Nature conservationist and photographer David Yarrow shoots another fashion story for Harper’s Bazaar US May 2020. Fashion Director Miguel Enamorado styles Candice Swanepoel in ‘Primal Instinct’ prints and colors in this voluptuous series of images.

As a reminder, David Yarrow is among the top nature — and especially in Africa — photographers and conservationists in the world. AOC is thrilled to see a magazine like Harper’s Bazaar expand its reach into concerns and awareness about the animal kingdom.

However, we must not trivialize the relationship between humans and animals anywhere, and particularly in Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park. Close proximity between humans and gorillas during gorilla trekking safaris and other tourism adventures with apes presents well-documented risks for disease transmission. Note: great apes include orangutan, gorilla, chimpanzee, bonobo and human species.

In a new February 2020 study published in Frontiers in Public Health, “Ohio University researchers documented tourist-gorilla spacing during 53 gorilla treks during a recent tourism high season in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. They report that although 96% of pre-trek briefings conducted by park rangers emphasized the need to maintain greater than seven-meter human-gorilla spacing, the seven-meter distance rule was violated in over 98% (52 out of 53) of the tours examined in the study. “

Using observational data collected at two-minute intervals during gorilla-viewing tourism encounters, the researchers documented that nearly 70% of all observations took place at a distance less than or equal to seven meters.

This image demonstrates just how cavalier humans are about transmitting coronavirus and other diseases to apes. I know David Yarrow is an esteemed conservationist, but this image of Candice and the gorilla is irresponsible.

In March 2020 national parks in Rwanda and Congo temporarily closed to tourists, fashion models and even researchers to protect Africa’s endangered chimpanzees and mountain gorillas from contracting COVID-19. Visitors are barred until June 1 for now, as most researchers believe that COVID-19 could wipe out the world’s remaining mountain gorillas.

“Human origin diseases are a persistent threat to mountain gorillas, from common colds to coronavirus,” Cath Lawson, Africa conservation manager at the World Wildlife Fund UK (WWF) told The Independent.

AOC has been tracking this concern in our Blackness channel. I’m sorry to get agitated, but these are the fashionista events that make PETA crazy! Of course, if the goal is to raise consciousness around the plight of the ape family and especially mountain gorillas in Rwanda, that mission is accomplished on AOC. I assume there’s a story about the peril of mountain gorillas in the May issue of Harper’s Bazaar US, but it’s not posted online today. Big sigh. ~ Anne

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