Amahoro means peace in Kinyarwanda.  Yesterday was a routine health check for Amahoro group and we found the group to be very peaceful!  We walked up the gentle slopes of the saddle between Sabinyo and Visoke volcanoes through a bamboo forest, finally arriving at a lovely valley.  Sabyinyo and Mikeno volcanoes were beautiful in the morning sun, and we could see across the valley to Congo!

Mikeno volcano – the only volcano in the Virunga range that is totally in DRC.

The group was on a hill above the valley, so the trackers and I headed up the slope for the health check.   On our way up we found a snare set for bushbuck.  The snare was only 100 meters from the gorilla group and very near the trail they might have used to come down the slope they were on.   Ramond cut it, and we were on our way, but I was worried because where there is one snare there are usually others.  While Ramond and I were with the gorillas the other trackers did a small patrol and found one more snare. Tomorrow the wildlife authority here in Rwanda, RDB, will send a full patrol to comb the area for snares.

Snare set for bushbuck right on a trail used by gorillas.

Ramond cut the snare.As we slowly walked up the slope making gorilla comforting vocalizations we came to a lovely scene.  Ubumwe, the chief silverback was sitting in the sun grooming  his beautiful coat, flanked by Mbele and Kubaha and their children.   Here’s a video of this peaceful grooming session.  Kubaha and her 2.5-year-old son Abashitsi are in the foreground with Mbili and her 3-month-old infant Umurage and her 4-year-old daughter Agaseke are behind Ubumwe.

Here’s Kubaha intently grooming Abashitsi’s leg. Kubaha has moved on to the chin of Abashitsi. Ubumwe is making sure his hands and arms are clean!

Ramond and I left that lovely scene to find the others, and ran into Himbara and Ibigwi playing like crazy. They were clearly in good health! Here is a video:

We had to look a bit to find Karisimbi – Ramond informed me that she doesn’t like Ubumwe so she stays on the periphery of the group.  And we didn’t find Itusa before it was time for me to leave – Ramond told me she is very fast and often slips away unnoticed!  But he will be sure to find her before the day is done, and report back if there are any health issues.  The last gorilla we found was Kajoriti, the second in command.  He was sitting quietly in the sun, looking to be enjoying a moment of solitude.  Ramond and I watched for a bit, then backed away to leave him in peace.

Kajoriti, the silverback who is second in command of Amahoro group.

This blog was written by Jean Bosco Noheli or Noel, MGVP's Regional Laboratory Technician. Noel, a recent veterinary school graduate, recently began joining the Gorilla Doctors on their regular health monitoring visits in Volcanoes National Park.

This is my 11^th visit to the gorillas for routine health checks and today I visited Sabyinyo, which has few individuals and is lead by the silverback Guhonda. In this experience with gorillas, I saw the youngest baby in the group, Umulinzi’s infant who was born 10 days ago.  The way I found Umulinzi protecting her infant significantly relates to her name. Umulinzi is the Kinyarwanda word which means a protector! When the mother recognized our presence in the group, she made a short vocalization and straight away took the baby to her chest with two arms.  Soon she was comfortable with our presence, and she and the baby settled down to sleep.

Umulinzi protecting her infant.

Umulinzi is sleeping with the baby on her chest.A Gorilla with a PhD

In this group I also found a gorilla with poor hair distribution on the head (he must be a PhD!). It is really amazing to see this guy who is so easy to identify.  We were lucky to find him today because last time I visited this group they were in the bamboo zone, and they climbed quite high into the bamboo making it very difficult to see individuals.

Isheza Keza - the guy with the PhD!

51^st visit to the Gorillas

As we left the gorillas after about one hour observing each individual, we met the tourist group coming to Sabyinyo that day.  There was a man who was coming to visit gorillas for his 51^st time as tourist!  We also met Steve Taylor, the director of the Cleveland Zoo, and some of his friends.  All congratulated MGVP for our efforts in caring for the health of these rare animals.

Is it possible for Kids to Scare Buffalos?

In Virunga National Park we find other wild animals such as elephants and buffalos.  The park is surrounded by plantations of potatoes. Today when got out of the forest, just beyond the park border, we saw two little girls sitting in a potato plantation beating jerry-can drums in order to prevent the buffalos from grazing in their field.  We found it interesting that this was a job for little girls!

Gorilla’s habitat as seen from Sabyinyo group's location.

I myself congratulate MGVP for performing this hard work and feel happy to be a part of the Gorillas Doctor team. I will say thanks to late Diane Fossey who requested veterinary care for these lovely animals. Also thank you to those of you who read our stories to learn about mountain gorillas and those of you who help save their lives by supporting those who take care of them.

