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On September 15, Drs. Dawn, Eddy and Martin performed the first-ever successful interventions to release wild Grauer's gorillas from poachers' snares. The gorillas, Numbi and Pili Pili, are members of the Chimanuka family, the only fully habituated group of Grauer's gorillas in Kahuzi-Biega National Park, DRC. Read More
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We are increasingly concerned about the survival of Grauer's gorillas in the DRC following the rescue of two poached infant gorillas, Isangi and Baraka, in separate confiscations in September. Civil war and illegal resource extraction by armed militias in the areas where Grauer's gorillas live have made it extremely difficult for Gorilla Doctors, ICCN, and other conservation groups to monitor and protect this endangered species.
"In order to obtain an infant gorilla to sell in the illegal pet trade, poachers typically kill the infant's mother and any other gorilla trying to protect it," says Dr. Mike Cranfield. "The confiscation of two infant gorillas from different groups indicates that numerous wild Grauer's gorillas may have been killed recently." Read More
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On September 13, after a frustrating day in the forest trying to intervene to help the ensnared Grauer's gorillas Numbi and Pili Pili, the Gorilla Doctors team made its way back to the Kahuzi-Biega National Park headquarters at Tshivanga. Upon arrival, Dr. Eddy saw a park ranger with a tiny baby gorilla in his arms. It could only be there for one reason - it had been poached from the forest and was now an orphan.
Read the full story of Isangi's rescue and her journey from Kahuzi-Biega to Virunga National Park with Dr. Martin.
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This month in Rwanda, Dr. Jean-Felix Kinani has been following a respiratory disease outbreak in Agashya group. Silverback Agashya was first reported to be coughing on August 28. Over the course of the following weeks, 10 other group members became ill with coughing and runny noses, mostly likely caused by a virus. Five of the 11 affected members now seem to have recovered, but we are still monitoring the group closely in case any individual shows signs of having a more serious bacterial infection. Read More
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Volcanoes National Park trackers found the lifeless body of silverback Kwitonda, the dominant silverback of Kwitonda group, some distance from his group on September 10. He had been missing since August 30, and despite daily efforts to locate him in the thick forest, his body was not found until 10 days later. Over the last several years the aging silverback, estimated to be about 40 years old, had been showing signs of fading health and was losing ground to the three younger silverbacks in the group, Akarevuro, Kigoma and Magumu. Read More
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