The Gorilla Guardians of Bwindi, Uganda

This report covers the progress of Conservation Through Public Health's project, "The Gorilla Guardians of Bwindi, Uganda #44078" on GlobalGiving. The previous report was submitted in March 2024, at which time the project had 449 donations, amounting to $31,819.62 of its $50,000 funding target. To date, the project has received 449 donations amounting to $34,312 of its $50,000 funding goal.

What we have done.

Gorilla Health Monitoring

Our Wildlife Health and Laboratory Technicians, Annaclet Ampeire and Laurence Muruhuura, continued their routine gorilla health monitoring activity in collaboration with Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) rangers and Gorilla Guardians of Bwindi and Mgahinga Conservation Area (BMCA). This quarter, they collected 619 gorilla fecal samples from the gorilla nests of all 28 habituated gorilla groups in BMCA. These samples were preserved and analyzed at the Gorilla Health and Community Conservation Centre to detect diseases that gorillas may have contracted from neighboring humans or animals. This analysis focus on identifying intestinal helminth parasites and other zoonotic pathogens, providing crucial insights into the health status of the gorilla population and potential risks of disease transmission between humans and gorillas. Regular monitoring and analysis is playing a vital role in conservation efforts and in implementing targeted interventions to protect these endangered gorillas and their habitats.

The Gorilla Guardians of Bwindi continued to play a critical role in herding mountain gorillas and other wildlife back into the forest when they came out of the park to forage in people's gardens. Frequent foraging of gorillas outside the park makes them more susceptible to zoonotic diseases from humans.

Livestock sample collection and deworming

Our Team conducted fecal sample collection in 200 livestock in the parishes around where gorillas share the same feeding ranges with community livestock. A fatal disease outbreak was detected in cows of Murore and Nteko parishes in Kisoro District in the Southern Sector of Bwindi. Uganda Wildlife Authority called CTPH Team and Gorilla Guardians from the southern sector to intervene. Suspected sick cows were treated to reduce the risk of disease transmission from cows to gorillas. Furthermore, community members who graze their livestock around the park boundary were sensitized about the negative consequences of grazing their cattle at the park boundary. Our Team conducted mass deworming of people and livestock in all parishes surrounding Bwindi Impenetrable National Park (BINP) where gorillas were found to have a high human parasitic burden. This was done to reduce the prevalence of parasitic infections in the Gorillas.

Gorilla births

In other exciting news, we are thrilled to share the birth of two baby gorillas this quarter! The first baby was born to Adult Female Furaha from the Nkuringo Family in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. This brought the total number of individuals in the group to 15. The second baby was born to Adult Female Nyampazi from Mubare Gorilla Group. This birth led to the growth of Mubare gorilla family from 8 to 9 members. These additions symbolize hope for conservation efforts by the Uganda Wildlife Authority and other government agencies, NGOs, local communities, and other stakeholders in conservation and tourism.

We appreciate your continued support to Conservation Through Public Health.

Links:

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