Dr. Noel. Use of masks and keeping a distance are two of the ways to protect gorillas from human disease transmission.

Munyinya is the silverback for Hirwa group.  He looks over a family of five adult females and their infants.  This week’s health check was a pleasure – the family was resting and playing in the bamboo zone, and as usual the kids were playing like crazy all around Muyinya.  At one point I could see him through the bamboo laying in the sun looking quite relaxed.  All of a sudden there was a big crash as Imbundu and two others, along with the branch they were playing on, fell to the ground inches from the chief.  Munyinya jumped to his feet and pig-grunted loudly, looking quite annoyed.  He slapped the ground and the kids scattered.  As he laid back down, the kids all came back and he made nice contentment vocalizations. The episode was over and peace reigned once again.

Impundu is a bit of a trouble maker in other ways – he was very interested in the tracker and I, and was approaching us much too closely.  Clearly he didn’t respect the MGVP rule of maintaining 21 feet of distance between humans and gorillas in order to decrease the risk of disease transmission.  We backed up and made pig-grunt vocalizations telling him to move away.  He stopped briefly and did a little display, then moved on to the group to play.  The little boys played like crazy the whole time we were observing!

A great view of Mikeno and Visoke from Hirwa group’s home range.

As the group moved out of the bamboo and into a large field of thistle and celery we noticed that Magahane had a healing wound above her left eye, but nothing to worry about.Kabatwa was enjoying thistle for breakfast. She has had the broken little finger for a long time. The young males are always the picture of mischief…The group was very content in general this morning. At one point they were napping in the sun, looking very comfortable indeed!

We heard one little cough-like noise, but we later watched Magahane eating gallium, a sticky vine-like plant that frequently makes the gorillas choke a bit, so at the end of the day and this observation, Hirwa group was declared healthy!

Mukunda is the 15-year-old son of Senkwekwe. He is a sliverback who saw his father, mother and five other family members shot and killed in Congo in 2007. At the time he was a blackback gorilla who helped the remaining family to flee the horror of that day. He has been living in Rugendo group, a small remnant of the original family with only one adult female. At 15 years of age, and a young silverback, he was ready to find a family of his own, and started leaving the group for long periods of time. He has recently become a lone silverback, and is roaming the forest and outside the forest, covering many kilometers each day.

Last month I received a call from Emmanuel, the Chief Park Warden for PNVi in Congo. Mukunda was 10 km outside the park, 300 meters from the main road to Rumangabo. He had been outside the park for almost 2 weeks and was destroying crops. The people who lived in that area were very mad, and understandably so - this was a dangerous situation for Mukunda, and for the local villagers. He needed to be moved back to the forest, and the only way to do that was to anesthetize him and carry him back, well inside the forest.  

Mukunda very near a house in the village.Eating bananasThis was a huge responsibility. We had to keep this silverback gorilla anesthetized for at least 5 hours while he was carried over steep hills, through villages and then via truck to the forest edge where he had to be carried as deep into the forest as we could get. The procedure was not without risk, but after long discussions with Emmanuel, Dr. Eddy and Dr.Jacques, we realized that the potential risks were well outweighed by the benefits of moving him. If we did not move Mukunda he could be killed. We immediately put together a plan to go to him the next day. As we gathered our veterinary team, Innocent, the ICCN (the wildlife authority in Congo) ranger in charge of that area, gathered a great team of experienced rangers and volunteers to carry Mukunda. He also had a large wooden platform with handles built to hold Mukunda’s weight, and purchased mattresses so that this heavy animal was not bruised on the trip.

The morning of the intervention Dr. Eddy, Dr. Arthur and I started very early from Goma and drove to the spot where Mukunda was last seen. We came to a spot where we could see hundreds of people in the fields, following Mukunda. It took us about 30 minutes to walk to where he was from the road, and all along the way more and more people appeared. NOT the best environment for a dicey gorilla anesthesia…

Dr. Eddy darted him very successfully in the banana field, while surrounded by villagers. The volunteers and rangers tried to keep people back, but it isn’t every day there is a 350 lb gorilla in your back yard…  We could see the path of destruction Mukunda had left - banana trees were down, bean fields looked plowed, and throngs of people covered the fields. Dr. Eddy, Dr. Arthur and I quickly collected our samples, and Mukunda was hoisted onto a wooden platform with handles. At least 350 lbs. We had 10 men on each side of the platform laboring through the village, walking for over an hour to the road where the truck was waiting. It was a hot, sunny day, with no breeze at all, we had a whole village following us, and the noise was crazy. 

