Monday, September 28, 2009
Congo
Going to DRC today with Magda, John, Sandy (head orphan caregiver) and Molly (free lance photographer and reporter) to look at a gorilla orphan facility that is being built in Rumangabo. More soon!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Rubuguri
Last week I went to Rubuguri, Uganda for a celebration of the "Year of the Gorilla" and the launching of a newly habituated gorilla group. It was my first time to Uganda and I was pretty excited. The border is about 30 minutes from our house so Magda drove me to Rwanda customs and Benard, one of our Ugandan veterinarians met me on the other side. The border closes at 6pm because that's when it gets dark here, and there is no electricity in the customs building... I got there by 5:30 to be sure it was still light! It costs $50 for the visa, which you get after standing in line and filling out forms on each side. Here's the Rwandan side - I forgot you are not supposed to take photos at customs.... I thought the sign on H1N1 was interesting.
Here's customs on the Uganda side. You can see Muhabura Volcano in the background.
Benard and I drove north to the village of Kisoro. We passed this beautiful lake on the way and I saw pelicans for the first time! Those are little wood canoes in the lake, and we passed a small, lovely campground. Might have to check it out at some point.
The roads in this part of Uganda are mostly not paved, but the countryside is lovely. Population density is much lower here than Rwanda so there were some nice expanses of countryside without houses. There is a hotel called the Traveler's Rest in Kisoro that has been there for years - was frequented by Dian Fossey in the day. I was hoping to stay there, but unfortunately it was booked, so I stayed at a newer hotel down the street. That night I heard a bird call that I recognized, but took me a minute to realize that it was a Crowned Crane! So familiar from my work at the zoo, and how hearing them in the wild was so great.
The next morning Benard and I drove about an hour over very bumpy roads to the town of Rubuguri, which is just outside Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. This is where the other population of Mountain Gorillas lives. This celebration was very important for the local communities. The newly habituated group means more money for the park service, which hopefully translates into more resources for the local communities. So this was a huge event. Looked a little like a horse show set up as we approached! It was a little odd to see Sea World and Busch Gardens on the banner - I'm still not sure about the connection!
There were many speeches by ministers and local leaders, then checks were handed out to leaders of the local communities. The excitement and hope for the future was palpable.
There were performances by school kids all day long. There were skits and dancing and singing - it was wonderful. At one point all the kids were asked to approach the stage and one of the local leaders told them they were the future of Uganda. The future of gorilla conservation. I think these kids will remember this forever.
These kids enacted a tourist visit to the gorillas. Very sweet.
Here's a small band with local instruments. I have video including sound - but I still can't figure out how to make the video small enough to post.. Howie, can you help????
This is a group of Batwa (pygmys) who sang a beautiful song. The announcer thanked them, and then they started to dance, and dance and dance! The whole crowd got into it, clapping and singing, and at one point on of the ministers went and danced with them. The Batwa have traditionally been a fringe group, historically somewhat neglected by community leaders. It was nice to see them included here.
A small flock of Crowned Cranes flew over the field at one point. You can sort of see them in this picture. I was pretty excited!
I didn't have time to visit Bwindi, but plan to do a health check on one of the groups with Benard sometime soon. It was a whirlwind visit, meeting many of the conservationist in Uganda, lots of hand shaking, and just trying to take it all in. Then it was back to Rwanda that evening, and an annual exam on one of the orphans the next day. See the gorilladoctors blog for that story sometime soon!
Quick aside: I make banana bread almost every weekend - there are many, many bananas in Rwanda. They've never heard of banana bread here (banana beer, yes... but not banana bread). I shared it with our guards and students and it was a big hit!
Here's customs on the Uganda side. You can see Muhabura Volcano in the background.
Benard and I drove north to the village of Kisoro. We passed this beautiful lake on the way and I saw pelicans for the first time! Those are little wood canoes in the lake, and we passed a small, lovely campground. Might have to check it out at some point.
The roads in this part of Uganda are mostly not paved, but the countryside is lovely. Population density is much lower here than Rwanda so there were some nice expanses of countryside without houses. There is a hotel called the Traveler's Rest in Kisoro that has been there for years - was frequented by Dian Fossey in the day. I was hoping to stay there, but unfortunately it was booked, so I stayed at a newer hotel down the street. That night I heard a bird call that I recognized, but took me a minute to realize that it was a Crowned Crane! So familiar from my work at the zoo, and how hearing them in the wild was so great.The next morning Benard and I drove about an hour over very bumpy roads to the town of Rubuguri, which is just outside Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. This is where the other population of Mountain Gorillas lives. This celebration was very important for the local communities. The newly habituated group means more money for the park service, which hopefully translates into more resources for the local communities. So this was a huge event. Looked a little like a horse show set up as we approached! It was a little odd to see Sea World and Busch Gardens on the banner - I'm still not sure about the connection!
