Quest: Mountain Gorillas: Discovery Channel

The Gorilla Doctors

MGVP staff, from left: Jospin Mbonekube, Jean Paul Lukusa,
Dr. Jean Felix Kinani and Dr. Eddy Kambale.

MGVP's veterinary staff — collectively, the gorilla doctors — is a unique, diverse and interesting group of people. We differ in terms of our nationality, training and experience, as well as in the territory we cover. The in-country field vets are stationed in their home countries, either Rwanda, Uganda, or the DRC, while the regional vets and project director move about.

MGVP's regional headquarters is located in Ruhengeri (Musanze), Rwanda for two main reasons: Most of the world's habituated mountain gorillas live in Rwanda, and Ruhengeri itself is about halfway between the border with Uganda to the east and Congo to the west.

Dr. Lucy Spelman leads an MGVP team helping a wild giraffe at
Akagera National Park with an infected snare wound.

Though a subset of the six field vets will sometimes work together on a mountain gorilla when veterinary intervention is required, this happens only a few times a year. Typically, we are out and about alone or in pairs.

As regional director, I initiated monthly regional vet rounds so that the vets could get to know each other by sharing experiences and exchanging information. I also make the most of every opportunity to augment their training whether we're in the field or the office. The reality is that veterinary training in Africa falls considerably short of what we receive in the U.S. and Europe. When opportunities arise for mobilizing the entire team I go for it, as in the case of the giraffe in Akagera National Park (Rwanda) needing treatment for a snare wound [Mission Giraffe].

MGVP director Dr. Mike Cranfield also enjoys photography.

MGVP director Dr. Mike Cranfield was one of the first veterinarians to embrace the concept of "one health" (integrated medical coverage) and apply it on behalf of great ape conservation. Mike has led the project since 1999 and is always on the lookout for ways to build local capacity. MGVP has trained a number of in-country vets, helping several to obtain masters and PhD degrees.

Mike has also expanded MGVP programs to include employee and domestic animal health. His greatest challenge these days is raising the funds to sustain all of this important work. A Canadian, Mike currently lives near the Baltimore Zoo in Maryland, where he works as a research veterinarian studying avian malaria in South African penguins. His hobbies include competitive sailboat racing, ice hockey and squash.

Dr. Lucy Spelman, MGVP regional veterinary manager,
and ORTPN vet tech Elisabeth Nyirakaragire prepare for the field. Photo by Julie Ghrist.

I am the one American on the team, having grown up on an old dairy farm in Connecticut with a menagerie of animals. Even before I understood that such jobs actually existed, I wanted to be a doctor helping wild animals.

After college at Brown University, veterinary school at the University of California Davis, internship training in private practice and zoological residency training at North Carolina State University, I worked for the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. for nearly 10 years, first as a clinician and then as director.

But after 16 years as a vet, I'd still never treated patients in their natural habitat. That’s when I decided to apply for a job with MGVP as regional vet manager, a post I took up a little over a year ago. Aside from my work, I love to write, walk and read.

Dr. Jean Felix Kinani, MGVP Rwandan field vet, preparing to dart a
mountain gorilla with ORTPN vet tech Elisabeth Nyirakaragire.

Dr. Jean-Felix Kinani is MGVP's Rwandan in-country field veterinarian. Jean Felix received his veterinary degree from Check Anta University in Dakar, Senegal. He joined MGVP in 2004 and especially enjoys fieldwork with the gorillas. He is also interested in domestic animal health and recently started an annual rabies vaccination program for domestic dogs in the region. Near the Virungas there have been several recent cases of rabies in jackals and feral dogs; humans too have died of this disease.

Jean Felix is the project's great communicator. He speaks many languages, knows many people and has by far the highest cell-phone bill. His hobbies include playing and watching soccer, or football as it is known here. He and his veterinarian wife have just started a family.

