Dr. Jean Felix Observes Kwitonda Group Gorillas "Fishing" for Ants

Dr. Jean Felix recently visited Kwitonda group in Volcanoes National Park for a routine health check and observed the second ranking silverback Kigoma, and juvenile female Lisanga, eating ants - and the young female was using a twig to "fish"for ants. He reported that Kigoma initially was “eating ants by reaching his left hand into the ant pile before putting it in his mouth. He ran away at one point - it appeared the ants were biting his arm. Afterwards, juvenile female Lisanga joined him and used a piece of wood to retract the ants from their nest."

Second ranking silverback Kigoma, collecting ants to eat.

Silverback Kigoma "fishes" for ants

Juvenile female Lisanga uses a piece of wood to "fish" for ants.

Dr. Jean Felix had another uncommon observation during this routine health check. On the way to the group, his team found an African porcupine skeleton caught in a snare. The team dismantled the wire snare and removed it from the forest. 

Porcupine quills were scattered on the ground around the wire snare.

Dr. Jean Felix and team dismantled the snare and removed the wire from the forest.

Dr. Jean Felix reported that all 24 gorillas in Kwitonda group were in good general health during his observation. They were active and busy feeding on Urera hypselodendron and Secamone africana.

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Celebrate Endangered Species Day 2013!

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act - please consider making a donation to support our life-saving work with the mountain and Grauer's gorillas of east-central Africa. 

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Bwindi Silverback Makara Receives Second Round of Treatment

By Dr. Fred Nizeyimana

Makara, a silverback and leader of Habinyanja group sustained severe wounds from a fight with wild gorillas on May 3^rd.  I treated Makara with a round of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory/pain killers on May 5^th. The Bwindi Park trackers have continued to monitor the silverback as he heals from his wounds and 8 days later, they reported that some of his wounds appeared to be infected.  In addition, the trackers noted that Makara was not moving well and would lie down a lot. His feeding level was only fair. A reassessment and possible intervention by Gorilla Doctors was hence requested as soon as possible.

Early in the morning on May 14^th, I trekked to Habinyanja group with three trackers and two park rangers, a porter, and a Max Planck Institute research assistant.  We tracked the group from the point of the previous day’s observation for over 1 km. We reached the group and found Makara with his group members at 8:39am. The group was in the Hamushamba area in the "neck" part of Bwindi, at an altitude of 1562 meters. They remained in this area feeding but later moved away about 1 km uphill.  The other gorillas in the group were congregated around Makara and he was clearly still in control of his group. 

After observing the silverback for 30 minutes, I confirmed that a partial intervention to treat Makara was necessary due to the condition of some of his wounds. Makara was fairly active during my initial assessment. He was feeding, stomach was 3/4 full and showed some signs of general improvement. His body condition was fair. The left wounded wrist was slightly healed but could not be used during travel. The left eye was open and the wound was healing. But the large bite wound on his neck had some pus and maggots and Makara was laying on that side to keep the flies away. It was obviously necessary to treat Makara with another round antibiotics and anti-inflammatory meds (Enrofloxacin and Ketoprofen) to stem down the infection in his wounds and speed up healing. Full immobilisation was not preferred since he already showed signs of healing. 

The wound on Makara's neck showed signs of infection, requiring a second partial intervention to administer meds.

I gave the silverback a long acting antibiotic and plan to re-check in one week. After the second darting, Makara moved and tried to charge us. He vocalised frequently throughout the observation and partial intervention. Trackers will continue to monitor Makara closely and report any concerning symptoms to Gorilla Doctors immediately. 

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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Infant Sacco Treated by Gorilla Doctors

By Dr. Dawn Zimmerman

On May 9th, the Rwanda Development Board trackers reported that 3-year-old female infant Sacco, of Agashya group, was again exhibiting foot soreness and a veterinary assessment was requested. She had previously been assessed by Gorilla Doctors on February 5th after her mother Isoni left the group in January.  At that time, she was moving and sleeping with dominant silverback Agashya and appeared to be doing fine without her mother. 

The first veterinary assessment of Sacco's feet was completed on March 13th. During this assessment, the infant was bright, alert, responsive, and feeding well with a ¾ full stomach, but moving slowly and crying.  No lameness was appreciated but both first toes appeared congested with interdigital swelling, and she did not flex her toes when picking up vegetation.  The soles appeared hyperemic.  There was no evidence of trauma (laceration, bite wound). Since the problem had first been noticed 2 days earlier after a heavy rain (high humidity), there was a possibility of softened feet allowing opportunistic microorganism overgrowth (fungal and/or bacterial), causing a local infection and leading to a localized inflammation.

Soon after this assessment, the inflammation went down and Sacco was able to travel with the group without exhibiting any pain. The only times the infant was observed crying was when dominant silverback Agashya left her behind. 

3-year-old female infant Sacco, of Agashya group.

Following RDB’s report that Sacco was again exhibiting foot soreness on May 9^th, I trekked to the group to assess the infant. Sacco was found in the group but not eating or resting near dominant silverback Agashya.  She was crying often, especially when ambulating, which she did slowly.  The soles of her feet appeared slightly swollen, reddened, and pitted with ulcerations at the weight-bearing surfaces.  Trackers have speculated that the swelling, redness, and pain may correlate with rainy weather, as it has occurred previously after heavy rains.  Swelling of other peripheral regions (hands, face) were not appreciated.

Sacco's feet were inflamed and painful, causing her to lag behind the group during travel.

On the 11^th, trackers reported that Sacco was eating less, and also had a laceration to both hands.  She was not keeping up with the group as well and crying more often.  After discussing the case with the Rwanda Development Board, and considering that Agashya is no longer very protective of the infant and may not wait for the infant if she lags behind the group further, plans were made to intervene with an anti-inflammatory injection rather than a full intervention.