Mukunda on the way to the waiting truckMonitoring anesthesia under these conditions was difficult – and the people carrying him were working hard. We put him down each 10 minutes to take a pulse, respiratory rate and temperature. Each time the platform went up or down there were groans as these strong men struggled not to drop him. They encouraged each other, and there were shouts of “polepole!!!”, which means “slowly slowly!” in Swahili. It was a long walk for everyone. Once we got him into the truck Dr. Eddy and I stayed with Mukunda so that we could monitor him, and administer more drugs when necessary. It was a bit surreal, but Mukunda did well. Then another hour to get him back to the forest. We dealt with a slight bloat of his stomach from the drugs we administered, and his body temperature rose precariously – but stabilized once we covered him in a wet sheet. We were also very concerned about all of the human contact. There was so much potential for disease transmission. Fortunately, when we got back to the lab the next day and analyzed Mukunda’s blood we found no abnormalities.

Dr. Eddy and Mukunda in the truckWe finally found a good spot in the shade to administer the reversal drugs, and Mukunda slowly woke up. As he regained his strength he looked through the small gathering of rangers and veterinarians, his eyes stopped on Dr. Eddy, as if he remembered him – maybe from the darting!  It was time for us to go back to the lab and sort through our samples and restock the darting kit. Innocent had a ranger stay with Mukunda the rest of the day.

Mukunda waking from anesthesiaWe learned that Mukunda was back to himself the next day, and he did stay in the park for several days, but unfortunately he decided to raid crops again and was chased back into the park by rangers. Several days later there was a Mukunda sighting in Rwanda – he had crossed the border and was coming outside the park in Rwanda now! Poor guy – we were really fearing for his life at this point. There were many discussions with the wildlife authorities of both countries, brainstorming about how to keep this magnificent young silverback in the park. This wandering outside the park was not his fault – he was habituated as a very young animal to accept human presence, and his habitat has been reduced by human encroachment. But people and gorillas MUST live together in harmony if gorilla conservation is to work. 

We talked of erecting an electric fence – this has worked for wayward elephants in other parts of the park. We talked of airlifting him to a remote location much like we do bears in the US, but the habitat is not large enough for Mukunda – he walks kilometers every day. We talked of extremely negative reinforcement if he leaves the park, but this could be dangerous. In the meantime Mukunda decided he liked it better in his home country and crossed back to DRC, and seemed to be staying inside the park. We all breathed a bit of a sigh of relief, but it was short lived.

Mukunda raided the market at Kibumba, a village in DRC on the road to Rumangabo. This was a terrible and very dangerous situation. People were very angry – Mukunda was destroying crops and structures. We had to move him again or he would surely be killed. This time, as we drove on the main road to Rumangabo, there was no mistaking Mukunda’s position. Hundreds, if not over a thousand people were gathered, and Mukunda was nearly on the road. As we prepared our dart people chased him into the village. Have a look at the photos below which illustrate this difficult event.

Preparing the dart with many onlookers; Dr.Mike, Dr. Jan, Dr. Eddy and Dr. Noel.Trying to keep curious people away for safety reasonsAfter Dr. Eddy darted him he went to the top of this small hill and quietly went to sleepAs always, we took as many samples of blood, skin, feces, and urine as we could to learn as much as we could from this opportunity.We loaded him onto the truck and took him back to the forest once again.We watched him closely until he was awake, then returned home to plan how to keep him safe in the forest.For the past week Mukunda has stayed in the forest, but we know it is only a matter of time before he gets himself into trouble again with people.  ICCN is building an electric fence to cover the whole sector that Mukunda ranges – a HUGE job, but this speaks to the dedication of ICCN to save these animals and protect the people who live near them.  Let’s hope and pray this works so that Mukunda can live out his life in the forest as a happy, healthy Mountain Gorilla. 

Each month all Gorilla Doctors gather in Ruhengeri at our regional office for “veterinary rounds.” We also invite Dr. Arthur, the ICCN veterinarian for Virunga National Park in Congo, Dr. Cyprian, our volunteer veterinarian who is helping with our domestic animals cases, and Elisabeth, the Volcanoes Nation Park Veterinary Warden and our dear partner in Rwanda. We meet to discuss cases, specific gorilla medicine subjects, and in general share our experiences and learn from each other. We have such a great team, and each time we get together I am reminded of what a devoted, knowledgeable and hard working group of veterinarians and professionals I am privileged to work with.

From left to right around the table: Dr. Eddy, Dr. Fred, Dr. Julius, Elisabeth, Dr. Magda, Dr. Jacques, Dr. Cyprian and Dr. Arthur.

