Title: Clinical Diagnostics Manager
Gorilla Doctor Since: 2011
Favorite Part of the Job: Ensuring that the teams have the necessary medication and medical supplies for the gorillas’ health, and making sure our back-up pharmacy is well-stocked. But my absolute favorite part is when I am with my colleagues, carrying out a veterinary intervention on a gorilla in the forest.
Memorable Moment: I will never forget a veterinary intervention we carried out with the Amahoro gorilla group. We had to treat a baby with severe respiratory illness. For hands on treatment, we first had to dart both the baby and her mother. During the intervention, out of nowhere, the dominant silverback charged at Dr. Mike (Cranfield), knocking him to the ground. Despite the chaos, Mike stayed calm, holding onto the baby gorilla. When I see that same baby gorilla now grown and a mother herself, those memories come flooding back.
Favorite Animal/s (besides gorillas of course): Dogs are also one of my favorite animals – what I find most fascinating is their unconditional love.
Select Publications
- Anoplocephalid tapeworms in mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) inhabiting the Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda, Parasitology, 2024.
- Heterogeneity in patterns of helminth infections across populations of mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei), Scientific Reports, 2021.
- Haemosporidia of grey crowned cranes in Rwanda, Folia Parasitology, 2021.
