A world without gorillas?
Not on our watchIn the early 1980s mountain gorillas were on the brink of extinction. Dian Fossey knew that veterinary care could make all the difference. With the arrival of the first Gorilla Doctor in 1986, we have been safeguarding the health of the population ever since.
Saving a Species, One Gorilla at a Time
>260
mountain gorillas = 4.1%.
Unhabituated
mountain gorillas = -0.7%
Meet Umoja
Umoja is a healthy, thriving adult female mountain gorilla. But her future was not always certain. In 2008, as an infant, she nearly died from a traumatic injury. She would not survive without a medical intervention.
Gorilla Doctors performed emergency surgery in the forest while surrounded by her gorilla family. Umoja made a full recovery. In 2014, she left Kwitonda group and peacefully integrated into Hirwa group where she gave birth to her first infant in 2016 (Inkingi) and her second in 2020 (Iratuje). Both are growing up healthy under our watchful care. Inkingi is now a sub-adult—perhaps he will lead his own group when he becomes a silverback!
Meet a few more of our healthy gorilla patients.
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Thriving Gorillas
Muturengere
Silverback, Isimbi group
Ruterana
Adult Female, Rushegura group
Kibumba
Infant, Rushegura group
Ineza
Infant, Igisha group
Mountain gorilla rescued from a snare, Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda 2020. Now a thriving juvenile.
Ineza
February 2025
Ineza is now a thriving juvenile after being rescued from a snare in 2020 (previous image).
Wilungula
Infant, Bonane group
Malaika
Adult Female, Katwe group
Won’t You Join Us?
Not only do we believe that gorillas and humans can thrive together, we are making it happen. Decades of groundbreaking science and thousands of ‘forest calls’ to keep our gorilla patients healthy fuels our unwavering commitment toward this healthy, thriving future.
And we are just getting started.
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