There were many speeches by ministers and local leaders, then checks were handed out to leaders of the local communities. The excitement and hope for the future was palpable.
There were performances by school kids all day long. There were skits and dancing and singing - it was wonderful. At one point all the kids were asked to approach the stage and one of the local leaders told them they were the future of Uganda. The future of gorilla conservation. I think these kids will remember this forever.
These kids enacted a tourist visit to the gorillas. Very sweet.
Here's a small band with local instruments. I have video including sound - but I still can't figure out how to make the video small enough to post.. Howie, can you help????
This is a group of Batwa (pygmys) who sang a beautiful song. The announcer thanked them, and then they started to dance, and dance and dance! The whole crowd got into it, clapping and singing, and at one point on of the ministers went and danced with them. The Batwa have traditionally been a fringe group, historically somewhat neglected by community leaders. It was nice to see them included here.
A small flock of Crowned Cranes flew over the field at one point. You can sort of see them in this picture. I was pretty excited!
I didn't have time to visit Bwindi, but plan to do a health check on one of the groups with Benard sometime soon. It was a whirlwind visit, meeting many of the conservationist in Uganda, lots of hand shaking, and just trying to take it all in. Then it was back to Rwanda that evening, and an annual exam on one of the orphans the next day. See the gorilladoctors blog for that story sometime soon!
Quick aside: I make banana bread almost every weekend - there are many, many bananas in Rwanda. They've never heard of banana bread here (banana beer, yes... but not banana bread). I shared it with our guards and students and it was a big hit!
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Week of travel....
Sorry for the lack of posts - been a very busy week, and very little internet access!
I was in Kigali Sunday and Monday for a meeting on Climate Change and potential effects on Mountain Gorilla Conservation - it was a preliminary meeting, data gathering, etc. Gorilla health and biology data will be overlaid with climate data and analyzed - then a big conference will take place in February where recommendations will be made to local decision makers...
No internet in Kigali at my hotel.
Then Tuesday I interviewed 9 people for the position of Administrative Assistant. It was really, really hard to make a decision... I hired somebody who l hope will be good. We'll see!
Yesterday and today I was in Uganda for a big celebration - it is the "year of the gorilla", and a new group was habituated for tourists so it was a huge celebration, with local kids dancing and people from government giving speeches - I think I have some good pics I'll download and post later. No internet in Uganda hotel either.
On top of all that our local internet has been on the fritz.. hopefully to be fixed tomorrow...
So just a note to let you know I'm still alive and well! More soon...
I was in Kigali Sunday and Monday for a meeting on Climate Change and potential effects on Mountain Gorilla Conservation - it was a preliminary meeting, data gathering, etc. Gorilla health and biology data will be overlaid with climate data and analyzed - then a big conference will take place in February where recommendations will be made to local decision makers...
No internet in Kigali at my hotel.
Then Tuesday I interviewed 9 people for the position of Administrative Assistant. It was really, really hard to make a decision... I hired somebody who l hope will be good. We'll see!
Yesterday and today I was in Uganda for a big celebration - it is the "year of the gorilla", and a new group was habituated for tourists so it was a huge celebration, with local kids dancing and people from government giving speeches - I think I have some good pics I'll download and post later. No internet in Uganda hotel either.
On top of all that our local internet has been on the fritz.. hopefully to be fixed tomorrow...
So just a note to let you know I'm still alive and well! More soon...
Sunday, September 20, 2009
"Official" Blog!
The Gorilladoctors.org official blog is finally up and running! If you go to that blog there will be some familiar stories, but the gorilla content will be in more detail. At least that's my plan, and what our Director of on line fundraising wants. Also, and I PROMISE I won't do this often, if you feel like contributing to the cause, now is the time. Lucy raised ~$20,000 with her blog over 2 years, and my goal is to raise more...so tell your friends and family...
Okay, that's over-with. I really, really promise I won't do any more fund-raising on this blog!!!
Okay, that's over-with. I really, really promise I won't do any more fund-raising on this blog!!!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Model Farms
Today I visited 2 of our farm partners - these are families who are trying to develop healthy, environmentally friendly family farms. Farm is a term used loosely here - these families have a modest house, with their animals in the back yard.
