruralists and land grabbers to exploit the situation, seizing indigenous lands.

Keeping gorillas safe amid COVID-19 concerns
- Gorillas are vulnerable to human diseases, including respiratory illnesses, and may be susceptible to infection by COVID-19.
- Researchers and trackers working for the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, a conservation nonprofit in Rwanda, are taking special precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to the gorillas they study and protect in the wild.
- Economic turmoil from COVID-19, including loss of tourism revenue, could spell trouble for gorilla conservation.

Chinese government reportedly recommending bear bile injections to treat coronavirus
- The London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) reported today that a list of recommended treatments for the novel coronavirus disease COVID-19 published by the Chinese government earlier this month includes injections of a traditional medicine called “Tan Re Qing,” which contains bear bile.
- Last month, China adopted a comprehensive ban on trade and consumption of wildlife in response to the growing COVID-19 outbreak, which scientists believe originated in a market in the Chinese city of Wuhan where wild animals and bushmeat are sold. But the ban does not prohibit the use of wildlife products in traditional Chinese medicine or as ornamental items.
- EIA wildlife campaigner and China specialist Aron White noted the irony in the country recommending a treatment that relies on trade in wildlife in response to a global disease pandemic born from the wildlife trade.

COVID-19 prompts closure of Indonesian parks, and a chance to evaluate
- Dozens of Indonesian national parks and conservation sites have been closed temporarily to visitors in an effort to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country.
- Some of the affected sites include popular national parks such as Mount Leuser, Komodo, Rinjani and Way Kambas.
- Conservationists have welcomed the temporary closure, calling it an opportunity for authorities and park operators to evaluate the impacts of tourism on the ecosystems in these areas.
- Indonesia has reported 369 positive cases of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus, and 32 deaths as of March 20.

Amazon indigenous put at risk by Brazil’s feeble Covid-19 response: Critics
- Brazil’s indigenous movement is vigorously reorganizing its tactics in response to what it sees as the government’s ineffective response to the coronavirus. Indigenous leaders have also been forced to cancel the April Free Land Encampment in Brasília, at which they annually publicize their grievances to a large international audience.
- The cancelation was carried out to prevent activists from contracting Covid-19 in the city and carrying it back to Brazil’s remote Amazon indigenous communities. Indigenous peoples in Brazil historically have little resistance to new infectious diseases, and particularly respiratory diseases.
- Especially now at risk are isolated peoples in the western Amazon. Such groups are extremely susceptible to disease, but analysts fear that Bolsonaro will end the government’s “no contact” rule, practiced successfully for the past thirty years. If contacted, isolated groups could easily be infected and decimated by Covid-19.
- The indigenous movement is swiftly adopting new communication strategies, utilizing technology and social media to press forward with online meetings and awareness campaigns. There are grave disease concerns in Amazonas and Mato Grosso do Sul states, which have the biggest indigenous populations in Brazil.

Response to one pandemic, COVID-19, has helped ease another: Air pollution
- Air pollution has significantly decreased over China amid the economic slowdown caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, signaling unanticipated implications for human health.
- It is estimated that air pollution caused an extra 8.8 million premature deaths globally in 2015 alone, representing an average of a three-year shortening of life expectancy across the human population, and shortening lives on a scale greater than malaria, war and violence, HIV/AIDS, and smoking.
- The two-month drop in pollution may have saved the lives of 4,000 children under the age of 5 and 73,000 adults over the age of 70 in China, according to environmental resource economist Marshall Burke — significantly more than the global death toll from the COVID-19 virus at the time of calculation.
- Burke says we should not think of this as a “silver lining” or a “benefit” of the pandemic, given that COVID-19’s impact on public health and the broader disruption it is causing — lost incomes, inability to receive care for non-COVID-19 illnesses and injuries, etc. — could have far-reaching implications.

In reporting on COVID-19, the front line is the screen in front of you (Commentary)
- Reporting the first universal, social media-dependent emergency of this generation, the COVID-19 pandemic, has compelled journalists to adapt to drastically altered working conditions.
- Dealing with mass anxiety and personal fears can leave a strong impact, especially for those on the front line of the story, including journalists.
- The various electronic devices used by journalists for gathering and disseminating news is also the door to a cesspool of fake news, disinformation and a major trauma trigger.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Vietnam considers wildlife trade ban in response to coronavirus pandemic
- Last month, conservation organizations sent an open letter to Vietnam’s prime minister recommending action against the wildlife trade as a means of preventing future outbreaks of disease, such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
- In response, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc tasked the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development with drafting a ban on the trade and consumption of wildlife by April 1.
- The COVID-19 outbreak has been relatively contained in Vietnam, with 75 confirmed infections at the time of writing, but the economic impact is severe.
- Conservationists hope to see strong enforcement on both the supply and demand sides of the wildlife trade.

