A letter from our new Executive Director
Dear Gorilla Doctors Community,
Last month, I traveled to Rwanda with plans to meet our teams across Rwanda, Uganda, and Democratic Republic of the Congo in person for the first time. Just two days after I arrived, DR Congo’s Ministry of Health confirmed the human Ebola disease outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo virus.
Our entire team pivoted to lead efforts to protect eastern gorillas through two priorities: prevention — minimizing the risk of Ebola entering gorilla parks — and preparedness — ensuring we are ready if it does.
To date, our team and the gorillas remain safe and healthy, although tragically this outbreak has claimed far too many human lives and still continues.
While the outbreak changed the focus of my visit, I was glad to be there alongside Dr. Tierra, our Chief Veterinary and Scientific Officer, to support the team. It was heartening to witness the collaborative spirit that emerged — government partners, health authorities, conservation organizations, and key stakeholders coming together — with Gorilla Doctors playing a key leadership role for the wildlife and protected area aspects of the response.
Now three weeks in, our teams on the ground continue to safeguard the health of both gorillas and the park personnel who protect them. We launched initial efforts in Virunga National Park in DR Congo — the park at highest risk given its proximity to known human cases — and are now actively engaged in prevention and preparedness at all five parks where eastern gorillas live across Uganda, DR Congo, and Rwanda. Our teams are working closely with national parks to educate rangers on Ebola prevention and establish hand-washing stations at strategic locations.
We are also deploying hygiene kits and other needed supplies across park patrol posts, conducting health safety workshops, and training ‘first-responder’ teams in the event that Ebola enters one of the gorilla parks. Our laboratory in Rwanda stands ready to process any suspected cases of Ebola disease in wildlife.
Around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda, in addition to the hygiene work, we are developing a new training program for village health workers so they can report cases of sick or dead wildlife around the park, increasing our ‘eyes and ears’ on the ground to improve our response rate across large geographic areas.
It is a time for action, and we are doing our part within the broader effort coordinated by the Ministries of Health, wildlife authorities, and the Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration under our collaborative Pandemic Fund grant.
Our ability to move quickly while maintaining our core daily work caring for injured and sick gorillas is possible because of the loyal support of the Gorilla Doctors community. We are a dedicated and highly effective team focused on keeping eastern gorillas healthy, as we have been for the past 40 years. Thank you for your trust and for keeping our teams on the ground in your thoughts during this time.
We will continue to share updates about our response efforts HERE.
With appreciation,
Sonya Kahlenberg, PhD
Executive Director
