By Gorilla Doctors Staff
on Monday, February 1st, 2021
in Blog.
Have you ever wondered how we provide veterinary care when our patients are wild and our hospital is the forest? In this post we take you step-by-step through a real intervention from 2019 when Dr. Fred, a true guardian of gorilla health, trekked deep into the forest to rescue a mountain gorilla from a snare […]
By Gorilla Doctors Staff
on Tuesday, January 12th, 2021
in Blog.
Today (January 12, 2021) it was announced that multiple western lowland gorillas at the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park (in Escondido, California) tested positive for SARS CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. To date, no wild, human-habituated eastern gorilla has tested positive for coronavirus. Scientific research conducted by Gorilla Doctors and collaborators has shown […]
By Gorilla Doctors Staff
on Tuesday, October 27th, 2020
in Blog.
Grauer’s gorillas are not only the largest sub-species of gorilla, they are the largest primate on the planet. A silverback can reach up to 250kg (~550lbs) and stand over 2m (~6.5ft). Grauer’s, also called eastern lowland gorillas, are found only in eastern DR Congo. Grauer’s gorillas are classified as critically endangered by the International Union […]
By Gorilla Doctors Staff
on Wednesday, October 7th, 2020
in Blog.
Back in July, Dr. Eddy and Jean-Paul successfully removed a snare from Theodore, a two-year-old infant mountain gorilla from Humba group in Virunga National Park, DR Congo. On September 23rd, Drs. Eddy and Fabrice (our newest Gorilla Doctor) conducted a routine health check of Humba group and found Theodore thriving. According to Dr. Eddy’s field […]
By Gorilla Doctors Staff
on Thursday, October 1st, 2020
in Blog.
Gorilla Doctors’ mission is to conserve wild mountain and eastern lowland (Grauer’s) gorillas using veterinary medicine, science and a One Health approach. One Health recognizes the intrinsic connection between people, animals and the environment – especially when the environment is shared, as is the case with people and wild gorillas in East-Central Africa, one of […]
By Gorilla Doctors Staff
on Wednesday, September 23rd, 2020
in Blog.
Kwita Izina – “to give a name” – is the annual Rwandan ceremony for naming each of the infant mountain gorillas born in the previous year. The celebration first began in 2004, inspired by the ancient Rwandan tradition of families gathering friends to welcome a new baby. The annual celebration honors not only the new […]
By Gorilla Doctors Staff
on Monday, September 14th, 2020
in Blog.
Ruterana, a female mountain gorilla in Rushegura group, who just gave birth on August 29th, makes a great case for the importance of treating individual gorillas for the good of the entire species. Gorilla Doctors first started monitoring and treating Ruterana in 2012 for a heavy parasite burden that was impacting her health. More recently, […]
By Gorilla Doctors Staff
on Friday, August 21st, 2020
in Blog.
Last week we launched Meet the Gorilla Doctors: Guardians of Gorilla Health to introduce you in more detail than ever before to our extraordinary team of Ugandan, Congolese and Rwandan veterinarians who work tirelessly to protect the health of endangered mountain gorillas and critically endangered Grauer’s gorillas. Their veterinary conservation medicine has been credited for […]
By Gorilla Doctors Staff
on Saturday, August 15th, 2020
in Blog.
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 […]
By Gorilla Doctors Staff
on Monday, August 3rd, 2020
in Blog.
“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 […]