COVID-19 isn’t merely a human disease—animals can catch it too. Species infected so far include domestic cats, wild gorillas lions, tigers, mink, and dogs.
Researchers from Oxford Brookes University looked at 858 photos posted on Instagram from 2013-2019 under two hashtags — #gorillatrekking and #gorillatracking, said the study. Of that number, 86% showed people within four meters (13.1 feet) of gorillas, and 25 of those photos showed tourists touching gorillas.
The majority of gorilla selfies violated social distancing rules meant to keep the endangered great apes safe.
In January, three gorillas at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park tested positive, the first such cases in any non-human primate.
“Those visiting gorillas in the wild were asked to wear face masks even before the pandemic. They’re so genetically close to us they can get most of the things we can get” — such as influenza, Ebola, and the common cold,” said Magdalena Svensson, lecturer in biological anthropology at Oxford Brookes University, in a statement.