Action

Regularly disinfect clothes, boots etc.

How is the evidence assessed?
  • Effectiveness
    50%
  • Certainty
    10%
  • Harms
    0%

Study locations

Key messages

  • One controlled, before-and-after study in Rwanda, Uganda and Congo found that numbers of mountain gorillas increased by 168% over 41 years while being visited by researchers and tourists whose clothes were disinfected, alongside other interventions.

About key messages

Key messages provide a descriptive index to studies we have found that test this intervention.

Studies are not directly comparable or of equal value. When making decisions based on this evidence, you should consider factors such as study size, study design, reported metrics and relevance of the study to your situation, rather than simply counting the number of studies that support a particular interpretation.

Supporting evidence from individual studies

  1. A controlled, before-and-after study in 1967-2008 in tropical forest in Volcanoes-, Mgahinga-, and Virunga National Parks in Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo found that the habituated mountain gorilla Gorilla beringei beringei population that was regularly visited by tourists and researchers whose clothes were disinfected to avoid disease transmission along with other interventions, increased in size over time. Habituated gorillas that were regularly visited by researchers/tourists that adhere to strict hygiene rules (treatment) grew at a higher rate than unhabituated gorillas (control) (4.1% increase vs 0.7% decline/year). Overall, the habituated population increased by 168% over 41 years. No statistical tests were carried out to determine whether this increase was significant. Visitors/researchers were requested to wash their hands, wear clean clothes, and wash their shoes before entering the forest. As part of the ecotourism- and research programmes, gorillas were habituated to human presence, where visitors/researchers had to follow strict health procedures; these included keeping a safety distance to the gorillas, wearing face-masks, ensuring that visitors/researchers were healthy, and spending a limited amount of time with gorilla groups. The population was continuously monitored by vets and gorillas received medical treatment if necessary. When gorillas died, their cause of death was examined. The study only tests for the effect of veterinary interventions, but does not distinguish between the effects of the other interventions mentioned above.

    Study and other actions tested
Please cite as:

Junker, J., Kühl, H.S., Orth, L., Smith, R.K., Petrovan, S.O. & Sutherland, W.J. (2020) Primate Conservation. Pages 431-482 in: W.J. Sutherland, L.V. Dicks, S.O. Petrovan & R.K. Smith (eds) What Works in Conservation 2020. Open Book Publishers, Cambridge, UK.

Where has this evidence come from?

List of journals searched by synopsis

All the journals searched for all synopses

Primate Conservation

This Action forms part of the Action Synopsis:

Primate Conservation
Primate Conservation

Primate Conservation - Published 2017

Primate Synopsis

What Works 2021 cover

What Works in Conservation

What Works in Conservation provides expert assessments of the effectiveness of actions, based on summarised evidence, in synopses. Subjects covered so far include amphibians, birds, mammals, forests, peatland and control of freshwater invasive species. More are in progress.

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