Our Hospital is the Forest: Gorilla Doctors treat a mountain gorilla in Susa group

Our Hospital is the Forest: Gorilla Doctors treat a mountain gorilla in Susa group By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Tuesday, May 30th, 2023 in Blog.

Monday, May 8 started out as a quiet day at the Gorilla Doctors regional headquarters in Musanze, Rwanda. Drs. Gaspard and Adrien worked at their desks catching up on field reports and Dr. Julius was off-site at a meeting. Then the call came in… When the Call Comes Umwari, an adult female mountain gorilla in […]

The Lonely Loved One

The Lonely Loved One By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Monday, January 16th, 2023 in Blog.

By Dr. Gaspard Nzayisenga, field veterinarian, Rwanda During my health monitoring of Muhoza group on January 5, I was surprised to find Inkundwa, a lone silverback mountain gorilla, interacting with Muhoza group (led by silverback Muhoza). Apparently, there had been a fight early that morning before our arrival, which resulted in a couple of minor […]

Gorilla Doctors Brings One Health to Gorillas and People in Rwanda

Gorilla Doctors Brings One Health to Gorillas and People in Rwanda By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Thursday, October 1st, 2020 in Blog.

Gorilla Doctors’ mission is to conserve wild mountain and eastern lowland (Grauer’s) gorillas using veterinary medicine, science and a One Health approach. One Health recognizes the intrinsic connection between people, animals and the environment – especially when the environment is shared, as is the case with people and wild gorillas in East-Central Africa, one of […]

Growing Up Gorilla Part 2: Kwita Izina

Growing Up Gorilla Part 2: Kwita Izina By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Wednesday, September 23rd, 2020 in Blog.

Kwita Izina –  “to give a name” – is the annual Rwandan ceremony for naming each of the infant mountain gorillas born in the previous year. The celebration first began in 2004, inspired by the ancient Rwandan tradition of families gathering friends to welcome a new baby. The annual celebration honors not only the new […]

Guardians of Gorilla Health: Meet Team Rwanda

Guardians of Gorilla Health: Meet Team Rwanda By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Friday, August 28th, 2020 in Blog.

This month we launched Meet the Gorilla Doctors: Guardians of Gorilla Health to introduce you in more detail than ever before to our dedicated team of Ugandan, Congolese and Rwandan veterinarians working to protect the health of endangered mountain gorillas and critically endangered Grauer’s gorillas. Their internationally-recognized work in conservation medicine, and infectious disease research […]

Growing Up Gorilla Doctors

Growing Up Gorilla Doctors By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Monday, August 3rd, 2020 in Blog.

“The mountain gorillas will be extinct by 2000. We need a veterinarian on site.” According to mountain gorilla lore, Dian Fossey said this to Ruth Morris Keesling at the international symposium, ‘What We Can Learn about Humankind from Apes,’ held in California in May 1981. The genesis of Gorilla Doctors began with those six words […]

Infant Mountain Gorilla Rescued from Snare in Volcanoes National Park

Infant Mountain Gorilla Rescued from Snare in Volcanoes National Park By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Tuesday, July 28th, 2020 in Blog.

On Sunday July 26th, Gorilla Doctors received an emergency call at 12:20PM from Volcanoes National Park staff – two-year-old infant Ineza of Igisha group was caught in a snare. Despite the time constraints (it was a minimum 90-minute hike after a 50-minute drive to reach the park entry point from Gorilla Doctors headquarters), Drs. Noel, […]

The Remarkable Healing of Silverback Gihishamwotsi

The Remarkable Healing of Silverback Gihishamwotsi By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Thursday, July 23rd, 2020 in Blog.

Sabyinyo group had been out of range for about 10-days when Volcanoes National Park rangers first spotted their return to the area on May 25th. Dominant silverback Gihishamwotsi had clearly been in a fight, with wounds all over his body, so rangers immediately reported his condition to Gorilla Doctors. We mobilized for a veterinary monitoring […]

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 Mountain Gorillas for Respiratory Infection

Gorilla Doctors Treat Mountain Gorillas for Respiratory Infection By Gorilla Doctors Staff on Friday, January 31st, 2020 in Blog.

Since January 3rd, Gorilla Doctors Rwanda team has been closely monitoring and treating mountain gorillas in Isimbi group for a respiratory disease outbreak. What follows is a timeline of our monitoring visits, clinical interventions and a report on the unfortunate death of adult female Duhirwe and the loss of her pregnancy. We will post a […]