Saving a species, one gorilla at a time
MGVP program celebrates 25 years
From its beginnings nearly 25 years ago as a small operation with just two field veterinarians and a handful of staff, the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project (MGVP) has grown into the largest veterinary organization that protects the lives of endangered mountain gorillas in Africa. The project began after Ruth Kessling, daughter of the Foundation’s founder and a former trustee, answered a request from the late anthropologist Dr. Dian Fossey, who wrote Gorillas in the Mist. As the longest-running Morris Animal Foundation–funded project, the program has flourished beyond expectations and is poised to enter the next quarter century stronger than ever. Today, because of its success, the MGVP is a self-sustaining nongovernmental organization, run by the University of California–Davis.
When it began in a small bungalow in Rwanda, the MGVP was the first veterinary program to treat members of an endangered species in their natural environment. The project now encompasses modern bases equipped with laboratories and more than 20 staff members across three countries, Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The MGVP has helped successfully increase the mountain gorilla population 17 percent over the past 10 years. Today, there are more than 700 mountain gorillas in the wild—none are kept in zoos anywhere—and the mountain gorillas are the only great ape population on the rise.
According to Dr. Michael Cranfield, project director of the MGVP, the health of the gorillas is largely affected by the people who encroach daily on their habitat.
“The gorillas interact with the community, the military, trackers and guides, who often spend more time in the gorilla habitat than even the tourists do,” he says.
Because mountain gorillas share more than 98 percent of their genetic material with humans, they are susceptible to most human diseases, including tuberculosis, measles and herpes. Other factors, such as poaching, snare traps and diseases like rabies, are also critical issues for mountain gorillas.
taking a one-health approach
The work of the MGVP successfully reduces the impact of disease outbreaks among the gorillas, saving lives and collecting data in the process, so scientists and conservationists can better understand how to protect the species. A number of years ago, the program took a “one-health” approach that implemented employee and community health programs designed to protect the gorillas from transmissible diseases. This year, the MGVP was able to convince the DRC government to utilize H95 masks on trackers and guides to further protect the gorillas. The next step is to get the rest of the countries to utilize the masks for tourists, once more scientific health data are released.
The MGVP also partners with a program known as Comprehensive Community Health Initiatives & Programs (CCHIPs), which recognizes that the survival of mountain gorillas in the wild depends on the health, education and economic success of the local people in the surrounding communities. By the end of 2010, CCHIPs will have partnered with at least five of the 13 clinics surrounding the Virunga Mountains where the gorillas live. During the past few months, visiting residents from the University of California–Davis helped with human health care in the region. Plans to continue the partnership and grow the program in other clinics are under way.
When possible, the MGVP also supports domestic animal health-screening programs. Animal diseases can cause serious—even fatal—illness in any species. These screening programs serve to improve health and productivity among domestic animals living near gorilla parks and to document transmissible diseases that could harm the gorillas. For example, more than 2,500 dogs were vaccinated for rabies last year in the areas close to the gorillas’ habitat.
relocating orphans
Over the years, a number of gorillas have been left orphaned due to disease, poaching and other ailments. Regardless of the type of gorilla, the MGVP staff steps in to provide care. Many of these animals cannot return to the wild, and their ongoing care sometimes leads to stretched resources. This year the MGVP agreed to send 11 orphaned eastern lowland gorillas to the Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education (GRACE) Center, the first facility of its kind in east-central Africa, with room for up to 30 young gorillas to live in species-typical groups and roam through 350 acres of natural habitat. Four mountain gorillas were sent to a new facility, called Senkwekwe, at Rumangabo, DRC. Plans for moving the remaining orphans will be completed this year—another step forward for the MGVP.
“This will free up money and time for more of our goals,” Dr. Cranfield says. “Through three grants we also received from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, there is now an emergency network with long-term facilities for orphaned great apes. The MGVP will continue to provide health care to these animals at the new facility and at our emergency base at GRACE.”
Through the amazing work done by the MGVP and its partners, the mountain gorillas of Africa are continuing their noble fight for survival. If great apes could talk, surely they would thank every single person, organization and advocate that has helped them survive and thrive for the past 25 years.
Posted by MAFon September 8, 2010.
Categories: Animal health, Animal welfare, Wildlife health
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