Multiple raised lesions were also observed around her nose.  These lesions overall had a similar pitting appearance to the feet, but may not be correlated as nasal lesions are not uncommonly seen in infants.

Multiple raised lesions were observed around Sacco's nose.

Sacco was found within the group lying sternally next to blackback Dusangire, who protected Sacco throughout our visit.  It was rainy, windy, and very cold.  She cried when moving and moved slowly, now dragging her left foot.  The wounds on her hands that trackers observed yesterday were not seen, and trackers report they are not lacerations as previously misunderstood but have lesions similar to her feet.   

Initially she was not observed eating with a ½ + full stomach, but later climbed a tree to eat bamboo leaves and urera.  Although not appearing to lag behind the group and even being protected now by blackback Dusangire, Sacco appeared to be distressed due to her persistent crying and slow ambulation.  As the day was very cold and we wanted her to stay with the group, we proceeded with the partial intervention, to dart her with an anti-inflammatory and antibiotic to help alleviate her symptoms.  

Dr. Noel prepares a dart outside of the group, before donning a mask and approaching the infant.

Sacco was estimated at 15 kg and was darted with one 6ml dart filled with 30mg ketoprofen and 750mg ceftriaxone at 10:55am by Dr. Noel.  The dart hit her right thigh but bounced and sprayed, with an estimated 50% partial injection.  A second (3ml) dart was filled with 25mg ketoprofen and 250mg ceftriaxone, and was successfully injected into her right hip at 11:08am by Dr. Noel.  The second dart was confiscated by silverback Agashya for a bit, and finally recovered at 11:50am when we left the group.

With sole abnormalities of both feet (swelling/hyperemia/congestion/edema) with mild to moderate ulcerations at the weight-bearing surfaces causing pain and difficult/slow ambulation,  multiple etiologies should be considered (localized cellulitis and/or lymphadenitis (fungal/bacterial), bilateral foot trauma, contact allergy, immune-mediated disorder, or an underlying medical condition affecting lymph or blood circulation (venous insufficiency)). It is possible that the simplest explanation is that with the loss of her mother, who would normally carry her until 3.5+ years of age, her feet became excessively worn with infection exacerbated by the rainy season.  Since she exhibited similar clinical signs in March, we are hoping this event will also be transient, and that by injecting her with an anti-inflammatory to relieve pain and an antibiotic to fight infection, her clinical signs will abate.

Trackers will continue to report on Sacco’s condition.  If there is no improvement, a full anesthetic intervention for diagnostics and more thorough treatment may be warranted.

You can follow the Gorilla Doctors health monitoring efforts on our Facebook page, where we post photos and notes from our monthly visits.

Please consider supporting us by making a secure online donation. Every dollar you give goes to directly supporting our gorilla health programs and One Health initiative. Thank you for your generosity.

Dr. Fred Intervenes to Treat Silverback's Injuries in Bwindi

Dominant silverback Makara, of Habinyanja group in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, was severely injured after a fight with a wild gorilla group on May 3rd. With wounds on his wrists, hands, face and back of head, the silverback was left exhausted and in need of a veterinary assessment. Dr. Fred trekked to the group on May 4^th and 5th to observe and treat the silverback. Here is his report:

“The Bwindi Park warden contacted me after Makara was severely injured in a fight on Friday May 3^rd. In addition to his many wounds, the silverback was reportedly not feeding and spending ample amounts of time lying on the ground. After meeting with the Warden and Bwindi trackers to discuss the case, I trekked to the group on May 4^th to assess his condition and on May 5th for a medical intervention.

Silverback Makara's injury on his left eye.

We found Habinyanja group in thick primary forest on the first day, in the Ntungamo area of the park, at an altitude of 1792 meters. Trackers reported that the group had been feeding less and moved in dissaray without Makara’s leadership and control. On the first day, Makara was found with his group, resting on his back with both wrists and legs raised. He licked the wound on his left hand from time to time. He turned onto his stomach as if he wanted to move, but could not rest his hands comfortably on the ground. His body appearance was fair, but his stomach appeared to be almost empty.

Silverback Makara's stomach appeared empty during the first day of observation.

He was alert, but his level of activity was not good. He moved a few meters and stopped during the first day of assessment. He could not use his left limb during travel at all. Several of his injuries were open bite wounds, with raw, swollen edges. The wounds were dispersed all over his head, shoulders, back and left hand and wrist. Additionally, he had a large wound on the left eyelid, above the left ear, on the scalp and right cheek. The injuries gave off a slightly bad smell, indicating that infection may have been setting in. 

Severe bite wounds on the back of Makara's head were beginning to get infected.

On the second day of assessment he had failed to catch up with his moving group. He was not actively feeding and his group members had left him behind, lying on the ground. A medical intervention was clearly necessary if Makara was going to recover from these extensive injuries. However, because the group had already moved on without him, full immobilization for a medical intervention was not preferred. Instead, I made the decision to dart him with an antibiotic (Ceftriaxone) and an anti-inflammatory/pain killer medication (Ketoprofen) to fight the infection in his wounds, alleviate pain, and speed up his healing. 

Trackers reported that the following day, Monday, May 6^th, that Makra had joined up with his group members. He was observed actively feeding, but his stomach was not full yet. Trackers will continue to closely monitor Makara’s continued recovery and report any abnormal behavior if it should arise."

You can follow the Gorilla Doctors health monitoring efforts on our Facebook page, where we post photos and notes from our monthly visits.

Please consider supporting us by making a secure online donation. Every dollar you give goes to directly supporting our gorilla health programs and One Health initiative. Thank you for your generosity.