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On February 1, a team of park rangers conducting an anti-poaching patrol in Africa's Virunga Massif found the dead body of a critically-endangered mountain gorilla caught in a poachers' snare. The Gorilla Doctors performed a post mortem exam on the infant gorilla's body and found it had an empty stomach and was severely dehydrated, signs suggesting the gorilla may have suffered in the snare for days before dying. Local poachers set snares illegally in the national parks to catch antelope and other forest wildlife for food, but unsuspecting gorillas, especially infants and juveniles, are sometimes caught.
"The tragic death of this mountain gorilla at the hands of humans is a blow to all of us who work to protect this critically endangered species," says Dr. Mike Cranfield. "With such a small population, the life of every individual counts." Read More
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Read Dr. Dawn's first blog as a Gorilla Doctor:
After a few months of preparation, two weeks of sheer packing panic, and the world's fastest transfer of a life's worth of possessions from a home to a storage locker, I was finally on my way to Africa for my new job as MGVP's regional veterinary manager. Thirty hours after leaving my home in Memphis, Tennessee, I arrived at the MGVP headquarters in Musanze, Rwanda.
Africa! A new chapter in my life was starting. Leaving my family, friends, and cat Hanni was not easy, nor was leaving the job I loved as the senior veterinarian at the Memphis Zoo. However, I did it all for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make a tangible difference in the conservation of a critically endangered species in the wild. To be a Gorilla Doctor, saving the lives of mountain gorillas in the field: This is where all my aspirations to practice conservation medicine would become a reality. I could not wait to get started. Read More
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The Gorilla Doctors would like to introduce our newest veterinarian, Dr. Abdulhameed Kateregga, or Dr. Hameed. Dr. Hameed joined our Ugandan staff this January to serve as the PREDICT field veterinarian in Bwindi Impenetrable and Mgahinga National Parks and to assist Dr. Fred in the monitoring and care of Uganda's mountain gorilla population.
Dr. Fred is currently teaching Dr. Hameed about MGVP's gorilla health monitoring program and the two have been very busy visiting all of Uganda's habituated mountain gorilla groups. In his role for PREDICT, Dr. Hameed will assist Dr. Benard in researching emerging infectious diseases in the wildlife populations of Uganda's national parks. Read More
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Saving a Species One Gorilla at a Time
MGVP recently created a multimedia video narrated by Drs. Mike and Jan that showcases the work of the Gorilla Doctors and our One Health team. Watch the video to learn more about how MGVP saves gorillas and share it with your friends to help spread the word!
 | | Click on the image to watch the video on YouTube. |
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Earlier this month, Dr. Eddy traveled to Kahuzi-Biega National Park in DRC to check on the park's habituated gorilla groups and train the rangers and trackers to record data for our new IMPACT health monitoring program. As usual, he shot some great photos of the Grauer's gorilla families. Dr. Eddy first checked on the Mankoto group, a family of 22 gorillas currently led by an unhabituated silverback. He then spent four days with the Chimanuka group, the largest in the park with 34 members.
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