Snare Rescue #1: Virunga National Park

By Dr. Eddy, Kambale Syaluha, head veterinarian, DR Congo

On Monday October 13 around 10:00AM, Gorilla Doctors received a call from the Virunga National Park monitoring team reporting that a juvenile mountain gorilla in Bageni group was observed by trackers with a wire snare on its left foot.

Dr. Fabrice and I immediately prepared our field medical kits and departed Goma around noon. Upon arriving at the park, we joined the intervention team (nine rangers, four trackers, seven porters) and trekked for about an hour before finding the group resting and feeding.

It took us nearly an hour to locate the juvenile with the snare and it turned out to be Fazili, whom we had rescued from a different snare back in March! Fazili was resting near her mother, Karibu, as well as Bageni, the dominant silverback.

The snare on Fazili’s foot was very tight and deep so we prepared the anesthetic drugs and Dr. Fabrice successfully darted Fazili even as she was sitting right next to the silverback.

The other gorillas tried to remain close to Fazili but the ranger protection team managed to gently and strategically create a barrier so we could do our work.

The snare had cut through the skin and muscle on her foot, so we removed the wire, cleaned the wounds and provided supportive medication to reduce the risk of infection and offer pain relief.

We also used the opportunity of having her under anesthesia to conduct a quick physical exam and collection biological samples for future analysis. We reversed her anesthesia and she rejoined her family group. The monitoring team will keep a close on her over the next several weeks to ensure a full recovery.

Snare Rescue #2: Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda

By Dr. Gaspard Nzayisenga, senior field veterinarian, Rwanda

On Wednesday October 22, we received a call from trackers reporting a snare on sub-adult female Ishya. The trackers managed to detach part of the rope but over a meter of snare remained tightly wrapped around her right arm. Dr. Adrien and I quickly mobilized to attempt an intervention and snare removal.

We reached Sabyinyo group about two hours later and confirmed that the snare was wrapped tightly around her right wrist. While there were no visible injuries, Ishya did show signs of being in pain. Fortunately, the rest of the group was calm. We prepared the medication and darts to anesthetize Ishya.

Upon removal of the snare we found no wounds or severe inflammation – an indication that the snare event was very recent – so we did not administer any medication. We conducted a physical exam and found Ishya to be in overall good health. We also collected samples to analyze back at our Michael Cranfield Regional One Health Laboratory. We reversed the anesthesia, and once Ishya fully recovered, she followed the trail to rejoin her group that had moved a short distance away.

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