This report covers the progress on Conservation Through Public Health’s project on GlobalGiving, ‘The Gorilla Guardians of Bwindi, Uganda #44078
Our last report was submitted in November 2022. By that time, the project had a total of 292 donations from 125 donors. Of these donors, 5 were monthly donors and the project has 1 fundraiser. $20,272 of our $30,000 goal was raised. Todate, the project has raised $22,482 of the of $30,000 funding goal, with a total of 328 donations from 134 donors. 5 of these are monthly donors with 1 fundraiser.
What we have done
Gorilla Health Monitoring
Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) field team, led by the Wildlife Health and Laboratory Technician together with Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers and Gorilla Guardians, continued the routine activity of gorilla health monitoring through non-invasive gorilla fecal sample collection from gorilla night nests, from all the 23 habituated gorilla groups of Bwindi and Mgahinga Conservation Area (BMCA).
Since the last report (from November 2022 to date), our field team managed to collect 747 gorilla fecal samples and analysed them to identify any diseases gorillas have and that they could be sharing with people and livestock neighboring the gorilla habitat.
The Gorilla Guardians continued their role of chasing gorillas back to the forest whenever they came out of the park to forage in people’s gardens. The Guardians also reported to us they are chasing elephants.
“Elephants love Eucalyptus trees, millet, bananas and potatoes. We are always on Guard these days to chase them back to the forest whenever they come to people gardens” said Jeremiah Tugabe, one of the Gorilla Guardians of Bwindi.
Other updates
Gorilla Group interactions
Silverback Kanywani, from Rushegura gorilla family split from his group and went with two females from Rushegura group and another female from Katwe gorilla family to create his own family which is yet to be given a family name. Kanywani was also joined by an unknown Sub Adult Female from an unknown gorilla family bringing his family to 5. This left Rushegura Gorilla family with 16 individuals and Katwe family with 9 individuals.
In Ruhija sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, Kyaguriro gorilla family was joined by one individual whose age, sex and name are not yet known. The family has been composed of 2 Black Backs 1 Juvenile and 1 silverback, Rukara. All females from Kyaguriro A moved to Kyaguriro B gorilla family, leaving Rukara because of his advanced age.
New gorilla birth
We are glad to share with you the news of a new addition to the world’s mountain gorilla population. This quarter, we registered the first gorilla birth at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP) this year.
Adult female Tomvi of Mukiza Gorilla family gave birth to a healthy baby on Valentine’s Day, 14/02/2023 which resounded quite well with the season.
This increases the Mukiza gorilla family from 18 to 19 individuals. The mother and father have since been very protective of their little bundle of joy who is yet to be given a name. We shall share the baby’s name as soon as our partners Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) names the baby.
We greatly appreciate GlobalGiving and all the individual donors on the GlobalGiving platform for all the continued generous support towards the work of the Gorilla Guardians of Bwindi
Links:
This report covers the progress on Conservation Through Public Health’s project on GlobalGiving, ‘The Gorilla Guardians of Bwindi, Uganda #44078
Our last report was submitted in July 2022. By that time, the project had a total of 261 donations from 123 donors with 6 monthly donors and 1 fundraiser. To date, the project has 292 donations from 125 donors. Of these donors, 5 are monthly donors and the project has 1 fundraiser. We have so far raised $20,272 of our $30,000 goal.
What we have done
Gorilla Health Monitoring
Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) field team, led by the Wildlife Health and Laboratory Technician together with Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers and Gorilla Guardians, continued to carry out routine gorilla health monitoring through non-invasive gorilla fecal sample collection from gorilla night nests, from all the 23 habituated gorilla groups of Bwindi and Mgahinga Conservation Area (BMCA).
Since the last report (from July 2022 to date), our field team managed to collect 699 gorilla fecal samples and analysed them to identify any diseases gorillas have and that they could be sharing with people and livestock neighboring the gorilla habitat.
Gorilla Guardians of Bwindi receive Rain Gear
In October 2022, Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) team, together with Uganda Wildlife Authority, distributed brand new rain gear (trousers and jackets) to all the 119 Gorilla Guardians of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. This rain gear will enable them to carry on with their critical work even during the heavy rains which are common in areas around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park, home to half of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas.