This month we had several interesting and sometimes difficult cases to discuss. Dr. Magdalena and Dr. Fred had a difficult case with the tiny twin gorilla baby in Bwindi who died shortly after she was found. She was much smaller than her twin, and the suspicion is that the mother could not provide enough milk for both babies to grow well. There was Mukunda, the silverback in DRC who had been out of the forest for almost 2 weeks when Dr. Eddy, Dr. Arthur and I anesthetized him to move him back to the forest – a case with medical and political issues that were good for us to discuss as a team. And of course the Pablo group tragedies of last month. We debrief, discuss all medical and political aspects of each case. We try to learn as much as we can from each situation to apply to the next similar case. This is also a part of capacity building for our regional veterinarians. In addition we try to send each veterinarian to an intensive continuing education experience each year.

Each “rounds” we also discuss a specific subject, and this month we talked about anti-inflammatory drugs – you know, ibuprofen and the like. Probably sounds pretty boring, but it is a great learning opportunity for us to discuss in depth the drugs that we use, so that we always use them wisely! This month JP also gave us a lesson on calibrating our microscopes so that we can accurately measure cells and parasites.  I learned a lot from him that day.

JP during the lecture portion of his presentation

Dr. Eddy looking in the microscope, with Dr. Fred, Dr. Julius, Dr. Arthur, and JP the teacher.You can read the biographies of each of our Gorilla Doctors on the website, but let me tell you a bit more about each of these incredibly dedicated people.

Dr. Eddy and Dr. Fred listening intentlyDr. Eddy and Dr. Jacqes are our Field Veterinarians in the Democratic Republic of Congo.  They are some of the bravest people I know. Remember that Dr. Eddy went to Walikali to confiscate little Njingala, even though it was a “red zone” at the time. Things are beginning to stabilize in Congo where we work, but Drs. Eddy and Jacques must always be alert to rebel activities. Dr. Jacques is our “fixer” in Congo – he can help make almost anything happen when we need it! They currently work with one truck between them, with little complaint – we are working on acquiring another, but funds are limited at the moment!

Dr. Fred is our newest Field Veterinarian, working in Uganda. He came to us with considerable experience with chimpanzees and is working hard to learn all of the habituated gorilla groups in Bwindi! We are trying to secure a microscope for his field station in Bwindi so he can run some simple tests there rather than having to run samples to Kampala or Ruhengeri.

Dr. Julius is our newest Gorilla Doctor. He is setting up an office in Kigali and is the Rwanda Country Coordinator for a program called Predict. He will be coordinating very important work investigating zoonotic diseases in the country (diseases that can move between animals and people).  Dr. Julius also comes to us with chimpanzee experience, but will now gain experience with many species as he investigates diseases.

Elisabeth has been working as a veterinary technician with mountain gorillas for over 20 years. Her experience and wisdom make her an invaluable partner to MGVP, and we lean on her when we are making difficult field decisions. She is not only our partner, but a good friend to each of us.

Dr. Julius and Elisabeth listening soaking up the information JP was presenting!Jean Paul (JP) is the manager of our Employee Health Program. He works so very hard to be sure all trackers, guides and rangers have their annual physical examinations, receive their results, receive treatment, etc. He also compiles all results and reports and works with doctors and hospitals in all 3 countries. In addition is the lab manager when he is in the office, and is our resident microbiologist. He just returned from an intensive course in primate parasitology in Germany, and will be presenting what he learned there at our next rounds!

Dr. Noel joined us last October as a laboratory technician. He recently received his veterinary degree from ISAE and did his final project looking at parasites in cows around the park. He is hard working, dedicated to learning, and loves working in the lab. We hope to send him to the United States for intensive labwork experience sometime this year once we raise the airfare.

Dr. Magdalena is our Regional Field Veterinarian, and she stands ready to work in all 3 countries if and when needed. She has the most experience in our regional team on management of respiratory diseases, and works a lot with the confiscated orphan gorillas in Kinigi. Like Fred and Julius, she absolutely adores chimps, but we do not hold that against any of them!  

Not present at rounds this month were Dr. Jean Felix, who is pursuing masters in Public Health in Kigali at the moment, Dr. Benard, who is the Uganda Country Coordinator, and Drs. Mike and Kirsten, our fearless and dedicated leaders who work non-stop behind the scenes to keep us on track!

Dr. Eddy, Dr. Noel, Dr. Fred and Dr. Julius.

The days we have our monthly veterinary rounds are long, but we always try to end with dart practice for fun. We use a banana tree in the back yard as our target – he’s still alive, although a bit tattered, especially around the “bull’s eye”!

Still going strong after many target practices!We are a team of veterinarians and professionals working toward the same goal – gorilla health and conservation. We do that by direct gorilla care, human health care, domestic animal health care. One Health.