WebProNews

Tag: chimpanzees

  • Biologist Discovers New Species of Tick… Up Nose

    ScienceDaily reported that American biologist Tony Goldberg regularly travels to Kibale National Park in western Uganda to watch how infectious diseases travel throughout the wilds, but something he did not anticipate was finding an undiscovered species of tick up his nose. A Wisconsin native and familiar with his local tick population, he’d never heard of anyone having a tick in their nose, so he did some extensive research.

    “When I got back to the U.S., I realized I had a stowaway,” he said. “When you first realize you have a tick up your nose, it takes a lot of willpower not to claw your face off.”

    The findings were published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, which may be viewed here in its entirety.

    Goldberg is a professor of pathobiological science at University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine and associate director for research in the UW-Madison Global Health Institute, so he has a little experience dealing with intrusive insects.

    After carefully removing the tick, he sealed it in a test tube and froze it. When he and a Texas A&M University colleague sequenced the tick’s DNA, they discovered it had no matches in the database. “Either it’s a species of tick that is known but has never been sequenced, or it’s a new species of tick,” he wrote in the study.

    Chimpanzees, common in the Kibale National Park, deal with nose ticks all the time, and Goldberg’s tick was not the first to latch onto a human. In order to determine just how frequent the nose ticks are at Kibale, Goldberg and Harvard chimp expert Richard Wrangham took a series of high-res photos to study chimp noses. In about one of five chimps’ noses was a tick.

    Believed to be of the genus Amblyomma, Goldberg suggests that the nose tick “could be an underappreciated, indirect, and somewhat weird way in which people and chimps share pathogens.”

    Since the tick avoided detection as Goldberg flew internationally, if the frequency of global travel is factored in, nose ticks could easily spread from Uganda to the rest of the world. The ticks likely evolved to target the nose to escape being combed out through regular chimpanzee grooming.

    [Image via The American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene]

  • Charla Nash’s Lawsuit Gets Thrown Out

    Charla Nash’s Lawsuit Gets Thrown Out

    Charla Nash, known for surviving a vicious attack from a chimpanzee, one so severe, it required Nash to undergo complete facial reconstructive surgery. Nash’s story has returned to the newscycle a couple times. First, after her appearance on Oprah, which gave us an idea just how lucky she was to survive her ordeal; and again when she appeared on the Today Show, revealing her restored face. Video of both follow, however, if you have not seen her appearance on Oprah, be advised, it’s pretty graphic:


    Pretty staggering stuff. That being said, Nash’s “new face” shows just how advanced modern medicine has become.

    Understandably, someone who was been victim to such a horrific incident is looking for relief from many different avenues, one of which was in the form of a lawsuit. The target of Nash’s litigious actions was the state of Connecticut. Specifically, environmental officials for the state, who, according to Nash’s lawyers, “ignor[ed] warnings that the dangerous animal should be removed from Herold’s–the chimpanzee’s owner–home in Stamford.” The lawsuit was seeking a multimillion dollar settlement from the state.

    Nash’s claim, however, was recently dismissed by state Claims Commissioner J. Paul Vance Jr. Vance handed his ruling down in a five-page document. It was highlighted by the following passage:

    “While it is lamentable that Ms. Nash was injured by the chimpanzee, in order to overcome the presumption of sovereign immunity … she must show that the legislature either expressly or by implication, waived the state’s sovereign immunity. At the time Ms. Nash was attacked, there was no statute that prohibited the private ownership of the chimpanzee nor was there any statutory language that would have created a duty [by the state] to Ms. Nash as a private person.”

    It should be noted that Nash’s attack occurred in 2009. In 2008, Elaine Hinsch, an official for Connecticut’s Department of Environmental Protection issued warning that the chimpanzee in question had grown, “too big, powerful and dangerous to remain with Herold.” With that in mind, does that mean Nash’s claim was, in fact, not frivolous? Does the warning invalidate Vance’s position, especially when you consider the very state Nash is trying sue wanted the animal to be removed before the attack happened?

    Source

  • Captive Chimps May Soon Get Endangered Species Protections

    If a recent proposal is finalized, captive chimpanzees will be given an extra layer of protection – the same afforded to their wild counterparts.

    As of right now, only wild chimpanzees are considered an “endangered” species. Captive chimps, on the other hand, are simply listed as “threatened.” A new proposal from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service looks to change that.

    Under the proposal, all chimpanzees would be given the “endangered” tag.

    The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) says that the move was made to “reflect growing threats to the species.” Deforestation, poaching, capture for trading, and disease are all growing threats to wild chimpanzees. But it’s not simply these threats that moved the FWS to make this proposal.

    “The rule proposed today would correct this inconsistency after the Service determined that the Endangered Species Act does not allow for captive-held animals to be assigned a separate legal status from their wild counterparts,” says the FWS.

    The proposal actually sprung out of a 2010 petition from a handful of concerned organizations – one of which being the Jane Goodall Institute.

    “I was so pleased to hear about the proposed rule. This is exceptional news for all chimpanzees and for all the petitioners, especially the Humane Society of the United States, who have worked so hard on this issue,” said Dr. Jane Goodall. “This decision gives me hope that we truly have begun to understand that our attitudes toward treatment of our closest living relatives must change. I congratulate the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for this very important decision.”

    The proposal entered a public comment period today, and will stay open for 60 days.

    “Chimpanzees are in trouble, in the wild and in captivity, and this elevation in their protected status is a critical tool in saving them and in assuring that our children grow up in a world where chimps still live in their native habitats,” said Wayne Pacelle, President and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States.

    Here’s the crux of what would change under the new protection:

    If this proposal is finalized, certain activities would require a permit, including import and export of chimpanzees into and out of the United States, “take” (defined by the ESA as harm, harass, kill, injure, etc.) within the United States, and interstate and foreign commerce. Permits would be issued only for scientific purposes or to enhance the propagation or survival of the affected species, including habitat restoration and research on chimpanzees in the wild that contributes to improved management and recovery.

    “The International Fund for Animal Welfare strongly supports protecting captive chimpanzees under the Endangered Species Act. The current split-listing is not only inconsistent with the purpose and intent of the Act, but it has also led to widespread commercial exploitation that greatly undermines efforts to save our closest living relatives from extinction. All chimpanzees, captive and wild, are entitled to protections warranted an endangered species. We commend the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for re-examining the split-listing,” said North American regional director Jeff Flocken.