Christmas Appeal 2024
A disaster is raging across Africa right now. A deadly virus has just erupted. Gorillas are right in the front line.
Gorilla populations have already suffered terribly from the effects of the Ebola virus. Now, just when we thought we were safe, another disease is wreaking havoc. It’s called Mpox, and it’s an absolute killer. It’s already been declared a global emergency by the World Health Organisation.
This is the very worst Christmas present gorillas – and everyone who cares about them – could receive. Left unchecked, Mpox could wipe out gorilla populations altogether. We simply will not let that happen.We hope you’ll stand alongside us and stop it.
Mpox is already an emergency, and gorillas urgently need the help of everyone who cares about them. So please make a donation if you possibly can and help us protect them right now.
Mpox can be spread by skin-to-skin contact or by touching contaminated surfaces.
Gorillas spend so much time grooming each other and feeding their young that they’re desperately vulnerable. And every single adult gorilla that dies of Mpox could have been the mother or father of many more gorillas. Once that gorilla is dead, those young will never be born. And nor will their own young. So, the death of one gorilla can cause the loss of many, many more in the future.
The map shows how the outbreak has already spread – and how the gorillas and in deadly danger
Gorillas’ chances of survival are already on a knife edge.
More than 90 per cent of them are only a single step from extinction. We simply cannot allow them to slip away. Will you please help make sure we don’t have to?
We urgently need to test rangers for Mpox. Then, once we’re sure they’re free of the virus, we need to get them ready to rush deep into the forest, where they can protect gorillas.
Rangers spent months ‘self-isolating’ like this in the heart of the forest in order to protect gorillas during the Covid pandemic. They’re ready and willing to do it again to keep the gorillas safe from Mpox.
We need to act right now if we’re going to save gorillas.
It’s not complicated. To keep gorillas safe, rangers simply have to keep them away from humans who might be carrying the Mpox virus.
Once inside the forest, rangers have to create a ‘thin green line’ around the gorillas and allow no one – no poachers, no illegal hunters, no armed militias – close enough to infect the animals we all love so much. The only people who will be allowed through the cordon are emergency gorilla vets to treat infected or wounded animals – and even then only after they’ve been tested.
Mpox has already reached Kahuzu-Biéga and is threatening gorillas there. It’s only a matter of time before it reaches places like Walikale and Itombwe, where gorillas are depending on your help to survive. Mpox is already right on their doorstep. It’s getting closer every single day. That means we need to act right away.
The good news is, we know what we need to do. The bad news is that we don’t have the funds to do it – yet.
Now they face another deadly ‘plague’. Please make a donation today and help make sure gorillas beat the Mpox outbreak. Your gift could help provide:
We’ve launched a major campaign in schools and villages to help people around the parks to see how they can keep themselves – and gorillas – safe.
We need to stock up on rations and provisions at all ranger stations. This will enable them to ‘lock down’ alongside the gorillas to keep them safe inside the parks if the outbreak gets worse.
We need to rush testing kits out to all rangers before they go out into the forest. This is the only way they can be 100% certain they’re not going to infect our last few remaining gorillas with Mpox.
Just as with Covid, there are a number of simple steps that will help stop the spread of Mpox. One example is hand sanitiser. We need to supply huge quantities of this so that people can use it and stop the disease killing gorillas.
The good news is, we know what we need to do. The bad news is that we don’t have the funds to do it – yet.
Any gift you make this Christmas will be put straight to work where it can make the most difference to saving gorillas’ lives. Extinction is forever. But we can stop it happening – if we keep on working together