Gorilla Guardians: How We Treat Wild Gorillas

Gorilla Guardians: How We Treat Wild Gorillas By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Monday, February 1st, 2021 in Blog.

Have you ever wondered how we provide veterinary care when our patients are wild and our hospital is the forest? In this post we take you step-by-step through a real intervention from 2019 when Dr. Fred, a true guardian of gorilla health, trekked deep into the forest to rescue a mountain gorilla from a snare […]

The Positive Ripple Effect of Saving One Mountain Gorilla

The Positive Ripple Effect of Saving One Mountain Gorilla By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Monday, September 14th, 2020 in Blog.

Ruterana, a female mountain gorilla in Rushegura group, who just gave birth on August 29th, makes a great case for the importance of treating individual gorillas for the good of the entire species. Gorilla Doctors first started monitoring and treating Ruterana in 2012 for a heavy parasite burden that was impacting her health. More recently, […]

Guardians of Gorilla Health: Team Uganda

Guardians of Gorilla Health: Team Uganda By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Saturday, August 15th, 2020 in Blog.

Gorilla Doctors began in 1986 as a single American veterinarian stationed in Rwanda. Today, Gorilla Doctors employs 10 full-time veterinarians from Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. This extraordinary team works continuously throughout the year, on-call 24/7 to treat ill and injured mountain and Grauer’s gorillas. Over the next few weeks we’re going […]

Update: Intervention to Treat Lead Silverback of Hirwa Group

Update: Intervention to Treat Lead Silverback of Hirwa Group By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Friday, May 29th, 2020 in Blog.

On March 28th, Dr. Fred first treated Uburanga, the lead silverback of Hirwa group, for mild respiratory illness. In the following days of monitoring, Uburanga’s resipiratory signs resolved but he was mildly lame in his right leg. Dr. Fred administered a second dose of antibiotics on March 31st and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park rangers continued […]

Gorilla Doctors Treat Lead Silverback of Hirwa Group

Gorilla Doctors Treat Lead Silverback of Hirwa Group By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Friday, April 3rd, 2020 in Blog.

On March 28th and again on the 31st, Dr. Fred treated Uburanga, the dominant silverback of Hirwa group, for mild illness. We are happy to report he is recovering and returning to normal levels of activity. Here is a summary of his case and Dr. Fred’s interventions: Hirwa group is originally from Volcanoes National Park, […]

Our Work Continues

Our Work Continues By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Friday, March 27th, 2020 in Blog.

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the work of Gorilla Doctors and our monitoring of gorilla health has become more important than ever as we are the only organization in the world dedicated to providing veterinary care to ill or injured eastern gorillas (mountain and Grauer’s). Together with government wildlife authorities we continue our […]

Mountain Gorilla Shida Receives Ongoing Treatment

Mountain Gorilla Shida Receives Ongoing Treatment By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Friday, February 14th, 2020 in Blog.

UPDATE: On February 17th, Dr. Ricky successfully administered a second dose of deworming medication and multi-vitamins. Shida was showing some improvement, while still shy and moving slowly, she was feeding more and her hair coat condition was also improving. START Original Post first published 2/14/2020 – You may remember Shida from last January, as she […]

Lightning Strikes Mountain Gorillas in Uganda

Lightning Strikes Mountain Gorillas in Uganda By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Friday, February 7th, 2020 in Blog.

It is with great sadness we share this report with you. On Monday, February 3rd, Hirwa group in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park (Uganda) was struck by lightning during a severe storm, instantly killing four mountain gorillas in the group, including a pregnant female. Prior to the lightning strike, Hirwa group was comprised of 17 gorillas, […]

Silverback Munyinya Treated for Respiratory Infection

Silverback Munyinya Treated for Respiratory Infection By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Wednesday, January 29th, 2020 in Blog.

On January 2nd, Mgahinga Gorilla National Park trackers first reported to Gorilla Doctors that dominant silverback Munyinya, had a mild cough.  Munyinya leads Hirwa group, which crossed into Mgahinga from Volcanoes National Park back in August 2019. Munyinya’s condition deteriorated over the next few days, prompting a partial intervention on Sunday, January 5th. The following […]

BREAKING: New Mountain Gorilla Numbers Announced!

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

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 […]