We got a report this morning that Titus is near death. He had been resting so comfortably with little Ihumure, but resting a lot. We all thought he was resting for Ihumure, but it now appears that he is giving up. He had recently abdicated control of his group to his son, which was shocking to the researchers - he had always been such a strong leader, since the time of Dian Fossey. This morning when trackers found the group Titus had not left his night nest, and was not responsive.
There is nothing we can do. We prepare for the necropsy. Titus was a gentle giant, loved by all. He made history with Dian Fossey. His loss will be deeply felt by gorillas and humans. The future of his group is in question, and Ihumure's future is in jeopardy. Titus was his only ally.
We buried an infant yesterday. One that I met on my first health check with Group 13. He was found dead 9 days ago and his mother only yesterday gave him up.
I am so sad.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
RAIN
Well, the rainy season has started, but when it rains here it is not like Indiana, so far anyway. Today the sky turned black, there was a little rumbling, and then it opened up and POURED. For about 30 minutes. Then the sun came out, the birds sang, and the temperature dropped 5 degrees (to 70 - it is generally about 75 during the day and 60 at night so far). I can't wait to see what happens with the garden now that the rains have come.
Ihumure update:
I went back up to have a look at him on Monday, and believe it or not, I made it to the ravine without ANY rest stops!!! I paced myself pretty well, but was absolutely amazed at how much better I did this trip than on Saturday. Part of it was that I knew what I was in for and I went very slowly, but part of it is that my body is actually adjusting. My kidneys are producing erythropoietin so that I can make more red blood cells so that my muscles and brain can get more oxygen at this altitude. I marveled at physiology as I trudged up the trail.
When we got to the ravine, Ihumure was again sleeping with the Silverback Titus, but when he woke up his eyes were more clear, and his movements more controlled. The trackers told me he had eaten that morning with much more strength than previously. I was so pleased. He's not out of the woods by any means, but moving in the right direction!
On the other hand, Titus seems pretty tired. Resting a lot. Hopefully he is just resting up from the last 2 weeks of interactions with lone silverbacks.
Here are some photos of that last trek - such a beautiful spot.
This is a lovely little homestead on the way to the park.
And there is actually a gorilla in that ravine...
Titus and Ihumure
Ihumure update:
I went back up to have a look at him on Monday, and believe it or not, I made it to the ravine without ANY rest stops!!! I paced myself pretty well, but was absolutely amazed at how much better I did this trip than on Saturday. Part of it was that I knew what I was in for and I went very slowly, but part of it is that my body is actually adjusting. My kidneys are producing erythropoietin so that I can make more red blood cells so that my muscles and brain can get more oxygen at this altitude. I marveled at physiology as I trudged up the trail.
When we got to the ravine, Ihumure was again sleeping with the Silverback Titus, but when he woke up his eyes were more clear, and his movements more controlled. The trackers told me he had eaten that morning with much more strength than previously. I was so pleased. He's not out of the woods by any means, but moving in the right direction!
On the other hand, Titus seems pretty tired. Resting a lot. Hopefully he is just resting up from the last 2 weeks of interactions with lone silverbacks.Here are some photos of that last trek - such a beautiful spot.
This is a lovely little homestead on the way to the park.
And there is actually a gorilla in that ravine...
Titus and Ihumure
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Saturday, take 2...
Well, I was wrong. It was not a quite Saturday after all. I got a call mid morning from Veronica, the director of research at the Karisoke Research Station, that Ihumure, the little orphan who was reported to be limping, is now not eating, and not moving much at all. So I packed my bag, drank some water and headed to the forest. This was the first time I'd gone out to the forest on my own, and I was a little nervous and excited at the same time.
Preparations for going to the forest include loading the small backpack with rain-gear, camera, water, notebook and pen. Sterile vials to collect fresh feces. Glasses, walking stick. Find out where to meet the military and trackers - usually Kinigi or Bisote, which are two villages about 15 and 30 minutes from Ruhengeri.
I drove the 25 minutes to the DFGFI (Dian Fossey Gorilla Foundation International) research house in Bisote and picked up my tracker and military escort (we always have a military escort when we go to the forest, more for protection if we encounter an aggressive forest buffalo than for human concerns... but that too...). By the way, I forgot to mention that we did see a buffalo last week! He was about 100 meters off, looking at us through the vegetation. Very cool.
