BUKAVU, Democratic Republic of Congo (AFP) — Wild life curators
in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo sought Wednesday to
dispel local claims that a 40-year-old gorilla had died from the
Ebola virus. Radar Nishull, conservationist in the Kahuza-Biego
national park, said the gorilla, named Mufanzala and the head of
a family of 18, died from an abscess in the liver, "not from the
Ebola virus, contrary to rumours." He added that conservation
experts the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project had been asked
to perform an autopsy. The deadly Ebola virus is present in the
Congo and can be transmitted by primates. especially when their
meat -- considered a delicacy -- is eaten. There are about 130
eastern lowland gorillas living in the high-altitude park in
eastern Sud-Kivu province, an area long beset by rebel conflict.
Like the mountain gorillas they are a protected species,
numbering some 12,000 across the country. Normally, gorillas
live to between 45 and 60. Their gene pool is 98 percent
identical to humans. Cop