Since May 23, more than 200 primates housed at the Lwiro Primates Rehabilitation Center (LPRC) in South Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have been placed under confinement due to the Ebola outbreak. This measure follows the death of a man who tested positive for the virus on May 21. This individual, a resident of Kahungu, located just 2 km (1.2 miles) from the town of Lwiro, where the center is situated, had traveled in early May to neighboring Ituri province. Ituri is the epicenter of the outbreak, which, as of May 27, is linked to more than 200 suspected deaths. A threat for humans and apes The LPRC houses at least 129 chimpanzees and 108 monkeys of various species, including olive baboons (Papio anubis), yellow baboons (Papio cynocephalus), L’Hoest’s monkeys (Cercopithecus l’hoesti), blue monkeys (Cercopithecus mitis), agile mangabeys (Cercocebus agilis) and others. Parrots, turtles and porcupines can also be found there. These primates, rescued from poaching and the illegal wildlife trade, are being kept in confinement even though “for the moment, no cases of Ebola virus transmission from a human to a great ape have been reported,” primatologist Liz Williamson explained in an email to Mongabay. According to the World Health Organization, the Ebola virus is transmitted to humans through close contact with the blood, secretions, organs or other bodily fluids of infected animals. A chimpanzee at the Lwiro Primates Rehabilitation Center, located in South Kivu province in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Image…This article was originally published on Mongabay

At a time when climate politics in the United States and globally remain deeply polarized, Will Hackman, a climate advocate and political operative, argues that the climate movement needs a new language — one rooted less in doom, guilt and abstract planetary crisis, and more in people’s everyday lives, health, safety, costs and communities. In his new book, Radically Reframing Climate Change: A Guide to Saving Ourselves, he makes the case that climate advocates have too often spoken to those who already agree with them, while failing to reach people who may be cautious, doubtful or simply disconnected from the issue. The challenge, he says, is not only scientific or technological. It is political, cultural and communicative. In the United States, climate change remains politically polarized, with surveys showing that Republicans are less likely than Democrats to view it as an urgent threat, making climate messaging particularly challenging across ideological divides. Mongabay spoke with Hackman over video call about climate messaging, grassroots activism, fossil fuels, political polarization, and why he believes the climate movement must rebuild, creating a broader and more hopeful constituency. Mongabay: You write in your book that much of climate messaging has been framed around fear, guilt and apocalypse. Is that still the right way to talk about climate change? Will Hackman: I think the nature-based messages — polar bears, melting glaciers, “there is no planet B,” “save the planet,” “world on fire” — work for people who already care about climate change. But they do not…This article was originally published on Mongabay