Jean-Paul Lukusa, MGVP regional laboratory manager, teaches basic
hygiene at Art of Conservation class. Photo by Julie Ghrist.

Jean-Paul Lukusa is MGVP's regional laboratory manager. He received his degree in microbiology from L'Institute Superior Médicale in the Democratic Republic of Congo and then worked as a professor at a medical school in Rwanda before joining MGVP in 2003. Jean Paul lives in Goma, DRC, but commutes regularly to MGVP's main office in Rwanda. His duties range from running fecal parasite checks and bacterial cultures on mountain gorilla samples to administering the MGVP employee health program. The latter job involves coordinating doctor visits and laboratory samples for hundreds of park rangers, guides and patrols each year.

Jean Paul is MGVP's most gifted teacher and public speaker. And, as we learned when he participated in Julie Ghrist's Art of Conservation class (www.art-of-conservation.com), he can make even brushing one's teeth exciting!

Dr. John Bosco Nizeyi, MGVP research veterinarian and professor, at
Makerere University in Uganda.

Dr. John Bosco Nizeyi is MGVP's research veterinarian and a professor in the wild animal resource management department of Makerere University in Uganda. JBN (he's known by his initials) received his veterinary degree at Makerere, his masters of science in recreational resources from Colorado State University and his PhD in veterinary medicine at Makerere University in 2005. He has worked for MGVP since 1993, when he started as a field vet. His research interests include the use of fecal cortisol testing to monitor stress levels in wild animals.

Because JBN lives in Kampala, a long way from mountain gorilla habitat, and his days are full of teaching and guiding students, we don’t see him often. But when we do get together for an all-staff meeting in Kisoro, Uganda, everyone looks to JBN for his historical knowledge and experience.

Dr. Benard Ssebide, MGVP Ugandan in-country field vet, on a routine
health check in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda.

Dr. Benard Ssebide is MGVP's Ugandan in-country field veterinarian and the team’s newest staff member. Benard (yes, this is the correct spelling) received his veterinary degree and masters of Science in wildlife health and management from Makerere University in Uganda. For six years, he worked for the Ugandan Wildlife Authority as veterinarian and chief park warden, based in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. During that time he became a collaborator and friend of MGVP.

He joined the project early in 2007 to concentrate on field vet work rather than administration. Benard has a keen interest in wildlife diseases and will begin work on his PhD soon. With a home in Kampala and his patients spread out among dense jungle, Benard travels more miles over rough terrain than the rest of MGVP staff combined.

Dr. Jacques Iyanya, MGVP DRC field vet, monitoring
gorillas in Kahuzi Biega National Park.

Dr. Jacques Iyanya is one of MGVP's two in-country field veterinarians based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He received his veterinary degree from the University of Lubumbashi in the DRC then worked for the Department of Agriculture and Development in the eastern part of the country before joining MGVP in 2004. His duties include monitoring mountain gorillas on the DRC side of the Virungas and Grauer's gorillas in the Kahuzi-Biega National Park. He and his colleague, Dr. Eddy Kambale, also take care of the two newest infant mountain gorillas in Goma, DRC.

Jacques speaks perfect French, is exceptionally well connected and diplomatic and understands DRC's complicated political system. As a result, he often accepts the role of MGVP political adviser. He is rapidly learning English, and will soon be correcting me in my native language as well as in French!

Dr. Eddy Kambale, MGVP DRC field vet, helps care for
the orphaned mountain gorillas in addition to his field work.

Dr. Eddy Kambale is the other MGVP in-country field veterinarian based in the DRC. Eddy received his veterinary degree at the Catholic University of Graben, Butembo, in the DRC. Before joining the MGVP in 2004, he was a scholar at the Technical Institute for Agriculture and Veterinary Science in Butembo, DRC. In cooperation with Dr. Jacques Iyanya, Eddy’s duties include monitoring Grauer’s gorillas as well as mountain gorillas — and caring for the orphans.

