Snare Rescue in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

Snare Rescue in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Wednesday, May 4th, 2022 in Blog.

On Wednesday April 27 Gorilla Doctors received an emergency call from Bwindi Impenetrable National Park rangers reporting that a sub-adult male mountain gorilla in Bitukura group had a wire snare around his left forearm. This is the second snare in Bwindi this year: in early January 2022 a blackback in Kahungye group was snared and […]

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 […]

Growing Up Gorilla

Growing Up Gorilla By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Thursday, July 2nd, 2020 in Blog.

The first year of life is full of challenges when trying to grow into a strong, healthy gorilla in the wild! The greatest threats to infant mountain gorillas are trauma (e.g. snares, injuries) and illness, and health threats to infants can have population level impact over time1. In the case of endangered mountain gorillas where […]

Silverback Rafiki: Mountain Gorilla Killed by Poachers in Uganda

Silverback Rafiki: Mountain Gorilla Killed by Poachers in Uganda By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Saturday, June 13th, 2020 in Blog.

On June 12th, Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) released a statement on the death of Rafiki, the lead and only silverback of Nkuringo group in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Uganda. Gorilla Doctors’ post-mortem examination on Rafiki revealed that the likely cause of death was the result of injury from a sharp device/object that penetrated his left […]

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 […]

Gorilla Doctors Rescue Infant Mountain Gorilla from Snare

Gorilla Doctors Rescue Infant Mountain Gorilla from Snare By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Wednesday, August 28th, 2019 in Blog.

On August 17th at 3:20PM local time, park rangers in Mgahinga Gorilla National Park found an infant gorilla trapped in a poacher’s snare, hanging from a bamboo pole. The infant and mother were struggling to remove the snare while three silverbacks were chest-beating and charging, making it impossible for trackers to try and cut the […]