As I arrived I saw a group of soldiers and trackers standing outside the house. I got out of the truck and said in my broken french - "You take me to Titus group?" They just stared at me... so I said "TITUS GROUP" really loudly. I don't know why I thought they would better understand me if I spoke loudly. One of the trackers said in English - "what?" So I said "TITUS" again, feeling a little foolish. Then he said smiled and said "TEETOS!!". Ahh, I was pronouncing it wrong! I said "Oui, TEETOS!!!!" and smiled broadly. And we were on our way in the Land Cruiser, over a terribly bumpy lava stone road, through tiny villages where people are used to seeing research and tourist trucks going past, but the kids still run out to see you, always smiling and either doing the "thumbs up" or shouting the now very common to me phrase - "bonjour mzungu!!". There were many women in very colorful cloths walking along the road, all with something on their heads - a sack of potatoes, baskets, big yellow water jugs - and most with a baby on their back and a toddler following in front or behind. Any child over 5 (and some smaller) were also toting water jugs, fire wood, or baskets as well. Men were making bricks, building houses, weaving rugs. People were going about their day, and I was fascinated. I found myself wondering about their lives, their hopes and dreams. Then I flashed back to driving down Meridian Street to the Zoo - why didn't I wonder about their lives? Too familiar?
The tracker, Fundi, motioned for me to stop and park the truck in a small village down the road. We got out and started up the fields to the wall that marks the park boundary, but as I looked up I couldn't see the wall. This didn't bode well... Fundi and the military guards were practically jogging up the slope. I didn't even try to stay at their pace. There was one guard behind me who was very patient as I once again huffed and puffed up the slope. It was an hour walk to the wall for me, with at least 3 stops to rest. "je m'excuse" I said constantly. "Je n'suis pas forte encore." He told me didn't speak much french or english. Only Kinyarwandan, swahili and arabic. I said I only speak english and a little french. Then we were quiet as my open mouth breathing subsided and the pounding in my ears slowed to a tolerable rate. The scenes around me were beautiful! At one point I almost stepped on a chameleon the size of my thumb. I stopped to pick him up and show the guard, then I put him on a nearby bush. I wanted to take his picture, but we were on a mission. And I was slow enough as it was.
We finally made it to the forest wall where we put on our rain pants to protect us from the at least 3 species of nettles and thistle, and as a bio-security measure (we wash them when we get back each time, as well as our boots, to keep down the potential spread of pathogens from group to group). I asked how far into the forest before we find the group, and Fundi looked a little apologetic and said it was about an hour. I groan inwardly, wondering if it is one hour his time or mine...), but smiled and said "ok, lets go!" It ended up taking another hour and a half, and several more stops for me with Fundi looking back anxiously, ALWAYS from far above me on the heavily wooded slope. Geez, how long is it going to take me to acclimate???? Just when I really don't think I can go much further we made it to the other trackers. Fundi talked rapidly with them in Kinyarwandan, gesturing here and there. Then he told me the gorilla group is resting down there, and he pointed down into a very steep, heavily vegetated ravine. I looked where he was pointing and saw a small black figure laying in the vegetation - she was one of the adult females from the group.
Fundi and I left the guards and other tracker at that point - we always go to the group with as few people as possible. As we moved down the slope I learned to trust that the thick, matted vegetation would catch my feet so I won't slide all the way down into the ravine with each step. At one point we stepped on a bee nest and were COVERED in bees. I probably made some inappropriate noises as I tried to move away. There were bees all over Fundi, in my hair, up my sleeve, buzzing around our heads. He didn't seem too concerned. I put up my hood and then heard buzzing inside the hood - ug. Then I noticed that I was not being stung. Not even by the one up my sleeve! I accidentally swatted one and even then wasn't stung... Then I remembered that somebody told me there are several species of non-stinging bees here. What a relief - I re-focused on the task at hand as we arrived at the spot where Titus, the silverback, and Ihumure, along with Segasira (another 3 year old) and Pato (a sub-adult male) were resting. Everyone looked peaceful except Ihumure. He had his eyes squeezed shut and was sleeping very, very soundly. The others were dozing, or grooming, or just resting while looking about. They were uninterested in our presence. The tracker told me in broken english that Ihumure is not lame, but is very slow and appears to be weak. And that he is not eating much at all. That's the most alarming part of the report - these gorillas rely on plants for their water intake, and this little guy will get dehydrated quickly if he doesn't eat enough. We watched them for about 45 minutes, and he opened his eyes once, sat up and tried to groom Titus but his hand just fell. He looked so pitiful. Broke my heart. I needed to get back to talk to Magdalena and Veronica so I looked up the slope and this time I groaned out loud - Fundi laughed and said it was okay to go slowly. Thank God - I couldn't have gone any other speed!
