Gorilla warfare

Harambe, a 17-year-old gorilla, was shot at Cincinnati Zoo after he started dragging away a boy aged four who had fallen into his enclosure. What are world’s biggest threat to gorillas?
— There are approximately 100,000 left in the wild, most of them western lowland gorillas who live in the Congo.
— Two per week are believed to be falling victim to poachers.
— According to one estimate, a quarter of all gorillas have been killed by the Ebola virus in the past 12 years.
— Gorillas contribute to their own decline through infanticide. When a dominant male dies the successor will often kill his offspring, accounting for 1.7% of all gorilla deaths, according to one study.

Chill waters

A dinghy full of migrants was rescued off the Kent coast. How does crossing the English Channel compare with crossing the Mediterranean?

CALAIS-DOVER: 21 MILES
Sea temp. 7.5˚C (March) 17.7˚C (Sep)
TURKEY-KOS (AGEAN): 3 MILES
Sea temp. 16.9˚C (March) 25.3˚C (Aug)
TUNISIA-SICILY: 89 MILES
Sea temp. 14.2˚C (Feb) 26.1˚C (Aug)
Source: www.seatemperature.org

Fare comparison

The single fare on Britain’s most expensive train, the Heathrow Express, increased to £24, which works out at £1.93 per mile. How does that compare with summer deals on flights from Heathrow? Sums given are per mile, with total ticket prices in brackets.

Paris (Air France)
27.4p (£58)
New York (Aeroflot)
12.2p(£423)
Rio de Janeiro (Alitalia)
6.8p (£395)
Sydney (Vietnam Airlines)
5.4p (£570)

Runaway success

Alastair Cook became the 12th cricketer in history to score more than 10,000 runs in Test matches. At 31 he becomes to youngest batsman ever to achieve the feat.However, his batting average of 46.5 is the lowest of the 12. The increasing number of Test matches played over the years has helped his cause. Cook has played a total of 127 Tests. Don Bradman, who retired at the age of 40, managed only 52 — his career being interrupted by the second world war. If the runs had been scored one at a time, ten thousand lengths of a cricket pitch equates to 125 miles: almost exactly the distance from Lord’s to Trent Bridge. Alastair Cook hasn’t had to run this far, however, as many of his runs have come from boundaries.