We appreciate Milkywire and all the individual donors on the GlobalGiving platform for all the continued generous support towards the Gorilla Guardians of Bwindi.
Links:
Gorilla Guardians of Bwindi Report for GlobalGiving July 2022
This report covers the progress on Conservation Through Public Health’s project on GlobalGiving, ‘The Gorilla Guardians of Bwindi, Uganda #44078.
Our last report was submitted in March 2022. By that time, the project had a total of 228 donations from 121 donors with six donors giving on a monthly basis, and one fundraiser. Todate, the project has 261 donations from 123 donors with 6 monthly donors and 1 fundraiser in 2 years.
What we have done
Gorilla Health Monitoring
Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) field team led by the Wildlife Health and laboratory Technichian continued to carry out routine gorilla health monitoring through non-invasive gorilla fecal sample collection from gorilla night nests, from all the 22 habituated gorilla groups of Bwindi and Mgahinga Conservation Area (BMCA).
Since the last report (from March 2022 to date), our field team managed to collect 680 gorilla faecal samples and analysed them to identify any diseases gorillas have and that they could be sharing with people and livestock neighboring the gorilla habitat.
All these samples were stored in formalin and analysed for parasites at the Gorilla Health and Community Conservation Center (CTPH’s on site field laboratory) and stored in RNAlater and analysed for SARS-COV-2 that causes COVID-19 at the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI)
New Gorilla Births
In May 2022, Uganda Wildlife Authority announced the news of the birth of a new gorilla in Nshongi Gorilla Group. This new gorilla brought the total number of individuals in this group of the Rushaga sector of Bwindi from 12 to 13 members. During our routine gorilla health monitoring, our team found the baby, Adult Female Birungi, the mother and Bweza, the father, in good health.
Still in May 2022, Christmas family in the Nkuringo sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park received a newborn gorilla to adult female Kiiza. With this new birth, the number of mountain gorillas in the Christmas family has grown to a total of eight.
In June 2022, we received a newborn to adult female, Betina of the Mukiza mountain gorilla family. This brought the number of gorillas in this family to grow to 17 gorillas
The new births are a testimony to the excellent work done by our teams, communities, partners and supporters in conserving these iconic species.
Gorilla Guardians receive brand new gum boots
In June 2022, Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) team together with Uganda Wildlife Authority distributed brand new gumboots to all the 119 Gorilla Guardians of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
We would like to thank Milkywire and all the individual donors on GlobalGiving for all the generous support towards the Gorilla Guardians of Bwindi.
On a sad note!
On 4th July, we lost an infant gorilla in Binyindo gorilla family. The infant fell from a tree and sustained grave injuries and by the time the team reached at the scene, the baby had died.
Links:
This report covers the progress on Conservation Through Public Health’s project on GlobalGiving, ‘The Gorilla Guardians of Bwindi, Uganda #44078.
Our last report on this project was submitted in November 2021. By this time, our supporters towards this project had grown in number from 80 to 107 donors. To date, the project has received a total of 228 donations from 121 donors with six donors giving on a monthly basis, and one fundraiser.
What we have done.
Gorilla Health Monitoring
The Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) field team continued to carry out routine gorilla health monitoring through non-invasive gorilla fecal sample collection from gorilla night nests, from all the 22 habituated gorilla groups of Bwindi and Mgahinga Conservation Area (BMCA).
Since the last report (from November 2021 todate), our field team managed to collect 637 gorilla faecal samples. All these samples are currently being stored in formalin for analysis at the Gorilla Health and Community Conservation Center (CTPH’s on site field laboratory) to identify any diseases gorillas could be sharing with people and livestock neighboring around the gorilla habitat.
In our last update, we reported that some samples are being preserved in RNAlater and will be analysed for SARS-COV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, other coronaviruses and respiratory infections and other infectious viruses. This was done successfully in partnership with Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI).
We are pleased to report that no mountain gorillas were found to be positive of COVID-19 amongst those tested.
Human and Gorilla Conflicts
In January 2022, Mubare group foraged outside the forest to feed on the Eucalyptus trees around the communities of Rubona village. Rushegura gorilla group was also feeding around the Uganda Wildlife Authority Visitor Information Centre, from where they could escape to the banana plantations of the nearby communities. Our gorilla health monitoring team and Uganda Wildlife Authority rangers called the Gorilla Guardians to herd the gorillas back to safety in the Bwindi Forest.
