Publications by authors named "German Illera"
The evolutionary origins of how modern humans share and use space are often modelled on the territorial-based violence of chimpanzees, with limited comparison to other apes. Gorillas are widely assumed to be non-territorial due to their large home ranges, extensive range overlap, and limited inter-group aggression. Using large-scale camera trapping, we monitored western gorillas in Republic of Congo across 60 km.
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- Social networks among western lowland gorillas are shaped by both individual interactions and group encounters over time, highlighting their complex social dynamics.
- A 5-year study showed that these gorillas engage in frequent, non-aggressive intergroup encounters, including playful interactions among young gorillas and group member exchanges influenced by kinship ties.
- This more connected social structure contrasts with mountain gorillas, but while it fosters cultural exchange, it may also heighten vulnerability to infectious diseases affecting their populations.
Over the past decade, the Zaire strain of Ebola virus (ZEBOV) has repeatedly emerged in Gabon and Congo. Each human outbreak has been accompanied by reports of gorilla and chimpanzee carcasses in neighboring forests, but both the extent of ape mortality and the causal role of ZEBOV have been hotly debated. Here, we present data suggesting that in 2002 and 2003 ZEBOV killed about 5000 gorillas in our study area.
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