Quest: Mountain Gorillas: Discovery Channel

Orphan Exams

Finally, it was time to give all three “Goma orphans” their annual exams. This would be Mapendo’s second exam under anesthesia and Ndeze and Ndakasi’s first. Fortunately, the gorillas had no idea what was about to happen. Ndakasi simply wanted to play with Eddy, not realizing he held a syringe in his left hand.

Update on Mushya

In recent weeks, Mushya has taken me on a roller coaster ride. I've been visiting Isabukuru Group regularly to check on him and his mother, Icyizere. He's looked better each time, yet his fragile condition has worried me.

Only now, five weeks after treatment, am I convinced that he'll survive, at least in the short term. The reason: Icyizere. She is strong and active — and producing more milk. None of us imagined that one dose of ivermectin would make such a difference, especially since we hadn't believed that she herself was ill. Mushya had been our target.

Rechecking Mushya

During my recheck of Mushya and Icyizere the day after the intervention, I kept an eye out for fresh fecal samples. We wanted to follow the pattern of parasites now that we’d given the ivermectin. Icyizere had conveniently produced several samples within minutes of my arrival in the group. I’d brought one of them back to the lab for microscopic examination. I found — no surprise — that it was still loaded with parasites. But I had the impression that there were many more worm fragments than whole ones. Maybe the ivermectin had already killed some of the adults.