Bringing Christ and coronavirus: Evangelicals to contact Amazon indigenous
- As the coronavirus spreads around the globe, with more than 300 known cases already in Brazil, and members of Pres. Jair Bolsonaro’s staff infected, an evangelical Christian organization has purchased a helicopter with plans to contact and convert isolated indigenous groups in the remote Western Amazon.
- Ethnos360, formerly known as the New Tribes Mission, is notorious for past attempts to contact and convert isolated Indians, having spread disease among the Zo’é living in northern Pará state. Once contacted, the Zo’é, lacking resistance, began dying from malaria and influenza, losing over a third of their population.
- Ethnos360 is planning its Christian conversion mission despite the fact that FUNAI, Brazil’s indigenous affairs agency, has a longstanding policy against contact with isolated groups. Their so-called “missionary aviation” contact plan may also violate Brazil’s 1988 Constitution and international treaties.
- Analysts worry Brazil may be about to overturn its “no contact” FUNAI policy. In February, Bolsonaro put Ricardo Lopez Dias in charge of The Coordination of Isolated and Recently Contacted Indians (CGIIRC), a FUNAI department. Dias was a missionary for New Tribes Mission for over a decade, doing conversion work.

Conservationists set the record straight on COVID-19’s wildlife links
- The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has been characterized by the World Health Organization as a pandemic. As the virus spreads, so too does misinformation about its origins.
- Rumors that COVID-19 was manufactured in a lab or that we know with full certainty which animal host passed the disease to humans are unfounded.
- Given the clear risks to animals as well as to human health, the Wildlife Conservation Society and Global Wildlife Conservation are calling for a permanent ban on wildlife trafficking and live animal markets.

Coronavirus outbreak may spur Southeast Asian action on wildlife trafficking
- Illegal wildlife trafficking remains a perennial problem in Southeast Asia, but with the ongoing spread of the new coronavirus, there’s added impetus for governments in the region to clamp down on the illicit trade.
- The coronavirus disease, or COVID-19, has infected more than 90,000 people worldwide and killed more than 3,000, according to the World Health Organization.
- Initial findings, though not conclusive, have linked the virus to pangolins, the most trafficked mammal on Earth and one of the mainstays of the illegal wildlife trade in Southeast Asia that feeds the Chinese market.
- Despite having a regional cooperation framework designed to curb wildlife trafficking, Southeast Asian governments have yet to agree on and finance a sustainability plan to strengthen efforts against the illegal trade.

China beefs up wildlife trade ban as COVID-19 outbreak intensifies
- China’s legislative committee has passed a comprehensive ban on not just trade but consumption of wildlife, in response to growing indications that the COVID-19 outbreak stemmed from a coronavirus found in wildlife sold for consumption.
- The ban extends not just to endangered species that are recognized under CITES and Chinese wildlife laws, but all wild animals that are traded for human consumption.
- The step lays the groundwork for a possible permanent ban on wildlife trade in a country that is a major destination for wildlife contraband.
- Conservationists say they believe such a move by China could be a big boost in the fight against the illegal wildlife trade, but also called for better enforcement of current laws.

Coronavirus, trawls take a toll on shrimp fishery in Indonesia’s Jambi
- The Indonesian government has temporarily restricted trade with China in the wake of the global outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease,
- The move has hit the shrimp-fishing community in Sumatra’s Jambi province, which is highly reliant on the Chinese market.
- The fishermen say they’ll need government assistance to switch to other fisheries, having already invested heavily in shrimping gear.
- They’ve also called for a crackdown on trawl fishers operating in their waters.

Coronavirus outbreak hits Vietnam’s timber sector
- Vietnam exported nearly $1 billion worth of timber products to China in 2019, but the trade faces a steep decline as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
- There were 93 Chinese-owned companies operating in Vietnam’s timber product export sector in 2019.
- Only 16 confirmed COVID-19 infections have been reported in Vietnam, but the economic fallout of the outbreak will be immense.

