On the basis of 11 years study
of gorilla populations we showed that disease avoidance drives the dispersal decisions of females. The infection of a silverback of a breeding group by
yaws-like skin disease increased the probability of adult females to emigrate.
Adult females avoided breeding groups with a high prevalence of skin disease by emigrating from them and immigrating into healthier ones.
Therefore, the social environment is an important driver of female dispersal decision.
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Gone gorilla
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