The first farm was the home of Justice, a man who was warden of 2 national parks here in Rwanda for years and now works for a conservation NGO. He has a lovely home just outside the city center of Ruhengeri, with 2 Jersey cows in the backyard. The first he got from Heifer International 5 years ago. She's given him 3 calves and lots of milk. One of her calves is the second cow, and both are pregnant at the moment. John Huston, our livestock specialist, has helped Justice with feeding and deworming strategies. He's also helped Justice install a bio-gas unit next to the cow enclosure. This unit will be filled with cow manure and urine (and waste from the house), allow it to sit in a tank and produce methane, which is vented into a pipe that powers the gas stove in his house. The unit is not finished yet, but the tank of waste is almost ready to vent to the pipe. The start up cost was pretty steep in Rwandan terms but Justice figures he will break even in 3 years, then begin to save money. In addition, his family will no longer use charcoal, which is very expensive, and very, very bad for the environment. There is a HUGE illegal charcoal industry in DRC (Congo) - trees are cut in the "protected" forests and made into charcoal in kilns, then transported illegally to Rwanda, Uganda, other parts of DRC... so the bio-gas unit will decrease dependency on charcoal. We are encouraging all of our partner farms to consider installing a bio-gas system. Justice also has a rain catchment system that is almost ready for use. He has a series of pipes on his roof designed to catch the rain water efficiently and run into large tanks. That water will be used to water livestock, wash clothes, flush the toilet, etc. We are working on developing a rain catchment system at MGVP headquarters. Here are some pictures of Justice's house and cows. The cows are always confined because Rwanda has a no grazing policy in order to protect everyone's crops. It also keeps cows off the roads!
Here are John and Justice checking out his almost finished biogas unit, and the back of Justice's nice house.
We left Justice to go visit the home of a woman who has just purchased her first cow - a cross breed, who is supposed to be pregnant. John and I will palpate her to determine pregnancy status. This farm is a good 20 minute drive over VERY bumpy lava stone road, into a neighborhood that rarely sees cars, let along white people. We were immediately surrounded by a few women and dozens of children who were curious, and funny, and for the most part sweet (some of the older boys were a little naughty - they really, really wanted to ride on the truck...). This cow looks very healthy, and turns out that she is indeed pregnant! This is very good news for her owner. She'll make good money on the calf, and will get several months of milk. Here are some pictures of the cow, John palpating her, the house where she and some goats and a small family stay at night, and the kids. One little girl was knitting - she was very proud when I asked to take her picture.
This is how the majority of people live here in and around Ruhengeri. I am honored to be welcomed into their homes.
The first farm was the home of Justice, a man who was warden of 2 national parks here in Rwanda for years and now works for a conservation NGO. He has a lovely home just outside the city center of Ruhengeri, with 2 Jersey cows in the backyard. The first he got from Heifer International 5 years ago. She's given him 3 calves and lots of milk. One of her calves is the second cow, and both are pregnant at the moment. John Huston, our livestock specialist, has helped Justice with feeding and deworming strategies. He's also helped Justice install a bio-gas unit next to the cow enclosure. This unit will be filled with cow manure and urine (and waste from the house), allow it to sit in a tank and produce methane, which is vented into a pipe that powers the gas stove in his house. The unit is not finished yet, but the tank of waste is almost ready to vent to the pipe. The start up cost was pretty steep in Rwandan terms but Justice figures he will break even in 3 years, then begin to save money. In addition, his family will no longer use charcoal, which is very expensive, and very, very bad for the environment. There is a HUGE illegal charcoal industry in DRC (Congo) - trees are cut in the "protected" forests and made into charcoal in kilns, then transported illegally to Rwanda, Uganda, other parts of DRC... so the bio-gas unit will decrease dependency on charcoal. We are encouraging all of our partner farms to consider installing a bio-gas system. Justice also has a rain catchment system that is almost ready for use. He has a series of pipes on his roof designed to catch the rain water efficiently and run into large tanks. That water will be used to water livestock, wash clothes, flush the toilet, etc. We are working on developing a rain catchment system at MGVP headquarters. Here are some pictures of Justice's house and cows. The cows are always confined because Rwanda has a no grazing policy in order to protect everyone's crops. It also keeps cows off the roads!
Here are John and Justice checking out his almost finished biogas unit, and the back of Justice's nice house.
We left Justice to go visit the home of a woman who has just purchased her first cow - a cross breed, who is supposed to be pregnant. John and I will palpate her to determine pregnancy status. This farm is a good 20 minute drive over VERY bumpy lava stone road, into a neighborhood that rarely sees cars, let along white people. We were immediately surrounded by a few women and dozens of children who were curious, and funny, and for the most part sweet (some of the older boys were a little naughty - they really, really wanted to ride on the truck...). This cow looks very healthy, and turns out that she is indeed pregnant! This is very good news for her owner. She'll make good money on the calf, and will get several months of milk. Here are some pictures of the cow, John palpating her, the house where she and some goats and a small family stay at night, and the kids. One little girl was knitting - she was very proud when I asked to take her picture.