He enjoys every aspect of clinical medicine, including pathology, or the study of disease after an animal has died. Eddy performed field necropsies on the gorillas shot in the DRC last July, hoping to learn something from this tragedy. Among MGVP staff, Eddy has a wry sense of humor and can make people laugh in any number of languages. At work, however, he’s seriously quiet.

Jospin Mbonekube is MGVP’s regional administrator
who helps coordinate the project in three countries.

Jospin Mbonekube is MGVP's regional administrator. He has worked for the project since 1999 and has managed to continue his university studies while working full-time. Jospin's workload has expanded significantly in recent years, perhaps especially since my arrival! His job includes just about anything — calling a plumber, inputting accounting data, arranging staff schedules. I often joke that we all work for Jospin, because he knows better than any of us where everyone and everything is at any one time. For every question he asks me, I ask another one back.

Jospin works in an environment where administrative headaches abound. Most of the time, however, he takes it all in stride. He is fiercely loyal to MGVP and stresses the importance of working as a team, even if it's easier at times to act alone. On some days, he is also MGVP's best dressed staff member.

MGVP's support staff, including Leon Ntahobavukira, the house
manager (left), eagerly help put the new truck's roof rack together.

MGVP's support staff includes long-time employee, Leon Ntahobavukira, the house manager. Felicien Mulinda, Faustin Nemeye and Samuel Nshimiyimana work as guards/grounds staff at the headquarters in Ruhengeri. Jean-Claude Rusengamihigo, Michel Mwemezi and Innocent Barimenshi perform a similar function at the interim quarantine facility (IQF) for orphaned gorillas in Kinigi, Rwanda.

MGVP employs five of the seven caretakers who work at the IQF: Amiel Bapfakwita, Dieu Donne Muyambabazi, Jean Baptise Bisenigamana, Innocent Kabendera and Fabian Bahati. The project also pays part of the salary for Simon Childs, IQF manager.

[Rwanda, Nov. 28, 2007. Pictures: Lucy Spelman/MGVP]

A Visit to Uganda

A new camp for refugees from the D.R.C. in Kisoro, Uganda, Nov. 10, 2007.

I continued my travels in Uganda last week, first on safari with friends, then back to work with gorillas (more about them in a moment).

Early on, in Kisoro, we drove past a refugee camp set up by M.O.N.U.C., the U.N. mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The camp is just off the main road connecting the Virunga Mountains with Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, the only two places in the world where mountain gorillas live. Though the refugees have access to basic health care and vaccinations, any number of diseases could whip through this camp, putting people, as well as the nearby mountain gorillas, at risk.

Our next encounter with M.O.N.U.C. was a good deal less positive. We were in Queen Elizabeth Park on a game drive. Our amazing guide, Francis Kiwanuka, had spotted several lions after hours of searching. The male lion had a swollen muzzle, so of course I was trying to get a better look at him.

Suddenly, two U.N. trucks drove up and parked behind us, engines running. Dozens of people got out and continued talking. The lions moved away and so did we.

A male African lion in Queen Elizabeth Park, Uganda, Nov. 13, 2007.

Only about 100 lions remain in the entire park, a decline in population caused by the poisoning of lions by cattle farmers who prefer to protect their herds in this way rather than wait for compensation for their losses from the Uganda Wildlife Authority (U.W.A.).

Evidently, M.O.N.U.C. staff visit the park weekly during their breaks. Our safari group was disappointed and disheartened by their behavior. I don't think it can be good for these few lions to have people visiting the park who don't observe common safari etiquette, which calls for visitors to turn off their vehicles, stay inside and remain quiet around the animals.

A female leopard in Queen Elizabeth Park, Uganda, Nov. 13, 2007.

Francis quickly put some distance between our truck and the U.N. group. We continued on our game drive, passing a huge herd of elephants, one of many we glimpsed during our three-day safari.