When disinformation is a bigger threat than the coronavirus (commentary)
- With the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the world is experiencing a parallel outbreak of an “infodemic,” with misinformation adding to global panic and fueling conspiracy theories.
- Some conservationists have speculatively linked environmental concerns to the new virus, raising a serious risk of hurting the environmental cause by straying into speculation without evidence.
- Countering the disinformation requires concerted efforts by governments, academia, civil society and all others keen to sustain evidence-based public discourse and action.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Illegal pangolin trade may have played a part in coronavirus outbreak
- Findings reported in the Chinese media suggest that the novel coronavirus that has led to more than 1,000 deaths could have been transmitted to humans from bats via pangolins.
- These shy nocturnal animals, found in Asia and Africa, are considered the most trafficked mammals in the world.
- Despite a global trade ban, China remains a major destination for pangolins, which are killed for their meat and because their scales are used in traditional Chinese medicine.
- If pangolins did act as an intermediary host, a link that researchers insist hasn’t been firmly established, the illegal trade in pangolins could have heightened the risk of the outbreak and would make it trickier for researchers and officials to nail down how it started.

The wildlife trade threatens people and animals alike (commentary)
- Princeton University professor of ecology, evolutionary biology, and public affairs David S. Wilcove argues that the coronavirus outbreak in China shows that the wildlife trade imperils more than animals: It puts people at risk of zoonotic diseases.
- What do the coronavirus, HIV, and the impending extinction of the world’s rhinoceroses have in common? The answer is that they are all a result of the wildlife trade, a rapidly growing, multi-billion-dollar enterprise that is driving species to extinction, damaging ecosystems, and—increasingly—threatening human health.
- What is most urgently needed is a change in cultural norms in cities around the world, especially in Asia and Africa: a recognition that keeping wild animals as pets or selling them for products (apart from sustainably caught seafood) is both a threat to the environment and to human health.
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily Mongabay.

Conservationists welcome China’s wildlife trade ban
- In an effort to curb further spread of the deadly Coronavirus, China has temporarily banned the sale of wildlife.
- The virus outbreak that has killed 56 people in China has been traced to a market that sells wildlife.
- NGOs have embraced the move, and are calling for it to be made permanent.
- This comes as China prepares to host the 2020 Convention on Biological Diversity, a major conservation congress that aims to curb the current extinction crisis, in October.

Mountain gorilla census reveals further increase in numbers
- A census of one of the two populations of mountain gorillas living in eastern Africa revealed an increase from 400 to at least 459 individuals, bringing the total count for the subspecies to 1,069 gorillas.
- Teams conducted the survey in the Bwindi-Sarambwe ecosystem straddling the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2018.
- An earlier survey of the other population living in the Virunga Mountains of DRC, Uganda and Rwanda showed that gorilla numbers there are also on the rise.
- That led to a change in the subspecies status on the IUCN Red List from critically endangered to endangered.

Shrinking sea ice in the Arctic opens new pathways for animal disease
- Scientists have discovered that periods of minimal sea ice in the Arctic between 2001 and 2016 were followed by spikes in a deadly disease that affects seals, sea lions and sea otters.
- The team used satellite imagery showing decreases in sea ice combined with GPS collar data tracking animal movements over the 15-year study period.
- After periods of sea ice contraction, the odds that a sampled animal would be affected by the disease were more than nine times higher than typical years.

Malaria surges in deforested parts of the Amazon, study finds
- A recent study found that deforestation significantly increases the transmission of malaria, about three times more than previously thought.
- The analysis showed that a 10 percent increase in deforestation caused a 3.3 percent rise in malaria cases.
- The study’s authors analyzed more than a decade of data showing the occurrences of malaria in nearly 800 villages, towns and cities across the Brazilian Amazon.
- They also controlled for the “feedback” from malaria, by which a rise in the incidence of the disease actually slows deforestation down.

West Nile virus lingers longer in birds exposed to light pollution
- House sparrows exposed to light at night had higher levels of West Nile virus in their blood for two days longer than sparrows that were exposed to darkness, according to a new study.
- The research sought to mimic the effects of light pollution common to urban environments on virus levels in a known reservoir of West Nile virus, which can cause a flu-like fever in humans.
- The team’s research suggests that an outbreak could be 41 percent more likely to happen as a result of the persistence of the virus in this host.

Public education could curb bushmeat demand in Laos, study finds
- A recent survey of markets in Laos found that the demand for bushmeat in urban areas was likely more than wildlife populations could bear.
- The enforcement of Laos’s laws controlling the wildlife trade appeared to do little to keep vendors from selling bushmeat, but fines did appear to potentially keep consumers from buying bushmeat.
- The researchers also found that consumers could be turned off of buying bushmeat when they learned of specific links between species and diseases.

