What major infectious disease outbreak has caused devastating mortality among localized Western lowland gorilla populations?
Answer
Ebola virus
The Ebola virus has proven to be a major and devastating threat to the survival of Western lowland gorillas. Gorillas are documented as being highly susceptible to this specific pathogen, and outbreaks occurring within Central Africa have resulted in the decimation of entire localized populations. This disease threat compounds the pressures already exerted by human activities like poaching and habitat fragmentation, significantly hindering the subspecies' ability to recover.

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