New Gorilla Births
On 20th January 2022 we were delighted to hear the news of a new baby gorilla, born to an adult female called Nyabwoba of the Christmas family in the Nkuringo sector of Bwindi. Both the mother and baby are in perfect health! This new birth increased the number of individuals in the Christmas family from 6 to 7, and is an important addition to the delicate population of the few surviving mountain gorillas in the world, 43% of which live in BMCA.
On 23rd January 2022, a baby was also born to an adult female called Twijukye of the Mukiza family in the Ruhija sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The picture in this report was the first image of the baby and mom by our team in the field, as shared by Uganda Wildlife Authority. This birth increased the Mukiza family to 16 members, and is testament to the great efforts to save this majestic species by partners and supporters.
In Memory of Kate Thomas
On 21st February 2021, the CTPH team held Kate Thomas’ family and friends in their thoughts, on what would have been her 47th birthday and just over a year after her passing.
Below are some excerpts of the messages we shared with our supporters.
We are honoured that her friends and family chose to support CTPH in her memory. Kate, whose 47th birthday would have been this past week, loved adventure and travel and had visited all four corners of the Earth, including Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Her trip to Bwindi, home to half of the world's remaining endangered mountain gorillas, became a fast favourite and, for this reason, her family and friends started a fundraiser to support the Gorilla Guardians of Bwindi in her memory.
To celebrate Kate’s life and her love of Bwindi, Kate’s mum supported the refurbishment of a seated firepit at CTPH Gorilla Conservation Camp in Bwindi-Buhoma which has a plaque in her honour with the words: “Your life was a blessing, your memory a treasure, you are loved beyond words, and missed beyond measure”. There is also plaque saying, “Born Up a Tree”, a saying that Kate loved to announce at the start of a meal instead of Bon Appetit, on a tree overlooking the Bwindi Forest canopy, a view she would have loved. We hope Kate’s family and friends will be able to visit us there one day, to sit by the campfire and appreciate the tranquility that Kate did.
At CTPH, we have been honoured to get to know more about Kate through the photos and stories shared by her friends and family - Click here to read a heartfelt tribute to this beautiful soul who continues to make a positive impact, even after her death.
Our thoughts remain with Kate’s family and friends today and into the future.
We would like to appreciate GlobalGiving and all our supporters for the continued support which makes our work to protect and conserve the endangered Mountain Gorillas possible.
Links:
This report covers the progress on Conservation Through Public Health’s project on GlobalGiving, The Gorilla Guardians of Bwindi, Uganda #44078.
Our last report on this project was submitted in July 2021. By this time, our supporters towards this project had grown in number from 80 to 107 donors. To date, the project has a total of 187 donations from 112 donors with 7 monthly donors and one fundraiser within 1 year.
We were also very grateful to receive a Donor Directed Grant from GlobalGiving, in partnership with the American Endowment Foundation, for the sum of 6000 USD in September 2021.
What we have done
Gorilla Health Monitoring
The Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) field team has continued to carry out routine gorilla health monitoring through non-invasive gorilla fecal sample collection from gorilla night nests in all 22 gorilla groups around Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP). Since the last report, our field team managed to collect 531 gorilla faecal samples. All these samples are currently being stored in RNAlater for analysis at the CTPH Gorilla Health and Community Conservation Center. Others are being preserved in RNAlater and will be analysed for SARS-COV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, other coronaviruses and respiratory infections and other infectious viruses. The Gorilla Guardians are integral to collection of the samples and have been trained by CTPH in safe collection and storage of the samples.
In July 2021, we received the sad news of the death of an adult female Mountain gorilla, Kashundwe, from the Katwe gorilla group. A postmortem was done where the cause of death was found to be an increased helminthic burden and due to old age. Her older age led to a reduction of the immune system, hence the increase and multiplication of helminthic parasites.
In July 2021, some members of Muyambi gorilla group, Kisho and the dominant silverback (called Muyambi) were seen coughing. Continuous monitoring was done for three days and, over the course of this period, the severity was reduced normally without the need to administer any therapy. Other members of the gorilla group were healthy and feeding well.
