Posts Tagged ‘Democratic Republic of Congo’

Jun
28

Mountain Gorilla Blog

Posted by in Africa,Endangered Species,Field Research,Gorilla,What You Can Do

Two weeks ago, one of the Gorilla Doctors field veterinarians, Dr. Eddy Kabale, posted an update on two Mountain Gorilla orphans, Ndeze and Ndakasi who were transferred from Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to a facility in Senkwekwe at Rumangabo, DRC about 6 months ago. You can watch a short video of Ndeze and Ndakasi’s move to Senkwekwe back in December here.

Dr. Eddy Kabale is the groups Democratic Republic of Congo in-country Field Veterinarian. Eddy’s duties include monitoring Grauer’s gorillas (eastern lowland gorillas) as well as mountain gorillas—and caring for the orphans.

Yesterday I mentioned that the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project (MGVP) was a field project – treating wildlife in their natural habitat. Although never intended, MGVP has also taken the duel role of having to care for and manage confiscated orphan gorillas. Sadly, poaching and illegal trade have resulted in the confiscation of mountain and Grauer’s gorillas in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

MGVP's Orphan Guardianship Program

In their lovely home, Ndeze and Ndakasi are enjoying a fresh, suitable and cleaned environment with very little pollution compared to Goma. They are taking enough fresh forest food and they are still discovering new forest food items. They enjoy playing, climbing, rolling over and are progressively getting use to their new home, and are behaving normally.

Nevertheless, even in this healthy state, they continue with the quarterly preventive medicine program that includes visual and physical examinations and a de-worming program for Ndeze and Ndakasi.

So how do you perform a check-up on a gorilla? On May 11, 2010, Dr. Arthur, the ICCN veterinarian and I visited Ndeze and Ndakasi for their quarterly health check. We found them to be very active, playful, running, rolling over on grass, climbing on us very often and showing a degree of their satisfaction! We took the opportunity to start lesson teaching the little gorillas to be comfortable with stethoscope, syringes and needles. We will progress to getting them to accept injection as part of this activity. 

I used a sterile syringe without a needle for this training session; Ndeze and Ndakasi played with the syringe with no fear. After that I took another sterile syringe with sterile needle on it, and a second syringe filled with honey (they LOVE honey!). I offered them the honey and when they ate it I pricked them in the arm, one after another. Because they had honey as a reward for accepting the injection, no one ran – they gave me a positive reaction! After this lesson I put in the syringe the indicated dose of Ivermectin for their quarterly de-worming and gave it directly in mouth to Ndeze and Ndakasi, they continued even lapping drug on the empty syringe. Success – they took their medicine, they accepted some small pricks in their arms and left Ndeze and Ndakasi with a very good memory!

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Jun
25

Mountain Gorilla’s and the people who care for them

Posted by in Africa,community-based conservation,Endangered Species,Featured,Field Research,Gorilla

We are going to spend the next few days getting to know some of the wildlife veterinarians and staff who have some of the most difficult jobs, and most rewarding jobs in the profession. The Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project dedicate every minute of the day to their amazing patients,  the critically endangered Mountain Gorillas of Rwanda, Ugandan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is not a captive setting, these wildlife veterinarians routinely trek hours into the fields and mountains to check on the health of individual groups of mountain gorillas.

There are approximately 720 Mountain Gorillas left on earth; they live only in two small parks, one in Uganda and one that includes a corner of Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In order to ensure a healthy future for this special animal, we monitor the gorillas on a regular basis; provide life-saving medical care, conduct health studies, and do all we can to build local capacity in veterinary medicine and ecosystem health.  

Much of the information you will find here can be seen on the MGVP website at http://www.gorilladoctors.org/. 

MGVP’s veterinary staff—collectively, the Gorilla Doctors—are a unique, diverse, and interesting group of people. They differ in terms of  nationality, training, and experience, as well as in the territory they cover. The in-country field vets are stationed in their home countries, either Rwanda, Uganda, or the DRC, while the regional vets and project director move about. MGVP’s regional headquarters are located in Ruhengeri (Musanze), Rwanda for two main reasons: most of the world’s habituated mountain gorillas live in Rwanda, and Ruhengeri itself is about halfway between the border with Uganda to the northeast and Congo to the west.

Please check in with us over the next few days as we highlight the Gorilla Doctors blog and introduce you to one of the world’s most amazing wildlife programs.

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May
11

The Okapi Conservation Project

Posted by in Africa,community-based conservation,Field Research,Okapi

Okapi

The okapi is a secretive mammal found only in equatorial forests of the African Congo.   There are relatively few okapi in captivity, but the numbers are growing thanks to a program initiated by Florida’s White Oak Conservation Center. White Oak began to build a captive breeding stock two decades ago as a safeguard to ensure this species’ survival, and at the same time established an on-site conservation program  in Democratic Republic of Congo.  Today, all zoos that exhibit okapi from this project and participate in the international breeding program also support field programs of the Okapi Conservation Project.  The most important of these is the Okapi Wildlife Reserve, 8,500 square miles of tropical forest – about half the size of Yellowstone National Park – in which okapi are officially protected along with forest elephants, six species of duikers and 13 species of primates.

The White Oak Conservation Center Okapi Conservation Project, working closely with the Institute in the Congo for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN) is considered a model conservation partnership in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  The Project conservation teams are constantly in the field helping ICCN protect the Reserve and teaching the local communities about the importance of biodiversity and the sustainable use of natural resources.

In the last year the Project’s programs provided school curriculum’s in conservation for over 120 nearby schools and held meetings with the community customary chiefs to teach them about the Reserve and to listen and address their concerns.  The agro-forestry team is now working with over 400 farmers bringing them new and more efficient crop producing and reforestation methods for abandoned farmland.  The continued support of the ICCN wardens and rangers includes bonuses for time spent on patrol in the Reserve, technology and equipment including GPS, satellite communication phones, computers, and uniforms.  The Houston Zoo has been a supporter of the Okapi Conservation Project since 2005.

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