The Gorilla Doctors family is excited to welcome two new field veterinarians in Rwanda, Drs. Gaspard and Jean-Claude! Both vets have just completed an eight-month internship, working under our Rwanda field veterinarians and gaining valuable experience conducting health checks, medical interventions, necropsies, domestic animal surgeries, lab work, and data collection.

Drs. Gaspard and Jean-Claude’s extended internships were possible thanks to a generous donation made by Gorilla Love fundraiser attendees Michelle Olenick and Jeff Neu. Michelle and Jeff are committed to helping Gorilla Doctors in our capacity building efforts in the region, and are eager to support young veterinarians working to conserve eastern gorillas.

Dr. Gaspard, our newest Rwanda Field Veterinarian, will help Drs. Noel and Julius in monitoring the health of all of the habituated mountain gorilla families in Volcanoes National Park. Dr. Jean-Claude joins the Gorilla Doctors team as both a Field Veterinarian and Laboratory Technician for the PREDICT Rwanda project, and will work with Dr. Julius on PREDICT research to screen wildlife for infectious diseases. Both veterinarians hold Bachelor’s degrees in veterinary medicine from Umutara Polytechnic University of Rwanda.

“We received many great applicants for these positions” said Gorilla Doctors Co-Director Dr. Mike Cranfield. “Giving both written tests and interviews, we feel that with the Rwanda Development Board’s help, we have selected very strong new members to the team that will further the health care of the gorillas and conduct important research to better their management.”

We are also excited to welcome back Dr. Methode Bahizi, who has served as our Regional Laboratory Technician based at our Musanze headquarters since 2009. He took a brief break from his Gorilla Doctors work to travel to the United States, but returned in June to man his post in the Musanze laboratory. Welcome back, Dr. Methode!

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