This is how the majority of people live here in and around Ruhengeri. I am honored to be welcomed into their homes.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Ihumure
Ihumure died last night. Another necropsy today. He had trauma to the kidney and an intussusception of the bowel (one piece telescoped into another). It is good to get a diagnosis, and to know there was little we do, but so difficult to know that he suffered so. Again, that is all part of life, but to be so close to it does give pause.
We will bury him according to the protocol of a physical anthropologist who is studying the bones of Mountain Gorillas. He will be laid in this little box in a very specific way so that the bones will be in anatomically correct position when they are retrieved in about a year. The box will be filled with loose dirt, and he will be buried at a specific depth to maximize natural cleaning of the bones. His grave will be marked with rocks in the little graveyard at park headquarters and with GPS coordinates. All seems very matter of fact. But really, it seems fitting, and a way to honor Ihumure and his species. To learn as much as we can from his little body. To help us better understand Mountain Gorillas so that we can best protect them and their environment.
Immediately after we finished with this necropsy I took a family who is doing a story on MGVP to see the gorilla orphans in Kinigi. It was nice to see this group of healthy, content orphans, each of whom has a tragic story, displaying for our benefit, and for the sheer joy of displaying! Lifted my spirits. More about them later - I'm going out for a beer!
We will bury him according to the protocol of a physical anthropologist who is studying the bones of Mountain Gorillas. He will be laid in this little box in a very specific way so that the bones will be in anatomically correct position when they are retrieved in about a year. The box will be filled with loose dirt, and he will be buried at a specific depth to maximize natural cleaning of the bones. His grave will be marked with rocks in the little graveyard at park headquarters and with GPS coordinates. All seems very matter of fact. But really, it seems fitting, and a way to honor Ihumure and his species. To learn as much as we can from his little body. To help us better understand Mountain Gorillas so that we can best protect them and their environment.
Immediately after we finished with this necropsy I took a family who is doing a story on MGVP to see the gorilla orphans in Kinigi. It was nice to see this group of healthy, content orphans, each of whom has a tragic story, displaying for our benefit, and for the sheer joy of displaying! Lifted my spirits. More about them later - I'm going out for a beer!
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Long day
Quick update after a long day. We did a complete necropsy (animal version of autopsy) today. A long and difficult procedure, the final results of which will take months. The tissues are placed in formalin and frozen, and will be brought back to our pathologist in the US next time Mike goes back to the states. Lots of permit/paperwork for this critically endangered species to be moved from his country of origin. I learned today that Titus was the oldest silverback with known birth date. 35 years old.
Ihumure is not doing well. He is weak, but does seem to be staying with the male group. In fact today Magda saw one of the blackback males defend Ihumure when Rano charged into the group. This is a good sign, if Ihumure can hang in there. We made the decision to attempt to treat him for a variety of potential causes for his weakness today, in the most non-invasive way we could. He was darted with antibiotic, antiparasitic and anti-inflammatory drugs. This remains a very, very difficult situation from a medical and ethical perspective. If we attempt to do a full intervention (anesthesia, sampling, fluid therapy, etc.) the group may leave - they are so unstable right now. If they leave, and he is still weak, we may not be able to successfully reintroduce him to the group once he recovers from anesthesia. If we don't do a full anesthesia, we may never know what is the cause of his weakness, and we still may lose him. So after long discussions with Veronica from Karisoke, we decided to try the least invasive "shot gun" method of giving him a chance. Trackers will watch him carefully tomorrow, while his father is being buried near Dian Fossey.
That's it for now. I think I'll watch an episode of "House" tonight - feeling the need to escape a bit....
Ihumure is not doing well. He is weak, but does seem to be staying with the male group. In fact today Magda saw one of the blackback males defend Ihumure when Rano charged into the group. This is a good sign, if Ihumure can hang in there. We made the decision to attempt to treat him for a variety of potential causes for his weakness today, in the most non-invasive way we could. He was darted with antibiotic, antiparasitic and anti-inflammatory drugs. This remains a very, very difficult situation from a medical and ethical perspective. If we attempt to do a full intervention (anesthesia, sampling, fluid therapy, etc.) the group may leave - they are so unstable right now. If they leave, and he is still weak, we may not be able to successfully reintroduce him to the group once he recovers from anesthesia. If we don't do a full anesthesia, we may never know what is the cause of his weakness, and we still may lose him. So after long discussions with Veronica from Karisoke, we decided to try the least invasive "shot gun" method of giving him a chance. Trackers will watch him carefully tomorrow, while his father is being buried near Dian Fossey.
That's it for now. I think I'll watch an episode of "House" tonight - feeling the need to escape a bit....
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