MOUNTAIN GORILLAS AND THEIR HEALTH FACTS

Mountain Gorillas

 Mist Gorillas in East Africa.

The mountain gorilla is the largest of all the gorillas and is the most endangered. The world’s remaining 820 mountain gorillas live in three different countries in Central Africa: Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda. Mountain gorilla trekking is the most popular tourism activity in these countries and attracts thousands of visitors into these countries. Although this makes their range seem large, the mountain gorillas actually inhabit a small geographic area where the borders of these three countries meet. Over half of the world’s mountain gorillas can be found amidst the Virunga chain of volcanoes and the remaining populations live in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest some 75 km to the north.

Unlike their lowland counterparts, the mountain gorillas have long hair, which helps them handle the temperature extremes found at altitude. Mountain gorillas live in large family units led by a single dominant adult male, known as the “Silverback” — a name derived from the grey hair that develops on male’s back as it reaches adulthood. The Silverback is responsible for protecting the family from predators or other threats, including solitary Silverbacks intent on claiming females as their own. The dominant Silverback also takes on the role of mediator when disputes arise in the family. Some families contain more than one Silverback, but only one is dominant and that male alone is responsible for mating with the adult females of the group.

The sub-adult males of the family are known as “Blackbacks”. Adult females are generally half the size of the males and it is their responsibility to initiate mating with the dominant male, as well as care for the infants.

In general they are very peaceful creatures. Most days are spent foraging for food, playing, and grooming. The mountain gorilla’s fierceness has been seen protecting its young from illegal animal trafficker’s intent on capturing baby gorillas. For every mountain gorilla baby that is found in the marketplace, an entire family of gorillas has died trying to protect it.

Gorillas get sick.

Because mountain gorillas share approximately 97% of our DNA, they are susceptible to the same diseases as humans. Unlike humans, however, their resistance is much lower. Sicknesses that the average human can beat with bed rest and antibiotics can prove fatal to the mountain gorilla. More serious outbreaks, such as Ebola or virulent strains of influenza could take the few remaining mountain gorilla populations beyond the point of return.

However it is advisable that tourists only visit gorillas when healthy and keep a minimum distance of 25 feet (7 meters) away to protect them from getting affected by diseases.

Actually Understanding the nature of mountain gorillas, and the threats they face, is the first step in assuring their preservation.

The Gorilla Doctors healthcare program includes:

·         Monitoring the health of mountain gorilla groups to ensure the early detection of disease and injury.

·         Staging medical interventions to dart sick animals with antibiotics or anesthetize and treat gorillas suffering from human-induced or life-threatening trauma.

·         Rescuing and providing veterinary care to gorillas orphaned by poachers.

·         Documenting and studying health trends to better predict disease outbreaks.

·         Conducting post mortem examinations on dead gorillas to learn all that we can about the health problems that contributed to their deaths.

·         Preserving tissue and fluid samples to be used by researchers investigating primate health issues.

·         Providing preventive healthcare to the dedicated park personnel who protect the gorillas, and to the people and their animals that live near gorilla habitat, in order to reduce the risk of inter-species disease transmission.