Help the Gorilla Doctors Celebrate 25 Years of Saving Lives

Download our annual report and 2012 calendar by clicking on the image.Dear Friends,

 

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project, and we thank you for being a part of our work. 

 

In 1986, at the request of the late Dian Fossey, Ruth Morris Keesling founded what was then called the Centre Veterinaire des Volcans, and brought Dr. James Foster, the first-ever Gorilla Doctor, to work on the ground in Rwanda. Since then the Gorilla Doctors have saved the lives of hundreds of gorillas in in Rwanda, DR Congo and Uganda and pioneered One Health medicine in the region. It is impossible to summarize in one newsletter all that the MGVP has accomplished over the last 25 years–let alone the last 12 months–but we wanted to share with you a few highlights. You can download our 2010/11 annual report in the form of a 2012 calendar, in which we describe some of our major successes as a program, including having obtained the first scientific proof this year that human viruses can infect mountain gorillas.

 

Our work as an organization has never been more important. This past year we cared for the largest number of confiscated orphan gorillas ever, and donor support helped ensure our Gorilla Doctors were there to provide the highest level of care. Donor contributions make our work possible. As the holiday season approaches, please consider making a gift to the MGVP. Our good friends, Cleve and Patsy Moler, of New Mexico, USA, have agreed to match gifts made between now and the end of the year, dollar-for-dollar up to $50,000. Your contribution will have twice the impact in helping save mountain gorillas.