Gorilla Doctors

Category: Field Procedures, Orphaned Mountain Gorillas | Date: Jul 07 2008 | By: Dr. Jan Ramer for gorilladoctors

Killings and a New Orphan (7.25.07)

From one year ago…

Four mountain gorillas shot dead by someone in the Democratic Republic of Congo on July 24th

Most of us were in Kigali for Rwanda’s first-ever scientific biodiversity conference when we heard the horrible news.  Four or more gorillas been shot in the DRC, inside the Parc National de Virunga, and there was at least one new orphan clinging to a young male gorilla.  Its mother and the group’s silverback had been killed, along with several others.  Equally disturbing, these deaths were the result of an ongoing feud between a number of individuals vying for control of the resources around the park, like charcoal production and mining.  Ndakasi’s mother had been kiilled for the same reason.

We gathered to discuss what to do about the baby.  This was a life-threatening, human-induced problem; it was well within our mandate to intervene.  But was it safe?  David, Jacques, and Eddy left right away for Goma, but not before I convinced them to slow down a bit and make proper plans.  They needed to make sure the local officials in the DRC were supportive of the rescue effort and would provide security.  Simon and the staff of the Diane Fossey Gorilla Fund International in Goma would be ready to help care for the infant.   If possible, we also wanted to necropsy the dead gorillas.

Four-year-old Dushishoze in Pablo Group in Rwanda with a rope snare wound around his wrist prior to MGVP intervention July 26th. Photo courtesy Veronica Vellecellio.

Simultaneously, we heard more bad news.  Dushishoze, a four-year old-in Pablo Group, reportedly had been caught in a snare.  At that point, I debated whether or not to continue my own plan to leave that afternoon for the United States, for a break and a much-needed visit to my dentist.  I thought, why does everything happen at once?  On the other hand, we’ve got a good team, and this is a chance to build everyone’s experience.  I checked in with project director Dr. Mike Cranfield in Maryland.  He agreed the team should go ahead.  Eliisabeth would check on Dushishoze the next day while Jean Felix gave his presentation at the meeting.  They’d both go to the field the following day, accompanied by David on his return from DRC, to remove the snare if necessary.

Tired and depressed, I got on the plane a few hours later.   If the team found the new orphan, it would be the third mountain gorilla removed from the forest in the seven months I’ve worked for the vet project.  The plan all along has been to reintroduce the orphaned gorillas back to the wild when they reach reproductive age.  Is this really feasible?  I wish we didn’t have to try.

I checked in with everyone as frequently as I could over the next 36 hours as I made my way to Washington, D.C.  From the Brussels airport, I learned that the officials in the DRC had organized a team to go with MGVP to look for the infant.  They might not allow the necropsies, however.  The ICCN park staff wanted to have a mass burial of the dead gorillas.  Distressingly, it appeared that  other gorillas were missing from the same group.  In Rwanda, the snare around Dushishoze’s wrist did indeed need to come off.   Since he didn’t seem to be in great discomfort, though, the team was going to wait a day in the hope that his mother or the other gorillas might remove it on their own.  From the Dulles airport, I learned that the snare was still in place; Dushishoze would have to be anesthetized the next day.

Andre Bauma of the ICCN offers Ndeze her first bottle in the field.

Meanwhile, the new orphan had been rescued, identified as Ndeze, and put in Andre’ care.  Andre has a magical touch with infant gorillas.  Though officially a park ranger, he seems to be spending most of his time these days raising babies.  A skilled tracker, he normally works inside the park for the ICCN (Institute for the Conservation of Nature) in the DRC.  Fortunately, both he and the ICCN officials have said yes everytime MGVP and DFGFI have asked for his help in raising orphans.  He’d brought a bottle for the baby with him into the field, and she took to it right away.  This was the good news.  What would or should happen to her and Ndakasi down the road was a question that kept floating in and out of my mind.   It’s a decision that really should be made by the ICCN and DRC government officials.  Maybe it—and the increasingly urgent matter of the safety of mountain gorillas in the PNVi—will finally get the attention it deserves.  My blackberry was buzzing with emails from friends who’d heard about the recent killings, asking me if I was okay.

Ndeze (July 26th), an approximately 5-month old mountain gorilla orphaned when her mother was shot in the DRC.

Though the news about Ndeze was good so far, I worried that she’d suffered considerable stress and might be at risk for a health problem.  It was agreed that she would have her own room, separate from Ndakasi’s, in the Goma house rented by DFGFI.  Andre and the other caretakers would have to be very careful not to introduce any sort of infection to her.  The next few days would be critical.  Unfortunately, Ndeze begain to refuse her bottle at the end of the next day.  She appeared to weaken as well.  Simon, who knows the behavior of the orphans very well, felt she was still adjusting and nervous.  David, who’d been in Rwanda helping Jean Felix with Dushishoze (all went well with the anesthesia and the snare was off), rushed back to Goma.  He and I exchanged e-mails and talked by SKYPE.  On physical exam, the new orphan appeared normal.  We agreed to try something very simple—some subcutaneous fluids with a little dextrose.  Sometimes baby animals, whether mammals or birds or reptiles, just need a little boost as they are transitioning to new food and a new environment.

Dr. Eddy Kambale with Andre Bauma and the newest orphan, Ndeze, on July 27th.  After 30 days of isolation, she can join Ndakasi.

Thankfully, the subcutaneous fluids seemed to make a big difference.  Ndeze began to take her bottle again within a few hours and continued to improve the next day.  She clearly began to bond to Andre, settling down and beginning to play.  Eddy returned from the field, where he and Jacques had finished the sample collection from the dead gorillas, and took over the orphan care.  David returned to Rwanda for a rest—we hoped—and I planned to stop reading my blackberry email like a madwoman.  Luckily my dentist understood.  We agreed that my job was actually a pretty good distraction for just about anything, including my sore mouth.

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