Suddenly, Francis stopped, turned off the engine and pointed upward. A leopard! She too had a minor medical problem — a cloudy right eye with a bit of discharge. She noticed us but then went back to sleep . . . until the U.N. trucks showed up. She was long gone before they all got out and walked around her tree.

Francis Kiwanuka, nature guide and expert driver.

Francis himself was as impressive as the animals we saw on our Ugandan safari. He works for Volcanoes Safaris, a company that manages several eco-lodges in Central Africa. We'd hired him through Terra Incognita Ecotours, a company that donates to M.G.V.P. when guests visit our project in Rwanda.

These tour companies, as personified by Francis, offer proof that people and wildlife can live in balance with mutual respect for one another's boundaries. As for the U.N., maybe the Queen of England can ask them to mind their manners — this week she is due to visit the park named in her honor.

M.G.V.P.'s new field office in Buhoma, Uganda, adjacent to Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.

On my own I traveled next to Buhoma, Uganda, near the boundary of the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. Bwindi is not far from the Virungas, but the drive on winding often muddy mountain roads with a stop at the border crossing from Rwanda takes about eight hours.

M.G.V.P.'s Ugandan field vet, Dr. Benard Ssebide, is based in the Buhoma area and we planned to do a few routine health checks together. Benard also wanted to give me an update on the new M.G.V.P. field vet office, still under construction.

A mother and her infant in the Nkuringo Group, Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda.

Bwindi is home to half the world's 720 mountain gorillas, though only about a quarter of these have been habituated to people. The percentage is much higher (75 percent) for the gorillas that live in the Virunga Massif of Rwanda, D.R.C. and Uganda.

Most scientists say that the two populations separated about 500 years ago — the result of logging and agriculture. Compared with the Virunga gorillas, Bwindi gorillas live at lower elevations in tree-covered peaks and valleys, eat a greater variety of plants, and have shorter hair.

Dr. Benard Ssebide stands inside M.G.V.P.'s newly constructed Buhoma field office.

To make a cell phone call, Benard must drive to a particular spot on the road where he can get decent reception. His office is wherever he finds a spot to land.

Recently, though, M.G.V.P. has co-funded the construction of a small building. One side houses M.G.V.P.'s new Uganda field office and it's almost ready. The other side was funded by a small business owner who planned to open an Internet cafe. Now we're hearing that this may never happen. So for now, sending email or talking by SKYPE in this area remains a dream.

Buzinza's infant in Bwindi’s Rushegura Group acts fine,
despite multiple small white lesions on the face.

I trekked with Benard and U.W.A. rangers to see Bwindi's Rushegura Group of mountain gorillas. Benard has been monitoring a 10-month-old in the group. It shows no signs of ill health except for multiple whitish-gray, plaque-like lesions on its chin, nostrils and lips. These lesions appear viral — possibly herpes or pox or papilloma (warts) — and have been observed on other infant gorillas. Indeed, during this visit, we noticed another infant, an 8-month-old, with similar facial lesions.

Kyirinvi's infant in Bwindi's Rushegura Group also has some small white lesions on the face.

Since the skin condition doesn't make the infants sick, we have not intervened and thus have been unable to make a precise diagnosis. It's definitely not mange, which has been documented once before in Bwindi. But it does last for weeks. To track this problem, Benard and I took dozens of photographs of the Rushegura Group infants, hoping that one of us would capture a decent image. I learned that it can be very dark in the Bwindi Forest, even on a clear day.

A view of Bwindi Impenetrable Forest from Nkuringo, Uganda.

After visiting the Rushegura Group, our plan was to visit another Buhoma-based family of mountain gorillas: Mabale Group. But the U.W.A. rangers reported that a black back (a young adult male gorilla) in the Nkuringo Group had been coughing. This group lives on the other side of Bwindi near the town of Nkuringo, a 15-kilometer (9-mile) forest walk from Buhoma. Unfortunately, the gorillas were another five kilometers away — too far to walk and do a health check on the same day. We got back in the car, drove five hours, spent the night in Kisoro, and drove another hour-and-a-half the next morning to Nkuringo.

