tagged w/ Gorilla Doctors
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UPDATE TO EARLIER POST
Buhanga, the 23 year old solitary Silverback of Congo’s Gorilla Sector, has died. He was found yesterday near Gatovu patrol post, his favorite haunt, lying face down in a stream struggling to breath. Innocent, Dr Magda and the Rangers were with him when he took his last breaths some 30 minutes later.
Today Dr Jan will perform the necropsy to determine the cause of death, which we believe to be natural. He will then be buried in the Gorilla Cemetary at Rumangabo.Buhanga had been a solitary gorilla for many years, and did not have any offspring that we knew of. His father was killed in crossfire in 1997.
As you may recall Buhanga was sick at the beginning of March, but he appeared to make a recovery. Innocent and Magda commented though on how thin he seemed yesterday. It will be interesting to know the results of the necropsy.
Buhanga, Karateka’s brother, had been a solitary for many years, and could often be spotted near Gatovu chomping on bamboo. He was videoed in August 2008 by Innocent. This was an incredibly special moment, and one that has stuck in the hearts of all Rangers in the Gorilla Sector, because it was the first time in a year that a gorilla had been seen. It was just a couple of months before the war reached a climax, and really represented a moment of hope that the gorillas of Mikeno would be okay, despite all the fighting so close to their habitat.
Buhanga will be missed.
http://gorillacd.org/2010/04/02/buhanga-solitary-silverback-1987-2010/UPDATE TO EARLIER POST
Buhanga, the 23 year old solitary Silverback of... more
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Wildlife Extra News - April 2010.
Buhanga, the 23 year old solitary Silverback of Congo's Gorilla Sector, has died. He was found near the Gatovu patrol post, his favourite haunt, lying face down in a stream struggling to breath. Innocent (head ranger), Dr Magda and the Rangers were with him when he took his last breaths some 30 minutes later.
Dr Jan will perform the necropsy to determine the cause of death, which is believed to have been natural causes. He will then be buried in the Gorilla Cemetery at Rumangabo.
Buhanga was sick at the beginning of March, but he appeared to make a recovery. Innocent and Magda commented though on how thin he seemed. It will be interesting to know the results of the necropsy.
Buhanga had been a solitary for many years, and could often be spotted near Gatovu chomping on bamboo. He was videoed in August 2008 by Innocent. This was an incredibly special moment, and one that has stuck in the hearts of all Rangers in the Gorilla Sector, because it was the first time in a year that a gorilla had been seen. It was just a couple of months before the war reached a climax, and really represented a moment of hope that the gorillas of Mikeno would be okay, despite all the fighting so close to their habitat.
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/silverback-congo.htmlWildlife Extra News - April 2010.
Buhanga, the 23 year old solitary Silverback of... more
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Another Wire Snare (Part 1) | GorillaDoctors.wildlifedirect.org / Dr Lucy
"When I first read Benard’s e-mail, I didn’t want to believe it. A blackback in Nkuringo Group had a wire snare around his leg. The gorilla had continued to eat, but he’d begun to fall behind the group. One of us needed to cross the border to Uganda before closing time, stay in Kisoro for the evening, and leave for the forest early the next morning to deal with the snare. The drive would take two hours, followed by another hour’s trekking. I wondered why Bernard hadn’t called until I remembered the poor cellphone reception around the parks in Uganda. He must have gotten the message from the park warden and decided the best way to relay it quickly was via the nearest Internet Café. I wrote back asking him to call me as soon as possible to confirm the bad news. This case sounded a lot like the last three snares in Uganda: no chance that it would resolve on its own.
From the bit of information I had, I suspected that this was not a new snare. It takes a few days for lameness to occur, and that could explain why the gorilla was lagging behind his family. Much depends on how tight the snare is and on whether it is indeed made of wire. I think it’s been years since we had a case of a rope snare in Uganda. What was going on? This would be the fourth wire snare in Uganda in six months, the sixth in the past 13 months
Various questions collided in my mind. The most obvious and important one was: Where are the snares coming from? As I’ve explained before, the snares are set to catch game for food, especially small antelope, or duiker. Are more being set, or are the gorillas moving through snare-laden areas more often? If there are more snares in the parks in Rwanda and Uganda—we have no idea what’s going on in DR Congo—is it because there are more hungry people these days? Whatever the answer, many illegal hunters are still getting into the park. Is this because of the leaky and insecure border with Congo? Maybe the poaching patrols have simply not been doing their jobs, or maybe they lack the equipment to do them effectively.
I’d raised these questions during a recent community conservation meeting held by the chief park warden of the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda. I asked them again after little Icyerecyezo’s snare injury. A month earlier, I’d also spoken with the chief park warden in Uganda’s Bwindi and Mgahinga parks and directed Benard to check with the patrols there. Each time the reply has been the same: the wardens have more rangers patrolling more of the parks than ever, and believe they’ve become more proficient at finding snares. That may be so, but given how many snared gorillas we’ve seen recently, there may also be an increased number of snares in the park."
Another Wire Snare (Part 1) | GorillaDoctors.wildlifedirect.org / Dr Lucy... more
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Dr. Lucy Spelman, the regional veterinary field manager for MGVP, a team of eight vets and support staff who work throughout the range of the Mountain Gorilla in UG, DR Congo, and RW.
Category: Monitoring Visits | Date: Sep 22 2008 | By: Dr. Lucy for gorilladoctors
Guhonda, the silverback in Sabinyo Group, has removed snares more than a few times from the arms and legs of his family members.
"I’d nearly finished my routine health check in Pablo Group when my cell phone buzzed in my pocket, making me jump. It was Jean Felix. We usually text each other in order not to disturb the gorillas, so I knew right away there must be a problem. We did indeed have an emergency. One of the infant gorillas in Sabinyo Group was caught in a snare, and the silverback, Guhonda, had bitten one of the trackers. We made a quick plan: Jean Felix and Elisabeth would try to check on the infant, knowing they might not be able to get very close; I would rush back to the office to grab my kit, and then check on the injured tracker.
I thought through possible next steps and outcomes as we hiked down out of the forest. Either Guhonda was already in a rage, or the tracker tried to take the snare off and the silverback saw him. There was a good chance no one would even see the Sabinyo gorillas for the rest of the day. Often our first opportunity to remove a snare is not until the next morning, once the group has calmed down. Even then we may decide not to intervene if we think the gorilla or one of its family members can get the snare off."
See photos & the rest of this post by Dr Lucy along with more information on how you can help these gentle giants, please visit: http://gorilladoctors.wildlifedirect.org/2008/09/22/snares-and-scares/#comment-691
Dr. Lucy Spelman, the regional veterinary field manager for MGVP, a team of eight vets... more
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