Figure 4.

Great apes in their ecosystem. Upper panel: bonobo in RDC. Bonobos inhabit mature, mixed-species lowland forests located primarily on terra firma, but they can be found in secondary forests, occasionally in seasonally inundated areas, and in the forest of savannah mosaics. They appear to be more arboreal—adapted for living in trees—than other African great apes; lower panel: gorilla in Republic of the Congo. Gorillas spend most of their live at ground level rather than in the trees like most other primates. There are at least five different gorilla ecosystems, depending on geographical location (Picture credit: Oleg Mediannikov). In wild gorillas, infection with human metapneumovirus, human respiratory syncytial virus, human adenovirus, human measles virus, human gut Salmonella and Campylobacter were reported Knowledge about great apes microbial flora (Retroviruses, Adenoviruses, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Microsporidia, Cryptosporidium, or Giardia), remains to be further documented (76, 77). Apes in African parks showed a high prevalence of parasitic gastroenteritis which could pose a severe threat to tourism; furthermore, visiting tourists showed high prevalence of malaria (78). Among apes, chimpanzees are particularly threatened by infectious disease as a result of their gregarious organization (79, 80).