To reach Nkuringo Group, we hiked down into a deep valley. Because of the dense vegetation, I found it difficult to fully observe each individual. But we did succeed in getting a clear view of the coughing black back, Kisoro. He rested most of the time, ate a bit and intermittently sounded a loud, dry cough. We were relieved to find that none of the other gorillas was coughing. Benard will go back to check in a few days. After a challenging hike out of the valley, I left with a new appreciation for the word "impenetrable."

[Uganda, Nov. 17, 2007. Pictures: Lucy Spelman/MGVP]

A Fragile Place

Friends Naomi and Robyn with ORTPN guide, Eugene watch Susa Group.

Last week, friends from the U.S. arrived for a long-planned visit. I've known one of them, Naomi, for more than 20 years. A classmate from vet school at University of California, Davis, she runs a small-animal practice in Aptos, Calif., rides dressage and lives on a small farm with her husband, Steve. Naomi has often traveled to visit me at work, but almost decided against this trip. After seeing the gorillas, she said, "I can't imagine why I hesitated for even a moment to come here!"

Robyn Kravit from Washington, D.C., the mastermind of the trip, brought her sister Nancy and two friends, Dave and Dennis. They met Naomi at the Brussels airport and the group of five flew to Kigali. Robyn arranged everything so that I could join them whenever possible. In Rwanda we toured the Genocide Memorial, trekked to see gorillas and golden monkeys, visited Dian Fossey’s grave site, and then drove to Uganda and hiked in Mgahinga National Park. Not only was the experience a lot of fun, it also gave me a fresh perspective on eco-tourism.

One of Susa Group's four silverback gorillas in November 2006.

I first trekked to see mountain gorillas a year ago as part of my initial job orientation, joining a tourist visit to Susa Group. I remember hiking three hours through the beautiful forest, encountering my first stinging nettles and wondering if we’d actually see any of my future patients. Then I caught a whiff of silverback — a strong musty smell. Seconds later an impressive male gorilla crossed the trail in front of me. I watched in awe for several minutes. Suddenly, I felt like an intruder and wanted to leave — I'd invaded his pristine world.

I felt too close for several other reasons. One undoubtedly had to do with my years as a clinical zoo vet: most Western lowland gorillas I’ve treated for one ailment or another do not remember me fondly. The other had to do with protecting the animals from human-borne illnesses, including the common cold. Though our tourist group was doing its best to keep the recommended 20-foot distance rule — if you cough or sneeze, the aerosolized droplets can’t carry that far — these gorillas walked right past us on the trail.

A juvenile in Amahoro Group has fresh mud on his lips from playing in a puddle.

Now I appreciate that closeness. If the gorillas weren’t habituated, they wouldn’t have doctors. Nor would we even know we had patients, let alone be able to treat them. The trackers are the eyes and ears of health care, because they can get so close. Since the gorillas don’t seem to mind a human presence, we vets can observe an injury closely. On the rare occasions when we need to dart an animal, we can minimize the stress because we don’t have to chase it.

Susa Group mountain gorillas playing, resting and foraging in November 2006.

Last week's visit to Susa Group with my friends reminded of how I’d felt a year ago. After a difficult hike, we caught up to the gorillas moving through a dense bamboo thicket. Several stopped to glance in our direction, others kept foraging and a female with a new baby sat down right next to us. My friends marveled at the experience. Why didn’t the gorillas mind our presence? The situation seemed so fragile.

Children tend cows on a farm near the Parc National des Volcans, Rwanda.

When you stand in the cultivated farmland that dominates the landscape around the Virungas, it's hard to imagine that an untouched wild animal habitat exists in this part of Africa. Once you're up there with the gorillas, you realize that it's possible to strike a balance between animals and people, even though the interface is a delicate one. Tourism brings in money that can benefit both, but it also carries risks in terms of disease transmission.

