PRESS RELEASE: Hidden Parasites Could Threaten the Health of Endangered Mountain Gorillas

By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Friday, July 25th, 2025 in Press Releases, Research.

New international research conducted by a team including scientists from the Institute of Vertebrate Biology of the Czech Academy of Sciences (IVB CAS), Gorilla Doctors, and the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, with support from the Rwanda Development Board and Uganda Wildlife Authority, reveals long-term shifts in parasite communities that may help explain rising health threats […]

Chew On This: Personalized Health Care for Mountain Gorillas

Chew On This: Personalized Health Care for Mountain Gorillas By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Thursday, October 20th, 2022 in Gorilla Health, Press Releases.

Scientists Rule Out Human Herpesvirus in Endangered Gorillas With Help From Chewed Plants Republished with permission from UC Davis News By Kat Kerlin, UC Davis A mountain gorilla walks in the forest of East Africa’s Virunga Volcanoes conservation area. It stops at a piece of wild celery, sits down, and begins to chew. It strips […]

A Possible COVID-19 Silver Lining for Great Ape Conservation

Mountain gorilla family. By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Thursday, February 10th, 2022 in Gorilla Health, Press Releases, Research.

Respiratory Health of Wild Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda Improved Since Start of Pandemic Respiratory illness outbreaks among wild mountain gorillas in Volcanoes National Park have declined since the start of COVID-19, according to a “Correspondence” report in the journal Nature from Gorilla Doctors and the Rwanda Development Board. Mountain gorillas are susceptible to human-transmitted respiratory pathogens. […]

Gorilla Doctors Board Chair to Name Infant Mountain Gorilla at Kwita Izina 2021

Gorilla Doctors Board Chair to Name Infant Mountain Gorilla at Kwita Izina 2021 By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Thursday, September 23rd, 2021 in Leadership, Press Releases.

As part of Rwanda’s annual Kwita Izina ceremony, Deborah Dunham, Gorilla Doctors Board Chair, is honored to name one of 24 new mountain gorilla infants Friday is Rwanda’s 17th annual Kwita Izina ceremony, a celebration of Rwanda’s mountain gorilla conservation success and commitment to the future of this endangered species. Friday also marks World Gorilla […]

Press Release: Conservation Success Leads to New Challenges for Endangered Mountain Gorillas

Press Release: Conservation Success Leads to New Challenges for Endangered Mountain Gorillas By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Tuesday, May 25th, 2021 in Gorilla Health, Press Releases, Research.

A scientific study published today in Scientific Reports suggests that new health challenges may be emerging as a result of conservationists’ success in pulling mountain gorillas back from the brink of extinction. The study, the first ever species-wide survey of parasite infections across the entire range of the mountain gorilla, was conducted by an international […]

Silverback Rafiki: Mountain Gorilla Killed by Poachers in Uganda

Silverback Rafiki: Mountain Gorilla Killed by Poachers in Uganda By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Saturday, June 13th, 2020 in Blog, Gorilla Health, Press Releases.

On June 12th, Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) released a statement on the death of Rafiki, the lead and only silverback of Nkuringo group in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda. Gorilla Doctors’ post-mortem examination on Rafiki revealed that the likely cause of death was the result of injury from a sharp device/object that penetrated his left […]

BREAKING: New Mountain Gorilla Numbers Announced!

BREAKING: New Mountain Gorilla Numbers Announced! By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Monday, December 16th, 2019 in Conservation in Action, Press Releases.

Today in Kampala, Uganda (+11 hours ahead of PST), the Uganda Wildlife Authority announced the results of the 2018 Bwindi-Sarambwe mountain gorilla population survey, with mountain gorillas in this region increasing to a minimum of 459. When combined with the 2015-2016 population survey results in the Virunga Massif (604), the total world population of endangered […]

Learning from Gorillas to Save Killer Whales

J50 killer whale pod By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Thursday, November 8th, 2018 in Blog, Conservation in Action, Other Wildlife Stories, Press Releases.

By Kat Kerlin In 2018, the southern resident killer whale population in the Pacific Northwest’s Salish Sea was at its lowest ever. The world watched in September as an orca named Scarlet, or J50, wasted away and died, leaving just 74 of her kind left. Some wondered if this was “What extinction looks like.” Meanwhile, […]

Census Results: 1,004 Mountain Gorillas Now in the Wild, Largest Population Recorded

vet hand holding gorilla hand By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Thursday, May 31st, 2018 in Conservation in Action, Gorilla Health, Press Releases.

The latest census results of mountain gorillas living in the Virunga Massif is news worth celebrating! There are now 604 gorillas in 2016 compared to 480 in 2010. When combined with the estimated 400 gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda, there are now 1,004 mountain gorillas surviving in the wild — more than ever […]

Gorilla Doctors at the Spring 2017 Wildlife Conservation Expo

Gorilla Doctors at the Spring 2017 Wildlife Conservation Expo By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Wednesday, April 5th, 2017 in Archive, Press Releases.

Visit the Gorilla Doctors at our table at the Wildlife Conservation Expo in San Rafael on April 29! Co-Director Dr. Kirsten Gilardi will be there to disseminate information about Gorilla Doctors, with lots of swag in tow for purchase. If you’re at the Expo, stop by and say hi! “Our Wildlife Conservation Expos are unique […]