It took us only 45 minutes to get to the wall (took an hour and a half up...) and I found myself thinking, this is such a gradual slope, what's my problem!!! This time I could look around, not just at my feet as I placed one foot in front of the other on the way up. The trees were HUGE - at least 4-5 feet in diameter with moss covered branches the size of trees themselves. There were 10 foot tall lobelia spikes all over the place. And once in a while we would round a switch-back and there would be a wonderful vista, either of a volcanic ravine or of the villages below, depending on the direction. I really wanted to take pictures, but again, the mission demanded that I move on. Another 35 minutes from the wall to the parking area, then a 30 minute drive home.
I spoke to Magda and Veronica. We decided to monitor him daily. Titus is sticking so close to him that an intervention would be dicey. Magda went up this morning, and it sounds like he is no better, but no worse. She saw him eat 2 pieces of wild celery, and he groomed Titus. The group has not moved much, so he has been able to rest. We'll go up daily and make the difficult cost/benefit decision daily whether or not to intervene. I'll keep you posted.
Preparations for going to the forest include loading the small backpack with rain-gear, camera, water, notebook and pen. Sterile vials to collect fresh feces. Glasses, walking stick. Find out where to meet the military and trackers - usually Kinigi or Bisote, which are two villages about 15 and 30 minutes from Ruhengeri.
I drove the 25 minutes to the DFGFI (Dian Fossey Gorilla Foundation International) research house in Bisote and picked up my tracker and military escort (we always have a military escort when we go to the forest, more for protection if we encounter an aggressive forest buffalo than for human concerns... but that too...). By the way, I forgot to mention that we did see a buffalo last week! He was about 100 meters off, looking at us through the vegetation. Very cool.
As I arrived I saw a group of soldiers and trackers standing outside the house. I got out of the truck and said in my broken french - "You take me to Titus group?" They just stared at me... so I said "TITUS GROUP" really loudly. I don't know why I thought they would better understand me if I spoke loudly. One of the trackers said in English - "what?" So I said "TITUS" again, feeling a little foolish. Then he said smiled and said "TEETOS!!". Ahh, I was pronouncing it wrong! I said "Oui, TEETOS!!!!" and smiled broadly. And we were on our way in the Land Cruiser, over a terribly bumpy lava stone road, through tiny villages where people are used to seeing research and tourist trucks going past, but the kids still run out to see you, always smiling and either doing the "thumbs up" or shouting the now very common to me phrase - "bonjour mzungu!!". There were many women in very colorful cloths walking along the road, all with something on their heads - a sack of potatoes, baskets, big yellow water jugs - and most with a baby on their back and a toddler following in front or behind. Any child over 5 (and some smaller) were also toting water jugs, fire wood, or baskets as well. Men were making bricks, building houses, weaving rugs. People were going about their day, and I was fascinated. I found myself wondering about their lives, their hopes and dreams. Then I flashed back to driving down Meridian Street to the Zoo - why didn't I wonder about their lives? Too familiar?
The tracker, Fundi, motioned for me to stop and park the truck in a small village down the road. We got out and started up the fields to the wall that marks the park boundary, but as I looked up I couldn't see the wall. This didn't bode well... Fundi and the military guards were practically jogging up the slope. I didn't even try to stay at their pace. There was one guard behind me who was very patient as I once again huffed and puffed up the slope. It was an hour walk to the wall for me, with at least 3 stops to rest. "je m'excuse" I said constantly. "Je n'suis pas forte encore." He told me didn't speak much french or english. Only Kinyarwandan, swahili and arabic. I said I only speak english and a little french. Then we were quiet as my open mouth breathing subsided and the pounding in my ears slowed to a tolerable rate. The scenes around me were beautiful! At one point I almost stepped on a chameleon the size of my thumb. I stopped to pick him up and show the guard, then I put him on a nearby bush. I wanted to take his picture, but we were on a mission. And I was slow enough as it was.
We finally made it to the forest wall where we put on our rain pants to protect us from the at least 3 species of nettles and thistle, and as a bio-security measure (we wash them when we get back each time, as well as our boots, to keep down the potential spread of pathogens from group to group). I asked how far into the forest before we find the group, and Fundi looked a little apologetic and said it was about an hour. I groan inwardly, wondering if it is one hour his time or mine...), but smiled and said "ok, lets go!" It ended up taking another hour and a half, and several more stops for me with Fundi looking back anxiously, ALWAYS from far above me on the heavily wooded slope. Geez, how long is it going to take me to acclimate???? Just when I really don't think I can go much further we made it to the other trackers. Fundi talked rapidly with them in Kinyarwandan, gesturing here and there. Then he told me the gorilla group is resting down there, and he pointed down into a very steep, heavily vegetated ravine. I looked where he was pointing and saw a small black figure laying in the vegetation - she was one of the adult females from the group.
