Today, I was honored to share virtual space with our partner, Emmanuel de Merode of Virunga National Park here in DR Congo. We discussed the challenges and opportunities of our work – conservation in action.

When you are responsible for protecting the health of an endangered species, the life of each individual patient contributes to the health and survival of the entire population. For a long-lived, slow to reproduce animal, each life we save has tremendous impact.

That’s why Gorilla Doctors’ work to monitor and treat each individual gorilla patient is so important.

Gorilla Doctors is the only organization in the world providing veterinary care to eastern gorillas in the wild in East Central Africa. Across all three gorilla range countries (Rwanda, Uganda, DR Congo), Gorilla Doctors cares for nearly 800 patients with 400+ health checks and about 40 clinical interventions each year.

We are in the forest caring for our patients year-round, rain or shine. Conservation in action is about showing up every day, keeping an eye on the gorillas and helping them stay healthy in the face of many of challenges.

Your support leads to greater population survival outcomes.

One morning this past September, my colleague here in DR Congo, Dr. Lina, was checking on the health a group of critically endangered Grauer’s gorillas near the Ntula swamp in Kahuzi-Biega National Park. The gorillas in the group appeared to be in good health and were feeding on forest plants. And then, as she peered through the vegetation, Dr. Lina discovered TWO newborn gorillas!

I’m happy to share these photos of the newborns with you.

Please consider a gift today to sustain our unique work to protect gorilla health.

Sincerely,

Eddy Kambale Syaluha, Head Veterinarian, DR Congo

Gorilla Doctors

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