July has proven to be another extremely distressing month for our colleagues in Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo. In early July, the M23 rebels succeeded in seizing several key towns around the southern sector of the park where Virunga's 200 wild mountain gorillas live. The Congolese army and the UN withdrew from the national park, leaving the defense of the park headquarters to a small team of rangers and Chief Park Warden Emmanuel de Merode. Read More
Back to Top
|
On September 5, 2010, female mountain gorilla Tuck, one of Dian Fossey's original research subjects, passed away after a long life in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda. Fossey and other researchers from the Karisoke Research Center learned a great deal about mountain gorillas from Tuck, who had been studied on an almost daily basis for four decades. Yet, even after her death, Tuck still has more to teach us. A mountain gorilla's skeleton can reveal secret details about its life and health not apparent through visual observation. That's why Gorilla Doctors is collaborating with partners on the Mountain Gorilla Skeletal Project. Read More
Back to Top
|
As wildlife veterinarians, the Gorilla Doctors have to assess the seriousness of an illness or injury in a gorilla by visual observation alone. When our veterinarians observe a gorilla with a health problem that does not appear to be life-threatening, they continue to watch it closely, waiting to determine if the gorilla will be able to recover without treatment - anesthetizing a gorilla to treat it is inherently risky and a last resort, to be avoided if possible. Watching and waiting can be nerve wracking, but for our veterinary team it is always gratifying to see a gorilla with the strength ability to recover on its own. Such was the case with the gorilla infant Turate, who managed to recover from a serious arm injury without treatment. Read more and watch a video showing Turate's turn-around on the Gorilla Doctors' blog.
Back to Top
|
 The Gorilla Doctors team in Rwanda is in tremendous need of a new professional DSLR camera and telephoto lens after both of our older cameras and lenses were damaged beyond repair. We photograph our patients so that we can document and better track their health. Long lenses and cameras designed to work well in low light help us to clearly identify individuals in the dark forest.
Help make sure our staff can properly photograph our gorilla patients in Rwanda by making a cash gift to our camera fund: We hope to raise $2,000 so that we can purchase two refurbished recent-model cameras and lenses from Nikon or Canon. If you are able to help, visit GorillaDoctors.org to make a secure on-line donation. When using the online donation system, please designate that your gift is for "cameras" in the appropriate box under the "This is a donation" heading. Thanks so much for helping the Gorilla Doctors share our world with you!
Back to Top
|
 This month, the Gorilla Doctors clinically managed the complicated case of Ngwino, a juvenile gorilla from Inshuti group in Rwanda who was found caught in a snare in early July. Normally, the Gorilla Doctors intervene to treat a snare-wounded gorilla the very next morning after the wound is first observed. However, this time silverback Inshuti prevented trackers and our veterinarians from approaching the infant, and then engaged another silverback in battle. Somewhere in the melee, Ngwino disappeared. More than a week later, Ngwino finally reunited with her mother and Inshuti, but still had the snare around her ankle. On July 13, Gorilla Doctors and Karisoke Research Center trekked to the group to intervene, but unfortunately found Ngwino suffering from severe injuries that ultimately proved fatal. Read More
Back to Top
|
You could say that the mountain gorillas themselves are the best fundraisers for their conservation. Many tourists, after seeing mountain gorillas in the wild for the first time, have become ardent supporters of conservation projects in Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. That's definitely the case for Raemonde Bezenar, who has raised tens of thousands of dollars for Gorilla Doctors and two of our key partners, Virunga National Park and the Mountain Gorilla Conservation Project. Raemonde has made generous personal donations and raised money hosting fundraising dinners and the annual Edmonton Gorilla 5K Fun Run.
In the Gorilla Doctors blog, Raemonde details how she became involved with the Gorilla Doctors and the special relationship she has with the mountain gorilla orphans and on of their caretakers, Virunga National Park ranger Andre Bauma.
Back to Top
|