Virus may have caused mysterious foot disease in Chile’s rare huemul deer
- Researchers say they believe they have identified the potential cause of a foot disease that affected 24 huemul deer in Chile’s Bernardo O’Higgins National Park between 2005 and 2010.
- Preliminary results from tests on tissue samples taken from an infected fawn suggest that a parapoxvirus, a group of viruses that commonly infect and cause lesions in livestock, could have been the main cause of the foot disease.
- If the pox virus is indeed the disease agent, then it’s an additional threat to the endangered species because these viruses are highly contagious, researchers say.
- The study’s authors say they suspect the parapoxvirus may have come from cattle that was illegally introduced in the national park in 1991.

Research into chimp health benefits human, ecosystem well-being too
- Decades of research at Tanzania’s Gombe National Park have identified two major threats facing the park’s chimpanzees: habitat loss and disease.
- The two factors are linked, with human incursions into chimpanzee habitat increasing the risk of exposure to disease.
- Given the close genetic relationship between chimps and humans, diseases can flow both ways.
- Established 15 years ago, the Gombe Ecosystem Health Project aims to improve the health of chimps, humans and the wider ecosystem in the Gombe area.

Deadly parrot virus found in native birds from Asia and Africa
- Researchers have found beak and feather disease virus (BFDV) in wild parrots from eight new countries.
- BFDV spreads through captive parrots worldwide, but its prevalence in wild species is unknown. Infected escapees could threaten native parrots, especially small populations.
- Parrots in West Africa carried viruses that probably spread from other countries, showing that the human pet trade market has made the BFDV epidemic worse.
- New regulations of live parrot trades are essential to protect susceptible species, researchers say.

For Javan rhinos, the last holdout may also be a deadly disease hotspot
- The Critically Endangered Javan rhino survives in just a single population in Indonesia’s Ujung Kulon National Park.
- In addition to environmental threats such as volcanic eruptions and tsunamis, the rhino is threatened by diseases that could be transmitted from both domestic livestock and native wild cattle living in and near the park.
- Zoonotic diseases that pose a potential threat include trypanosomiasis and hemorrhagic septicemia.

Tsetse fly numbers dwindle in the warming Zambezi Valley
- Tsetse flies carry the microorganism that causes sleeping sickness in humans and livestock, but a recent study reveals that their numbers have dropped at a site in the Zambezi Valley as temperatures have climbed.
- Sleeping sickness, known also as trypanosomiasis, is a debilitating and potentially deadly disease to humans that also kills perhaps 1 million cattle each year.
- The study’s authors say that the decline of the tsetse in Zimbabwe’s Zambezi Valley might be accompanied by a rise in their numbers in cooler locales where they once weren’t as prevalent.

Identifying Zika-transmitting mosquito fast, cheaply, and on the go
- A team at University of Texas Austin has developed a new method for identifying whether a mosquito is of the Aedes aegypti species, which is responsible for transmitting Zika, dengue and other deadly diseases.
- The method can easily be conducted while out in the field and does not need much more than a cell phone, a 3D-printed box and a few chemical solutions.
- This toolkit can also determine whether a mosquito has been exposed to the Wolbachia bacteria, which infects mosquitoes and prevents them from transmitting dangerous pathogens.
- Although portable tools and “biopesticides” such as Wolbachia are currently effective, adaptive dengue and Zika viruses will likely evolve past these tactics just as they have for countless other methods. Constant attention and funding is needed to stay ahead of such pathogens in this ever-lasting battle.

Leprosy prevalent among Amazon’s armadillos, study finds
- Researchers have found a high prevalence of leprosy among nine-banded armadillos in Brazil’s western state of Pará.
- They also surveyed 146 people in the region and found that people who ate armadillos more than once a month showed higher signs of exposure to leprosy infection compared to people who consumed armadillos less frequently or not at all.
- Overall, the study found that frequently handling armadillos, such as hunting or cleaning or cooking armadillo meat, puts people at higher risk of getting infected with leprosy.

