Posts Tagged ‘Gorilla Doctors’

Jul
01

Mountain Gorilla: Follow along at your own pace

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

From here on out we ask you to follow along on the Gorilla Doctors blog or even their Facebook page and immerse yourselves in the day-to-day lives of the staff and Mountain Gorillas of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Today we introduce you to Dr. Fred Nizeyimana,, an in-country field veterinarian from Uganda, on a visit to one of the Mountain Gorilla groups.

“Today I went for routine health check of the Nyakagezi group. The group was in the place closer to Sabinyo base. We found the group feeding on bamboo shoots and vines. The group was fine and healthy. I observed all the 9 gorillas and they were feeding normally. All the Silverbacks were feeding and moving together. The Blackback were the ones that trailed the group but not far from the others. Group composition: Mark (dominant Silverback), Bigingo (old Silverback), Mafia (young Silverback), Ndungutse (Blackback), Rukundo (Blackback), Inshuti (adult female), Inshuti’s baby and an un-named adult female and her baby. Their dung was normal. Parameters like breathing rate and rhythm observed physically were within normal limits. Musculo-skeletal and integument systems, no wounds observed.”

We all have responsibilities in our day-to-day lives. Theirs are to monitor and protect the world’s remaning population of Mountain Gorillas.

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Jun
30

Mountain Gorilla: Summer Reading

Posted by in Africa,Endangered Species,Field Research,Gorilla

If you are not visiting the Houston Zoo, swimming in a pool or going to the beach – you are most likely locked inside with air conditioning turned on. I understand completely, they tell us the official start of summer is June 21st but it has been ascorching hot for 6 weeks and we are tired of it already.

So add this to your summer reading list – that’s right reading, something us older folks did “back in the day” of 3 television channels which were black and white. The horror! Actually it was horrible as we did not have books like this to read.

GORILLA DOCTORS: SAVING ENDANGERED GREAT APES by Pamela S. Turner. GORILLA DOCTORS: SAVING ENDANGERED GREAT APES written for children age nine to twelve was named an American Library Association Notable Book, a National Science Teachers Association Outstanding Science Trade Book, and is the winner of the Flora Stiglitz Straus Nonfiction Award and the ASPCA Henry Bergh Award. Half of all royalties from the sale of the book go directly to Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project. -the same program we have been gorilla blogging about the past few days.

There are a number of reasons to get this book. It has great photographs, a fantastic story about wildlife veterinarians who literally make house-calls in the forest-many who you are meeting through the blogs, and it supports the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project. Can’t get out of the house for fear of melting in the Houston sun? Easy enough then, you are already on the computer so just link here “Gorilla Doctors” and pop over to Amazon for the book.

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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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