Fundi and I left the guards and other tracker at that point - we always go to the group with as few people as possible. As we moved down the slope I learned to trust that the thick, matted vegetation would catch my feet so I won't slide all the way down into the ravine with each step. At one point we stepped on a bee nest and were COVERED in bees. I probably made some inappropriate noises as I tried to move away. There were bees all over Fundi, in my hair, up my sleeve, buzzing around our heads. He didn't seem too concerned. I put up my hood and then heard buzzing inside the hood - ug. Then I noticed that I was not being stung. Not even by the one up my sleeve! I accidentally swatted one and even then wasn't stung... Then I remembered that somebody told me there are several species of non-stinging bees here. What a relief - I re-focused on the task at hand as we arrived at the spot where Titus, the silverback, and Ihumure, along with Segasira (another 3 year old) and Pato (a sub-adult male) were resting. Everyone looked peaceful except Ihumure. He had his eyes squeezed shut and was sleeping very, very soundly. The others were dozing, or grooming, or just resting while looking about. They were uninterested in our presence. The tracker told me in broken english that Ihumure is not lame, but is very slow and appears to be weak. And that he is not eating much at all. That's the most alarming part of the report - these gorillas rely on plants for their water intake, and this little guy will get dehydrated quickly if he doesn't eat enough. We watched them for about 45 minutes, and he opened his eyes once, sat up and tried to groom Titus but his hand just fell. He looked so pitiful. Broke my heart. I needed to get back to talk to Magdalena and Veronica so I looked up the slope and this time I groaned out loud - Fundi laughed and said it was okay to go slowly. Thank God - I couldn't have gone any other speed!
It took us only 45 minutes to get to the wall (took an hour and a half up...) and I found myself thinking, this is such a gradual slope, what's my problem!!! This time I could look around, not just at my feet as I placed one foot in front of the other on the way up. The trees were HUGE - at least 4-5 feet in diameter with moss covered branches the size of trees themselves. There were 10 foot tall lobelia spikes all over the place. And once in a while we would round a switch-back and there would be a wonderful vista, either of a volcanic ravine or of the villages below, depending on the direction. I really wanted to take pictures, but again, the mission demanded that I move on. Another 35 minutes from the wall to the parking area, then a 30 minute drive home.
I spoke to Magda and Veronica. We decided to monitor him daily. Titus is sticking so close to him that an intervention would be dicey. Magda went up this morning, and it sounds like he is no better, but no worse. She saw him eat 2 pieces of wild celery, and he groomed Titus. The group has not moved much, so he has been able to rest. We'll go up daily and make the difficult cost/benefit decision daily whether or not to intervene. I'll keep you posted.
Week 5
Yesterday was a desk day, bank day, try to figure out CITES permit day, and overall management sorta day. Today is a quiet Saturday so far - I hope to start a small garden today or tomorrow - the rainy season is coming so it might be a good time to get my flowers growing!
We did get two reports of injured gorillas yesterday - an adult female in one group has a wound on her hand. Trackers are going to assess and call me sometime today. In another group there is a 3 year old that is limping - apparently the little guys like to climb trees and sometimes fall out, or the tree limb breaks. This little guy also lost his mom to another group (silver backs steal females sometimes), but he hangs out with the old silverback Titus, who has been here since the Dian Fossey days. I've been told that this youngster is limping badly enough that he has a hard time keeping up with the group, but Titus always goes back to check on him and waits for him to catch up. Trackers looked at him this morning and he is much better, so no need for us to go have a look at him. It he were worse, I would have gone up to the group to assess him myself. We have a policy that we intervene only when the problem is human induced or life threatening - the goal is to let nature take its course to a certain extent, but not at the cost of a life. With only 700 individual mountain gorillas left each life is important. The other piece is that each intervention (anesthetic event, generally) is potentially dangerous to animals and people involved, so we have to make pretty serious cost/benefit decisions for each case. For these two, it does not sound like we'll be getting involved, but I'll let you know!
That's it for now. Happy Labor Day everyone!
Here's one of the lowland gorilla orphans we help care for in Kinigi - What a cutie-pie!