Gorilla Baby boom continues
On 26th July 2021, Bitukura group was blessed with a new baby by adult female, Kenoheri, who delivered for the first time. In the same group, one adult female, Betina, was taken by Mukiza, the dominant Silverback in Mukiza gorilla group.
In July 2021, Bweza gorilla group was invaded by a solitary silverback which was quickly identified and UWA rangers stepped in to help thwart the invasion. Bikyingi and Mucungunzi gorilla groups were feeding along the park boundary where the Gorilla Guardians would stay with them and leave them when they had nested to prevent them from moving out of the Park and foraging to the community. In Nkuringo, Nkuringo gorilla group was the only group that foraged out of the park, doing so for a period of one week where there was concern the group could encroach on community gardens, especially sorghum plantations. Gorilla Guardians supported by chasing it back to the forest
In August 2021, Rotary, an adult female from Mishaya gorilla group joined Bweza Bweza gorilla group. Unfortunately, she lost her baby a few days later. A postmortem was done where we found that its testacles had rotten. We suspected them to have been squeezed by Dorminant Silverback, Ntindatine. This is a common behaviour among silverbacks especially if the baby is not a member of their group. All the other group members were very healthy and feeding very well.
Mucunguzi gorilla group in Southern Sector of Bwindi was feeding along the park boundary for a week, found together with livestock in Nyiguru village. Park rangers and Gorilla Guardians tried to chase them back to the forest but the following morning they kept finding them back. They continued until eventually the gorillas moved futher into the forest.
Bikyigi gorilla group was feeding around the Batwa communities in Nyabaremura village where it stayed for three weeks.
In Nkuringo, Nkuringo gorilla group was the only gorilla group which foraged outside the forest four times in the second week of August. The Gorilla Guardians of Nkuringo participated in chasing them back to the forest.
Rushegura group is the biggest group in the Northern sector of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park with a total number of 19 members. In August 2021, the group foraged and raided community banana plantation in Rubona Village. Blackback together with his followers escaped to the nearby plantation, where they raided a banana plantation. Gorilla Guardians of Rubona village were called and chased them back deep in the forest.
World Gorilla Day
On 24th September 2021, CTPH joined the rest of the world to celebrate World Gorilla Day. This day was very special day for us, and we shared videos from our supporters, staff and community members who recorded different messages. Please follow @CTPH.org on social media and Conservation Through Public Health of YouTube channel to watch the videos.
On 27th September, we celebrated World Tourism Day with the celebration with the birth of a new gorilla baby in Mishaya family Rushaga sector.
Training of Gorilla Guardians
On 28th October 2021, CTPH and UWA commenced training of Gorilla Guardians, also known as Human and Gorilla Conflict resolution teams (HUGOs), of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Key training topics included COVID-19 history, signs and symptoms, vaccination, different variants, and prevention of COVID-19 among people and from people to mountain gorillas.
Other topics included sharing the recently Government endorsed safer Great Ape viewing guidelines and refershing information on gorilla health monitoring, including practical training sessions on recognizing clinical signs and collecting gorilla fecal samples.
A highlight was presenting Gorilla Guardian T-shirts which had been generously donated by Laura Anrdt of Global Green STEM. They were handed over by CTPH Founder and CEO, Dr Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, in appreciation for their noble service in helping to keep the mountain gorillas safe and healthy.
We would like to thank Milkywire and all supporters of the Gorilla Guardians project on GlobalGiving for their generous donations, as well as our implementing partners - Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA), Bwindi Community Hospital and Kanungu District for making this training possible.
In Memory of Kate Thomas
We would like to thank the family and friends of the Kate Thomas for organizing a fundraiser in her memory. To date the fundraiser has generated €5,120 raised by 58 friends of Kate Thomas in 8 months. Funds from this have been used to build a furnished fire pit at CTPH Field site at Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Though not yet completed, the fire pit is already being used by many of our visitors as seen in the pictures where the team is sharing the story of Kate Thomas and we hope to complete the construction and installation of plaques in Kate's honour in the next quarter.
Thank you!
We remain truly grateful to GlobalGiving and all our supporters for their generosity and support, without which our work to protect and conserve the endangered Mountain Gorillas would not be possible.
Links:
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