Can Great Apes Be Vaccinated Against Ebola and Other Diseases?

Vaccinations could be the best defense against devastating population drops

  Darrell Gulin/Corbis

By Danny Lewis

smithsonian.com April 12, 2016 10:26AM

Over the last 20 years, the wild populations of many of the world’s great apes have drastically declined. Recent surveys have suggested that several species of large primates, including chimpanzees, orangutans and gorillas, have experienced severe losses in population numbers. Now, some conservationists say that vaccinating great apes against diseases like the Ebola virus might be the quickest and most effective short-term step towards saving them from extinction. Read more.