Genocide Memorial in Kigali, Rwanda.

Our visit to the Genocide Memorial was a sobering experience in every way, except for one: Rwandans do not hide the horrors of their recent past. The detailed exhibit tells the complete story of the 1994 genocide and its history. It also compares what happened in Rwanda to genocides in other countries. We agreed that the survival of the mountain gorilla was amazing, given the years of turmoil.

Dian Fossey is buried in Rwanda’s Parc National des Volcans,
as are many of the mountain gorillas she once studied.

At the request of Dian Fossey, MGVP (Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project) was established a year after her death in 1986. But access to the gorillas over the next decade was limited because of the genocide. Even trackers based at Fossey’s research station had to leave the forest. Ultimately, all of her camp buildings were looted and destroyed. Only her grave site remains. The current fighting in the Democratic Republic of Congo has created a similar unstable situation in the Virungas. These days, no one can monitor the mountain gorillas on the Congolese side of the Rwandan border.

A golden monkey in Parc National des Volcans, Rwanda.

There are other fragile species in the Virungas that need protection, including the golden monkey. These rare and relatively unstudied animals are found only in the range of the mountain gorilla in areas where bamboo is plentiful. When my friends and I visited the golden monkeys last week, we saw dozens of them leaping above our heads from branch to branch, foraging for food. We don’t really know what threatens their health, beyond habitat loss. There is still so much to learn.

[Rwanda, Nov. 13, 2007. Pictures: Lucy Spelman/MGVP]

The Good, the Bad and the Very Very Sad

Ndakasi, an orphaned female mountain gorilla infant, chews on wild celery.

For the past several weeks, the Goma orphans have been our only active cases — and I'm glad to say they're both in good health at the moment. But everything changed a few days ago. I've been called to the forest urgently nearly every day this week. So far, we haven't had to provide medical treatment, but the week isn't over yet.

We heard late yesterday that a lone silverback had been injured badly during an interaction. If the trackers can find him, we'll be back up the mountain.

Silverback Guhonda in Sabinyo Group eats a huge root; his left hand was injured by a snare years ago.

The string of unexpected calls began on Monday, the day I was supposed to have an interview with correspondent Anderson Cooper for a CBS 60 Minutes story. I'd met with his production team over the weekend to provide background information and film the orphan gorillas at the Kinigi facility.

Our Rwandan field vet, Dr. Jean Felix Kinani and I were scheduled to talk to Anderson on Sunday afternoon about the role of veterinarians in gorilla conservation and we were looking forward it. At the last minute our interviews were rescheduled for Monday. I had a premonition that something would undo the plan. I was right.

In October and November, the Virungas tend to be misty
and wet during each day, but with clear and cold nights.

Back at the office, we had a quick staff meeting before my interview. Just as I prepared to leave, Elisabeth, the ORTPN vet tech, rushed in to say that trackers had reported a 2-month-old infant in Kuryama Group to be very weak. Our cell phones weren't working, so she'd come straight to the office.

With sick infants there isn't much time. Pneumonia is always on our differential list and it can kill them very quickly. It was already midday and by the time we reached the group we'd barely have time to intervene if that proved necessary. I grabbed an extra flashlight, remembering more than one very dark descent after a field emergency.

Segasira, a 2-year-old in Kuryama Group, had an episode
of choke several months ago that resolved quickly.

The trackers and vet team often chat as we hike up the mountain. We mix bits of English and French, and I try to learn a few new Kinyarwanda words. But when we know there's a potential patient up there, no one says very much.

My brain starts to churn and my pace quickens. I'll run through a mental checklist of questions: What is the most likely outcome based on what I know so far? When is the last time I saw this individual gorilla? Do we have everything we need with us? Should we have brought a thermos of hot water to warm the patient, even though it adds to the weight of our heavy bags? Will radios and cell phones work where we are going?

