Donate
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 […]
“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 […]
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, […]
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 […]
On Saturday July 11th, Dr. Eddy Kambale Syaluha and Jean-Paul Lukusa successfully removed a snare from Theodore, a two-year-old infant mountain gorilla from Humba group in Virunga National Park, DR Congo. “Our passion is to protect gorillas.” ~ Jean-Paul Lukusa, Gorilla Doctors DRC Team, following the successful snare removal of Theodore As a result of […]
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 […]
At Gorilla Doctors, we regularly report on our work helping ill and injured mountain and Grauer’s gorillas with our hands-on veterinary care. But as you know, gorillas help one another all the time, and sometimes, even help Gorilla Doctors! Keep reading to learn more and discover different ways you can get involved and lend Gorilla […]
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 […]
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 […]
“Dian, if ever you are going to contact gorillas, you must follow their tracks to where they are going rather than backtrack trails to where they’ve been.” ~ Alan Root, photographer This quote comes from Dian Fossey’s book, Gorillas in the Mist, as she recalled Alan’s gorilla tracking advice. It was January 6, 1967 and […]
