Gorilla Doctors

Category: Field Procedures, Monitoring Visits | Date: Jun 16 2008 | By: Dr. Lucy for gorilladoctors

Elisabeth and I trekked up to Susa Group again the morning after the intervention for Ururabo and her sick baby. Magda and Jean Felix had gone to Kigali for an important meeting on the topic of gorilla visitation rules, a timely subject. My job today was not only to check on our patient but to send regular updates by phone text to all those who’d helped yesterday. Everyone wanted and deserved to know the outcome.We’d been on the trail for over an hour before the radio call came in from the second tracking team. I caught the gist of it, even in Kinyarwanda. They’d found a fresh trail. Elisabeth translated the details: the trackers were following the trail of a single gorilla who was moving quickly. Ten minutes later, the news was repeated. The trail was heading up in the general direction of Susa Group’s location yesterday. We all believed that Ururabo could easily find her group if she kept moving. She wasn’t more than a kilometer away. But until she made it, we’d worry.

Susa Group gorillas nervous of people the day after Ururabo’s intervention.

The next radio update brought really good news. The trackers had seen Ururabo at a distance. She was carrying the baby. Their plan was to stay well behind, several hundred meters, and quietly follow the mother, prepared to block her way if she chose a mistaken direction. I asked if they could hear Ururabo coughing, a near constant indicator of her location the day before. No, they answered. Ten minutes later, they reported again on her location, adding that the baby was riding on her back, eyes wide open. Elisabeth and I shared a big smile. He’d made it. The rest would be up to his mother.

When we reached Susa Group, Igisha was among the first gorillas to notice our group of four–Elisabeth, myself, Fidel, and Antoine. We were the same people who’d yelled at him the day before. Nevertheless, the silverback sat down near us to eat bamboo shoots, ignoring our presence. Since he wasn’t showing dangerous aggression, we moved slowly into the group to monitor any sick gorillas. Though we spotted Rwandarushya nearby, we couldn’t see her infant. Rain poured down a few minutes later. We backed out of the group and stood under the trees, waiting.

Ururabo eating ravenously after returning to Susa Group the day after anesthetic intervention, Day 21 of the outbreak.

About an hour later, the downpour stopped, but dark skies threatened more rain. We decided to proceed with our visit until the skies opened up again. As we approached Rwandarushya—she hadn’t moved during the rain—a radio call brought the best news of the day: Ururabo had reached the group. We turned and looked back at where we’d left Igisha, in time to see mother and baby appear on the trail. He walked right over to her, put one hand on her back, and then disappeared into the bamboo. She sat down and began eating, despite the misty weather. We backed away, figuring other gorillas would soon come to check out Ururabo.

Poppy with silverback Igisha who bared his teeth in an aggressive yawn directed at the intervention team the day after the procedure.

What happened next took me completely by surprise. All five silverbacks appeared in the clearing while Ururabo began to mix with the other members of the group. The reunion was quiet—no problem (“ntakibazo” in Kinyarwanda.) Slowly but almost in unison, the big males turned their heads in our direction, mouths open and teeth bared. We backed up even more. The trackers cautioned that it would be impossible for us to enter the group now. Some sort of communication had occurred when Ururabo re-entered the group. To the gorillas, the four of us meant trouble.

Silverback Getty in Susa Group monitoring the intervention team the day after the procedure.

Worried about the remaining sick gorillas, we agreed to wait and let the group settle. Two hours later, we’d made little progress. As long as we remained twenty meters from the group, the gorillas didn’t mind our presence. But even one tracker approaching to get a closer look triggered aggressive looks in our direction. Finally, I was able to see that Ruvumu’s infant had a thick nasal discharge; he appeared very lethargic. Rwandarushya’s baby was alert and more active. As for Ururabo, she stayed mostly out of sight. We never heard her or the baby cough.

Ruvumu’s eleven-month-old infant recovering from a repeated cough and nasal discharge, Day 24 of the Susa Group respiratory outbreak.

By the next day, the gorillas had calmed down considerably. Magda, Elisabeth, and I returned with the kit one more time, thinking we might need to get antibiotics into Ruvumu’s baby. At almost a year old, he was big enough to dart. Fortunately, he’d improved. He might not be out of the woods yet, but he certainly seemed strong enough to go another day without our help.

Ururabo reacts to Drs. Spelman and Braum two days after the intervention to treat her and her baby for respiratory disease.

Next we checked on Ururabo. She coughed just once during the hour, and her baby showed absolutely no signs of illness. He slept, nursed, and later rode hanging from her chest, wide-eyed and alert. Ururabo did take notice of us when we first entered the group, but her response was muted. She stared at me, then at Magda; then pursed her lips, walked away, and sat down near the chief. But we couldn’t help second-guessing our clinical success, even three and four days after the procedure. It was the first time we’d used that particular antibiotic for respiratory disease, and it’s not formulated to be long-acting. It’s just highly effective—in humans as well as gorillas. How long would it remain effective?

We also knew any of the other infants who’d been through the cough and runny nose phase could suddenly become ill.

Ururabo’s baby is bright with a clear nose and no cough, five days after treatment.

Five days later, I made another Susa Group check. Ururabo’s baby finally convinced me not to worry about him! He nursed and played in his mother’s arms. He also stared in my direction for what seemed like a long time. His case has given us the confidence to use the same antibiotic in the future for respiratory tract infections. Our intervention on his behalf also yielded valuable samples. Someday we’ll be able to draw conclusions about what caused the outbreak; we hope we’ll also know whether or not those common facial lesions are indeed herpes. As for Ururabo, she already seems to have forgotten who I am.

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