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Gorilla Doctors: saving endangered mountain gorillas in Africa

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When zoologist Dian Fossey was murdered in 1985 there were just 250 mountain gorillas left in Africa's Virunga mountains. But thanks in part to the Gorilla Doctors she inspired, their numbers have doubled.

A young orphaned gorilla with Dawn Zimmerman (left) and another gorilla doctor in a sanctuary in Rwanda

Picture: Molly Feltner/Gorilla Doctors/Barcroft Media

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The multi-national group operates in the heart of the jungle, treating maimed and critically ill gorillas. They also are responsible for the medical treatment and quarantine of poached orphans, with as many as eight gorillas in the Interim Quarantine Facility for moderate term.

Dr Magdalena Braum (far right) and Dr Eddy Kambale (far left) remove a bullet from the leg of an orphan Grauer's gorilla confiscated from poachers in Congo

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The Gorilla Doctors were formed in 1986 as the Virunga Veterinary Centre at the request of Dr Fossey - whose story inspired the Oscar-nominated film Gorillas in the Mist. It now employs 16 vets and operates in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.

Gorilla Doctor Dawn Zimmerman treats a darted baby gorilla in Rwanda

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The doctors swoop in to rescue the gentle giants when they are trapped in poachers' snares or exposed to deadly human viruses. They dart the animals with antibiotics or drug them and operate on the jungle floor.

Gorilla Doctors Eddy Kambale and Dawn Zimmerman remove a snare from a Grauer's gorilla in Kahuzi-Biega National Park in Congo

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In total they have carried out more than 150 medical interventions on wild gorillas and adopted more than 20 orphans. Many of the confiscated orphans are suffering from dehydration, mental distress and wounds, and need 24-hour care.

Gorilla doctors treat an adult mountain gorilla as part of the Village of Hope project in Rwanda



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