Study links malaria to deforestation in the Amazon
- A study published recently adds evidence to the argument that deforestation aids the spread of malaria.
- Researchers compared deforestation patterns to malaria rates in nine states in the Brazilian Amazon. They found that places with the highest incidences of malaria were impacted forest patches between 0.1 and 5 square kilometers in size.
- The researchers write that these forest patches contain the shaded, watery, forest-edge habitat preferred by the mosquitos that transmit malaria.
- To keep malaria from becoming an even bigger threat, the authors call for better monitoring of mosquito populations, land planning, and income generation schemes for forest-dwelling communities.

Leopards could reduce rabies by controlling stray dog numbers in India, study finds
- Stray dogs make up about 40 percent of the diet of the roughly 40 leopards currently living in Mumbai’s Sanjay Gandhi National Park, according to a recent study.
- Dog bites lead to perhaps 20,000 deaths from rabies each year in India, according to the World Health Organization.
- A team of scientists figures that leopards kill 1,500 stray dogs each year, reducing the number of bites by about 1,000 per year and the number of rabies cases by 90.

Bats and viruses: Beating back a bad reputation
- Ecologist Merlin Tuttle argues that too much research and media attention is focused on bats based on tenuous links to deadly disease-causing viruses such as Ebola.
- Live Ebola virus has never been found in bats, and virologists acknowledge that other animals may be involved.
- But scientists have plucked live strains of other dangerous viruses from bats, and researchers argue that continuing to study the association between viruses and bats (as well as other animals) will ultimately help us better prepare for future disease outbreaks.

Soil research aided by citizen scientists, boots and all
- Researchers in England tested a novel approach to detect pathogens in the environment, combining citizen science and lab analysis.
- They related the presence of Campylobacter bacteria, consistently detected through boot socks worn by volunteers walking outdoors, to environmental variables and probable sources.
- Their findings highlight the potential for using field data collected by citizen scientists to assess the presence and transmission of pathogens and other particles in the environment.

Going viral: How advancements in Ebola disease detection in wild apes can help to prevent dangerous outbreaks
- Research using a non-invasive method of detecting Ebola virus antibodies from wild ape dung has shown that non-human great apes can survive the disease.
- Early detection and disease monitoring in wildlife populations can prevent the transmission of zoonotic diseases such as Ebola from being transmitted to humans.
- A more comprehensive assessment of health threats to wild great apes can help to determine whether the Ebola virus is of primary concern in a given gorilla or chimpanzee population.

Illegal bushmeat trade threatens human health and great apes
- Hunting for bushmeat impacts over 500 wild species in Africa, but is particularly harmful to great apes — gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos — whose small, endangered populations struggle to rebound from over-hunting. Along with other major stressors including habitat loss, trafficking and climate change.
- Bushmeat brings humans into close contact with wildlife, creating a prime path for the transmission of diseases like Ebola, as well as new emerging infectious diseases. Disease spread is especially worrisome between humans and closely related African great ape species.
- Bushmeat consumption today is driven by an upscale urban African market, by illegal logging that offers easy access to remote great ape habitat, plus impoverished rural hunters in need of cash livelihoods.
- If the bushmeat problem is to be solved, ineffective enforcement of hunting quotas and inadequate endangered species protections must be addressed. Cultural preferences for bushmeat must also change. Educational programs focused on bushmeat disease risk may be the best way to alter public perceptions.

Yellow fever is killing howler monkeys in Brazil
- Brown howler monkeys are extremely susceptible to yellow fever, and an outbreak can cause local extinctions.
- Hundreds of brown howler monkeys are estimated to have died at the RPPN-FMA reserve due to yellow fever.
- Fortunately, the critically endangerd muriquis (also found in the reserve) seem less susceptible to yellow fever than the howler monkeys.

Field Notes: Predicting how the pet trade spreads infectious disease
- The exotic animal trade is a multi-billion dollar industry, and the US is the world’s leading importer. While the US government is on the alert for well known animal-transmitted diseases, there is no mandatory health surveillance for most animals coming though US ports for commercial distribution.
- Live animal imports could bring new diseases into the US and infect endemic wildlife, with devastating consequences as, for example, was seen with the worldwide exposure of amphibians to Chytrid fungus which resulted in the decline of more than 200 species.
- Elizabeth Daut is drawing on her training as a veterinarian and her extensive experience with wildlife to create a computer model that evaluates the risk of importing infectious diseases to the US via the exotic animal trade.
- Predictions produced by her model could help prioritize which species and exporting countries might warrant extra attention at ports of entry. With a better understanding of disease risks, government agencies could improve surveillance and develop better infectious disease prevention plans.