We did get two reports of injured gorillas yesterday - an adult female in one group has a wound on her hand. Trackers are going to assess and call me sometime today. In another group there is a 3 year old that is limping - apparently the little guys like to climb trees and sometimes fall out, or the tree limb breaks. This little guy also lost his mom to another group (silver backs steal females sometimes), but he hangs out with the old silverback Titus, who has been here since the Dian Fossey days. I've been told that this youngster is limping badly enough that he has a hard time keeping up with the group, but Titus always goes back to check on him and waits for him to catch up. Trackers looked at him this morning and he is much better, so no need for us to go have a look at him. It he were worse, I would have gone up to the group to assess him myself. We have a policy that we intervene only when the problem is human induced or life threatening - the goal is to let nature take its course to a certain extent, but not at the cost of a life. With only 700 individual mountain gorillas left each life is important. The other piece is that each intervention (anesthetic event, generally) is potentially dangerous to animals and people involved, so we have to make pretty serious cost/benefit decisions for each case. For these two, it does not sound like we'll be getting involved, but I'll let you know!
That's it for now. Happy Labor Day everyone!
Here's one of the lowland gorilla orphans we help care for in Kinigi - What a cutie-pie!
Thursday, September 3, 2009
PACKAGE!!!
I got my first care package today!
Thanks Bob!!! John Huston is an American PhD candidate working with MGVP on livestock health, and he was on vacation in the US this month - he brought my package back with him. YAY!
I now have almonds and wasabi peas (Candi, I LOVE the nut/wasabi pea combo now!), a small mirror for my bedroom, an external hard drive, and MOVIES! YAY!
Becky and Howie - I haven't received the packages you sent in the mail yet, but John just told me that since April (genocide remembrance time) when the post office slows to a crawl, packages have taken about 32 days, so I'm still hopeful!
Today was a desk day. Got a lot done, but still a long way to go before I feel like I know my way around the files, accounting, previous cases, etc. But I'm getting there!
My muscles are sore from yesterday's trek. Feels good.
Thanks Bob!!! John Huston is an American PhD candidate working with MGVP on livestock health, and he was on vacation in the US this month - he brought my package back with him. YAY!
I now have almonds and wasabi peas (Candi, I LOVE the nut/wasabi pea combo now!), a small mirror for my bedroom, an external hard drive, and MOVIES! YAY!
Becky and Howie - I haven't received the packages you sent in the mail yet, but John just told me that since April (genocide remembrance time) when the post office slows to a crawl, packages have taken about 32 days, so I'm still hopeful!
Today was a desk day. Got a lot done, but still a long way to go before I feel like I know my way around the files, accounting, previous cases, etc. But I'm getting there!
My muscles are sore from yesterday's trek. Feels good.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
9000 feet
We walked for 3 hours before we found the group today. Straight up. To 9000 feet. Going back down was faster. Gorillas were GREAT.Je suis fatigue.
Here are some photos from today - I tried up upload a video but it was too big. I guess that's my next task - figure out how to make the videos smaller so I can put them on the blog!
BTW - I am now officially on the GorillaDoctors website, and my first "official" blog should be posted in about a week. Stay tuned!
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Driving lessons
I drove myself home from Kigali today for the first time! I dropped Mike off at the airport and navigated my way through downtown Kigali, then drove the 2 hours up and down the mountains home to Ruhengeri. Last week I drove to and from Kigali with a guy from Ruhengeri who knew his way around the city, and he taught me all the road courtesy signals:
So I made it home, and can now check off one more from my list of firsts!
They say you've "gone native" if you do three things while in a foreign country:
Walk at night. Check.
Drive by yourself. Check.
Drink the tap water. Not happening.
- When you come up behind a huge, smelly truck spewing black smoke and doing about 2mph up a steep, windy mountain road, you obviously want to pass him. So you turn on your left turn signal and wait until you can sorta see around him. He will turn on his left signal if somebody is coming the other way, meaning DON'T PASS. He will turn on his right signal if the coast is clear (as far as he can see), meaning GIVE IT A TRY...
- If you are in a long line of cars following said smelly, slow truck, you can pass the one in front of you IF they don't have their left turn signal on. If they do have it on, you have to wait your turn.
- If you are going slower than the person behind you, let them know if somebody is coming or not (using the signaling above) and let them pass you.
- If you see someone coming toward you and they flash their lights, look at the driver because if there are police ahead he will point his index finger to the ground. If there are no police he will point to the sky. And you should do the same courtesy.
- When you approach a motor bike you should honk once or twice to let them know you are coming up behind them. (Not as much honking as the Dominican Republic, but it came pretty naturally to me!)
So I made it home, and can now check off one more from my list of firsts!
They say you've "gone native" if you do three things while in a foreign country:
Walk at night. Check.
Drive by yourself. Check.
Drink the tap water. Not happening.
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