Umusatsi's infant appeared strong and active the next day.

After a brisk and anxious hike up to 3,000 meters (9,843 feet), Elisabeth and I had less than a quarter of an hour to observe the patient. The skies had begun to darken and Umusatsi, the infant's mother, had settled into a hole at the base of a tree, probably for the night.

I'd asked one of the Karisoke Research Center scientists, Winnie Eckardt, to observe the infant while we hiked. Although it had been reported earlier as limp and not nursing, Winnie saw it nursing twice in one hour. This news dialed our worry level way down, as did my first glimpse of the infant: it was wide-eyed, clinging to its mother's neck. Five minutes later, it fell fast asleep.

I hiked up the mountain again early the next morning with the Kuryama Group trackers for another look at Umusatsi and her infant. It had been a cold night, and if pneumonia was brewing, the baby could be in bad shape. On the other hand, if it had simply suffered a bout of colic the day before, it could be just fine today — and indeed, we found Umusatsi resting in warm sunshine while her infant made soft chirping noises and climbed all over her, nursing hungrily. This was the best news of the day, despite my frustration at having missed the Anderson Cooper interview (Simon Childs, who manages the orphan facility but is not a vet, did it in my place.)

Nzeli in Bwenge Group carries her dead infant on her back the day
after trackers found her with a new but lifeless baby.

Next day, after a morning of catch-up desk work, I learned of a new, sad case. Nzeli, a female in the Bwenge Group, had given birth on Wednesday morning. But the baby was dead when the trackers found her.

Theo Ngabo, who collects data for the Karisoke Research Center, had found some of the placental tissue. He rushed to our office with the sample and described what he'd seen in the field: Nzeli was weak, with a bloody vaginal discharge that left a trail of red spots on the ground as she moved. This is normal right after birth, but not if it persists. He didn't get a close look at the infant and was uncertain if it was full-term or premature. From Theo's description, it was clear we needed to check Nzeli and recover the dead baby if possible.

Nzeli continues to groom her dead infant, and may do so for up to three weeks.

When we reached Nzeli the next morning (after trekking up a different mountain), she was resting, holding a lifeless infant that appeared otherwise normal. This wasn't the first baby that Nzeli had lost. She and two other females had transferred from Pablo Group to Bwenge's new group last January after their infants died in the midst of a severe outbreak of respiratory disease. It seemed they'd left their old group for a chance at a new family. That was exactly nine months ago. So this new infant could be Bwenge's (gestation in gorillas is the same as in humans) — or not.

Over the next two hours Nzeli groomed the infant as she would if it were alive, then picked it up and carried it about as she foraged for food. When I returned to the lab, our microbiologist, Jean Paul Lukasa, gave me an update on the bacterial cultures from the placental tissue. He is growing a pure colony of a type of streptococcus; meanwhile we will also preserve the tissue for future analysis (histopathology).

These tests, plus a review of the cause of death of Nzeli's prior infants, might yield important information. There are also other female gorillas who have lost infants unexpectedly at an early age. Maybe there is a common factor.

Umusatsi's infant — strong and active.

At the end of the day, I discussed Nzeli's case with Jean Felix and Elisabeth and sent an update via e-mail to key partners at ORTPN and Karisoke. While it would be helpful to recover the carcass of the dead infant to do a necropsy, intervention to take it forcibly is not warranted. There's no evidence that the group is sick with something communicable. And since there are at least two other pregnant females in Bwenge Group, we don't want to risk causing them undue stress by anesthetizing Nzeli. Sometime in the future, however, we might recommend a full examination to evaluate her more fully.

Though we did hear good news at the end of the day — Umusatsi's infant continues to do well — there is now the fresh challenge of the injured silverback. We are waiting to hear from the trackers.

[Rwanda, Nov. 2, 2007. Pictures: Lucy Spelman/MGVP]