Silverback Bikingi feeding

Gorilla Doctors routinely trek into the gorilla parks in Rwanda, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo to observe habituated gorillas with their trained veterinary eyes for any subtle signs of illness or injury.  In this way, our veterinarians get to know individual gorillas and what “normal” is, so that we’re better prepared to notice an aberration from normal – something that might warrant an intervention.

On November 29, 2016 Gorilla Doctors veterinarian Dr. Fred hiked up to the top of Nyeiguru in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park to perform a routine health check on the Bikingi group. He was accompanied by trackers George, Wence and Fulgence as well as Tom, a veterinary student from Makerere University.

The gorillas were feeding and Dr. Fred reported that all 22 gorillas in the group were very calm, including silverback Bikingi. Apart from a very minor cut on Bikingi’s left hand, the physical appearances and feeding levels of the gorillas were good.

Gorilla Doctors veterinarians always appreciate the chance to see healthy gorillas in their forest homes, free of illness and injury – even though they are clinicians at heart, our veterinarians are happiest when there is no reason to have to conduct a clinical intervention to save the life of a gorilla.

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