Tasmanian devils are rapidly evolving resistance to deadly cancer
- Scientists used tissue samples collected from 360 devils across Tasmania between 1999 and 2014 to look for genes that might have changed with the arrival of devil facial tumor disease (DFTD).
- The study found that two small genetic regions in the devils’ DNA, linked to cancer in other mammals, appear to have changed considerably in response to DFTD.
- These genetic changes have occurred in just four to eight generations of devils since the outbreak of DFTD, suggesting that Tasmanian devils are rapidly evolving resistance to the disease.

Deficient water systems, poor sanitation driving Zika in Brazil
- Public health experts have found a strong link between inadequate water and sanitation systems among the poor of the developing world, and major outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases such as Zika, dengue, and chikungunya.
- Recife, a city of 3.7 million, is the epicenter of Brazil’s Zika virus outbreak. One factor driving the disease is that the city — built on a mangrove swamp — has deficient sanitation infrastructure, making the urban center a perfect breeding ground for mosquitos.
- Half of Brazil´s population has inadequate sewage services, and 10 percent have none at all. While Brazil has repeatedly proposed enhancing its water and sanitation systems, lack of funds, bureaucratic red tape and corruption have combined to stall improvements.
- Brazil has confirmed over 1,600 microcephaly cases linked to Zika. Whether the incidence of Zika, dengue, chikungunya and other mosquito-borne diseases rises or falls, partly depends on how well Brazil addresses basic public health infrastructure problems.

Chew on this new way to detect disease in primates
- Researchers have found they can detect viruses in mountain gorilla and golden monkey populations using saliva from remnants of bark, leaves and fruit the animals chewed.
- This is a simple, noninvasive alternative to existing sampling options that could help monitor and prevent outbreaks in zoonosis-vulnerable threatened primates.
- Chewed material could also be used to identify pathogens in other wildlife populations for whose survival health monitoring is critical.

Disease prevention a boost to human health and great ape conservation
- Africa’s booming agribusiness — especially oil palm production — and tourism are bringing people into ever-closer contact with gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos, creating greater chances for diseases to cross between species.
- A “One Health” approach is helping human communities in Africa improve public health and sanitation to decrease infectious diseases, which in turn helps protect neighboring great apes. Thus, the reduction of rural poverty also enhances great ape conservation.
- Researchers are also regularly monitoring the world’s apes to identify viruses harbored by great apes that might jump to humans the way that simian immunodeficiency virus crossed species and evolved into human AIDS viruses.

Pathogens ‘lurking’ in Lao PDR’s wildlife markets can lead to emergence of zoonotic diseases
- Study found that several mammals being sold at the markets have been previously documented to host pathogens that can cause zoonotic diseases like Ebola, Hendra, Rabies, and SARS.
- Biosafety standards at the wildlife markets were poor, the researchers write, increasing the opportunities for the transmission of pathogens from wildlife to humans.
- Many of the animals being sold at Lao PDR’s wildlife markets are also threatened with extinction, the study found.

Zika virus and climate change
- This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author alone.
- Why has Zika virus all of a sudden spread throughout the Western Hemisphere?
- Climate change did not produce the Zika virus. But the Aedes aegypti mosquito can only survive in the right climatic conditions in the right environment, and its favored place to live is spreading due to climate change.

Deforestation increasing cases of ‘monkey malaria’ in humans, study says
- Since 2004, an increasing number of human Plasmodium knowlesi malaria cases have been identified throughout Southeast Asia, according to study.
- Researchers found that between 2008 and 2012, forest loss around villages in Kudat and Kota Marudu districts in Sabah, Malaysia, was strongly correlated to the number of P. knowlesi malaria cases in the villages.
- Study concludes that deforestation is resulting in “distinct public health consequences” in the region, which need to be urgently addressed.

Tasmanian Devils hit by a second contagious cancer
- Contagious cancer has already decimated populations of Tasmanian Devils in Australia.
- In 2014, scientists discovered a second form of transmissible cancer in Tasmanian Devils.
- Discovery of the new cancer opens up the possibility that transmissible cancers may not be as rare in nature as we previously thought, scientists say.

Human infections by ‘monkey malaria’ increasing as forests disappear

Infant macaque in Malaysian Borneo. Photo by Rhett A. Butler Sixty-eight percent of malaria hospitalizations in Malaysia last year were caused by a once-rare strain of the disease traditionally limited to macaque monkeys. However, as deforestation has put humans and wild animals in closer proximity, Plasmodium knowlesi infections and deaths have increased rapidly. The strain […]

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