YouTube Videos Inspire Unsafe Mountain Gorilla Tourism, Study Finds

UngulateNerd92

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Videos of people getting too close to, and touching, the rare apes motivates other people to want to do the same — and that could spread diseases like COVID-19 to a critically endangered species.

When the coronavirus pandemic eventually lifts, a lot of things in our daily lives will finally go back to normal.

Some things, however, may need to change on a more permanent basis.

Take ecotourism, for example. Before the coronavirus hit, thousands of people a year travelled to Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo for the opportunity to see critically endangered mountain gorillas in the wild. This was not just a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for most tourists. The visits also generated incredibly popular social-media posts, with some YouTube videos drawing millions of eyeballs.

YouTube Videos Inspire Unsafe Mountain Gorilla Tourism, Study Finds • The Revelator
 
Obviously, because there's nothing funnier than a camera-wielding tourist getting thumped by an irate blackback!
 
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