Beverly Hills Brownie Troop Donates to Support Gorilla Docs

When Brownie Troop # 7295 gathered on May 1, 2013 at El Rodeo School for their last meeting of the school year, they received a surprise visit from local veterinarian and Beverly Hills resident, Lara Nicolayevsky Zekaria, DVM. 

Dr. Nic, as her clients fondly call her, was there to accept a generous donation of $1,000 from their cookie sales that Troop # 7295 was making to the Gorilla Doctors. 

Dr. Nic speaks to Brownie Troop # 7295 about her experience with the mountain gorillas in Rwanda.As Dr. Nic explained to an unusually quiet group of second grade girls, there are now less than 900 mountain gorillas alive in the wild anywhere in the world. The Gorilla Doctors is an international team of veterinarians dedicated to saving the lives of these critically endangered animals in Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. They are the only group providing these animals – which share 98.5% of their DNA with humans -- with direct, hands-on care in the wild. 

Dr. Nic recently trekked into the forest on foot with the Rwanda Gorilla Doctors team and participated in a surgery on one of the animals. She showed the girls pictures of the gorilla families she saw during her unforgettable visit. They also learned about families with children their own age living in the villages surrounding the gorillas’ habitats. 

Dr. Nic, gorilla trekking in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda.

The money that Troop # 7295 donated will go toward treating sick and injured gorillas, including freeing gorillas caught in poachers’ snares, rescuing and providing veterinary care to gorillas orphaned by poachers and supporting health programs for people and their animals that live near the gorillas’ habitats.

For their generous donation, each of the 20 second grade girls received a unique gorilla patch from Dr. Nic to sew on their sashes:

On November 4, 2013, Dr. Lara Nicolayevsky Zekaria will be hosting the first west coast fundraiser for Gorilla Doctors at the ACE Gallery in Beverly Hills. The 6pm cocktail reception will include a silent auction of adventure travel packages and African artifacts, an exhibit and sale of photographs of the mountain gorillas, and a live auction, with Jack Hanna serving as the event’s honorary chair. To make a donation to help support this event, please go to www.gorilladoctors.org and look for the orange "donate to this event" button on the home page. For tickets and underwriting information, please contact Lisa Bochner at 310.717.2754.

A Veterinary Assessment for Juvenile Bagambe

By Dr. Martin Kabuyaya

On May 15, 2013 during our routine health check of Lulengo group in Virunga National Park, we observed juvenile Bagambe and performed a veterinary assessment. The rangers reported that Bagambe has had a small mass lesion on the skin of the right upper eyelid for the past several months. However, his general health and vision have not been affected.

Juvenile Bagambe of Lulengo group in Virunga National Park, DRC.

The chronic lesion on the upper right eyelid at the lateral canthus is a circular, smooth mass and with unknown history. The lesion appeared swollen, but limited to the skin. This mass lesion could be a cellular proliferation.  Differentials include infectious (abscess), chronic inflammation (granuloma, foreign body), neoplasia, or more likely a benign proliferation such as a cyst or papilloma. The lesion could cause irritation or vision disturbance if it continues to grow.   

The lesion on juvenile Bagambe's right eyelid.

Rangers have been instructed to continue with close monitoring and report any case of ocular discharge, squinting, or growth of this mass lesion to Gorilla Doctors.

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.

Gorilla Doctors Welcomes Journeys Discovering Africa as New Sponsor

Journeys Discovering Africa, a boutique safari expert that offers tailor-made private and small group tours all over East Africa, has become the newest sponsor of Gorilla Doctors.  Journeys Discovering Africa will make a donation to Gorilla Doctors for every person visiting Rwanda on one of their gorilla trekking safaris.  In addition, interested clients can also visit the Gorilla Doctors team to learn more about our conservation activities and meet some of the vets themselves.

“As a safari operator we are keen to invest back into both the wilderness areas and wildlife species, that we are proud to share with our clients” explained Patrick Shah, CEO of Journeys Discovering Africa. “Gorilla Doctors is a perfect fit for us – their work has definitely contributed to the successful population growth of this critically endangered species. We are proud to be able to support their vital work.”

Dr Kirsten Gilardi, Co-Director of Gorilla Doctors said “we are delighted to have Journeys Discovering Africa onboard as a sponsor – we always welcome such support from the tourism community.”

To learn more about Journeys Discovering Africa, visit their website.

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. 

                              Click here to make your donation!

Orphans Baraka and Isangi Confirmed by Max Planck to be Grauer's

Fecal samples from orphaned infants Baraka and Isangi, who are currently being housed at the Senkwekwe Center in Virunga National Park, were recently sent to the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany for genetic analysis. MPI was tasked with determining whether these infants, who were confiscated from poachers in DRC in September 2012, are eastern mountain gorillas (G. b. beringei) or eastern lowland gorillas (Gorilla beringei graueri).

According to Max Planck, “DNA was extracted from the samples and genotyped at 15 microsatellite loci known to be variable in gorillas. These data were then compared to that available from other studies in our laboratory. The comparative dataset consisted of genotypes from the following populations:

Sample population gorilla subspecies # individuals genotyped:

• Virungas eastern mountain 19 individuals
• Bwindi eastern mountain 25 individuals
• Mt. Tshiaberimu eastern lowland 9 individuals
• E. lowland gorillas, origin unknown eastern lowland 8 individuals
• Kahuzi-Biega eastern lowland 27 individuals
• Itombwe Massif eastern lowland 6 individuals
• Walikale eastern lowland 12 individuals 

"Genetic analysis strongly supports the classification of both Baraka and Isangl as eastern lowland gorillas. The data furthermore suggest that Isangl is from the Itombwe Massif population. Baraka’s population of origin remains unclear.”

Both infants are healthy and thriving in their temporary home at the Senkwekwe Center. If everything goes according to plan, the infants will be moved to the GRACE center this summer, where they will join other orphaned Grauer's gorillas and eventually become apart of a group. 

Infant Isangi, during a quarantine exam at the Senkwekwe Center.Dr. Dawn with infant Baraka.

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.