Thanks to funds provided by Partners in Conservation, a nonprofit based out of the Columbus Zoo, Gorilla Doctors has been able to expand the veterinary team and give another staff member a much-deserved promotion this month.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Dr. Martin Kabuyaya Balyananziu was hired as a field veterinarian to assist Head DRC Field Veterinarian Dr. Eddy in providing veterinarian care to DRC’s mountain and Grauer’s gorillas and the orphans at Senkwekwe. A graduate of the University of Lubumbashi of School of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Martin managed the serological service for the veterinary laboratory in Goma and taught anatomy and animal science courses at Kivu University before joining Gorilla Doctors.
“I am very excited to join the Gorilla Doctors family,” says Dr. Martin. “I won’t just be working with wildlife; I will make a contribution towards saving and protecting mountain gorillas through health reporting and performing medical interventions with the other Gorilla Doctors.”
Dr. Jacques Iyanya, who worked alongside Dr. Eddy as a field veterinarian in DRC for 7 years, will now manage the administration of Gorilla Doctors’ DRC projects from our Goma office so that he can spend more time with his family.
In Rwanda, Dr. Jean Bosco Noheri, or Noel as we like to call him, was promoted to the position of Rwanda In-Country Field Veterinarian. He will work with Rwanda Head Field Veterinarian Dr. Jean-Felix to look after the health of the mountain gorillas in Volcanoes National Park. Dr. Noel has managed the laboratory as our Musanze headquarters since 2009 and has also assisted in interventions in Rwanda, Uganda, and DRC. We are very proud that Dr. Noel, who began interning for the Gorilla Doctors as a veterinary medicine student in 2008, has become a fully-fledged Gorilla Doctor.
You can follow the Gorilla Doctors health monitoring efforts on our Facebook page, where we post photos and notes from our monthly visits.
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