Saving a Species One Gorilla at a Time

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In This Issue
MGVP Contributions to "Extreme Conservation"
Gorilla Doctors Online Shop Unveiled
Doctors Help Newborn With Missing Foot
Infant Infura Freed from Snare by Gorilla Doctors
Titus' Son Kuryama Dethroned, Injured
Battle Worn Kubaha Gets a Boost from MGVP
Donor Stories: Seeing Truly 'Wild' Gorillas

About Us
 
The Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project's Gorilla Doctors are dedicated to saving the mountain gorilla species one patient at a time. We are the only group providing wild mountain gorillas with direct, hands-on care.

 

MGVP partners with the UC Davis Wildlife Health Center to advance One Health strategies for mountain gorilla conservation. Research has proven that by intervening to save sick and injured gorillas, the Gorilla Doctors have helped the overall mountain gorilla population to increase.


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Gorilla Doctors News June

A new, comprehensive research study published this month proves that the Gorilla Doctors have played a significant role in the comeback of the mountain gorilla population. We have YOU to thank for supporting our efforts. Also in this issue, read about how MGVP intervened to help two infants in need and why it's been a tough month to be a silverback in Rwanda's research groups.

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MGVP Contributions to "Extreme Conservation" Lead to Increase in Mountain Gorilla Population  
 

Jan with gun

Veterinary care provided by MGVP to treat sick and wounded members of the critically endangered mountain gorilla species in central Africa's Virunga Massif has a significant impact on the population's growth, according to a comprehensive research study published this month in the journal PLoS ONE (PLoS One 6(6): 1-8). The study revealed that the subpopulation of mountain gorillas habituated to humans-about 70% of the overall population-has increased by 4.1% annually while the subpopulation of nonhabituated mountain gorillas has decreased by 0.7% annually.

The researchers found that the five-fold difference between the growth rates of the two subpopulations can be attributed to the fact that habituated gorillas benefit from "extreme conservation" practices such as veterinary care and daily ranger monitoring. Nonhabituated gorillas, which do not tolerate the presence of humans, only receive the indirect benefits of traditional conservation practices such as law enforcement and community development around gorilla habitat. Read More 

 

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Gorilla Doctors Online Shop Unveiled 
store

Up until today, if you wanted to buy an MGVP t-shirt, you had to come all the way to Africa and stop by our office in Musanze, Rwanda. Well, we're happy to say that we've finally built an online store thanks to friend of MGVP Patti Brownstein, managing partner of Planet Cotton. You can now go to the MGVP website and buy Gorilla Doctors t-shirts for men and women, polos, hats, mugs and even toy gorillas wearing MGVP t-shirts. All sales profits go directly to funding our veterinary and One Health programs in Africa.

Shop Now!

 
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Doctors Help Newborn With Missing Foot
Baby with injured foot

On June 4, female Umurimo of Umubano group in Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park gave birth to a healthy baby boy. The next day, however, trackers noticed that the infant's left leg appeared to have been torn off below the knee. Dr. Jan reports: "Myself and Mike and Elisabeth Nyirakaragire, Volcanoes National Park's Veterinary Warden, went to the group on June 7 prepared to intervene and amputate the injured leg. When we came to the group we found the 3-day-old infant to be strong and alert, seen nursing well.  The left foot was missing, with the muscle bellies hanging from a small amount of skin remaining just below the knee. About 3 cm of shattered tibia and fibula were exposed." Read More

 
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Infant Infura Freed from Snare by Gorilla Doctors
 

Dr. JFK with the snare

On May 24, Karisoke Research Center (KRC) reported that the infant Infura of Pablo group was caught in a rope snare in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda. Freeing the infant from the snare proved extremely challenging as the Gorilla Doctors and KRC team met with multiple adversities during their efforts to perform an intervention. On the first attempt, an aggressive silverback bit KRC tracker John Boaco Twahirwa, and the intervention had to be canceled. During a second attempt, equipment failure and bad weather foiled the team's plan. Two days later, the group tried again. Dr. Mike recounts the events on the Gorilla Doctors blog.


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Titus' Son Kuryama Dethroned, Injured
  

KuryamaIn late May, silverback Kuryama, son of the late Titus and leader of Kuryama group, was dethroned after losing a fight to the group's 

two other silverbacks, Kirahura and Vuba. The rest of group followed new leader Kirahura 

and left behind Kuryama, who had suffered serious wounds. Kuryama himself had taken control of the group in 2007 when it was called Titus group, leaving his father Titus behind with only a handful of members. After this recent fight, the Gorilla Doctors kept a close eye on 

the ailing Kuryama. Read More 

 

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Battle Worn Kubaha Gets a Boost from MGVP
  

Kubaha

After a clash between Isabukuru and Kuryama groups on June 14, the young silverback Kubaha of Isabukura group was left wounded and weak. MGVP's Gorilla Doctors decided to step in an help him after he failed to improve much on his own. Dr. Jan reports: We found Kubaha shivering and quiet, but alert and responsive. He yawned, and it was apparent that his mucous membranes were pink and moist, a good sign. He had cuts above his left eye and the lids were swollen. The left side of his nose and upper lip were swollen. He had a very deep laceration on the palm of his right hand and a smaller laceration on the top of the hand, but he was seen using those fingers for grooming. He had a puncture wound through his left hand and a 10 cm laceration through the skin in the armpit of his left arm. There were two deep lacerations on his left shoulder. Read More

 

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Donor Stories: Seeing Truly 'Wild' Gorillas
  

wild gorilla

Most mountain gorillas are habituated to people, meaning they are tolerant to the presence of humans. About 30 percent of the population remains unhabituated or "wild." Tourists only visit habituated gorilla groups, as unhabituated gorillas avoid humans. However, on his hike down from the Dian Fossey grave site in Volcanoes National Park, MGVP donor Gary Curcio got lucky: he caught a glimpse of an unhabituated group. The gorillas quickly moved away, but Gary remembers how amazing it was to view these wild creatures in their natural setting. Read More

 

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