Tshiaberimu

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Jul 02 2008 | By: tshiaberimu

After the nightmare following the death of our two gorillas at Mount Tshaiberimu, I had a moment of comfort. I was invited by the Office of Rwandan Tourism and National Parks (ORTPN) to take part in the annual gorilla naming ceremony in Rwanda. For me this was not only a moment of celebration for the gorillas, but also an opportunity to exchange experiences and sufferings with other members of the conservation community.

The gorilla naming ceremony is now an annual event in Rwanda, which brings gorilla conservation to the attention of an international audience. It is a great celebration and this year a conservation conference took place in the run up to the gorilla naming ceremony. During the conference I met many researchers who pledged to help us at Mount Tshiaberimu following the hard times that we have experienced, and I met personally with Mike Cranfield from Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project (MGVP) who is helping us so much following our gorilla deaths.

I would like to thank everyone who has given me this opportunity for relaxation and to meet other people working hard for gorilla conservation.

3 responses so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Jun 23 2008 | By: tshiaberimu

Please find below a message from Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, Founder and CEO, Conservation Through Public Health (www.ctph.org).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   I just returned from a trip to Mount Tshiaberimu to check on the health of the gorillas. This was particularly important because two adult female gorillas died in the space of 3 months, in February and May 2008, of suspected disease, leaving the fragile Mount Tshiaberimu gorilla population with only three adult breeding females.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Post mortems conducted by Dr. Joseph Mavisi, the local Congolese veterinarian initially indicated a large parasite burden of tape worms. However post-mortem samples from the second female, Molo, indicated Shigella bacteria in the fecal sample and a bacteremia on tissue sample analysis. Shigella bacteria has been seen before in both normal and abnormal gorilla fecal samples in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. Shigella is also considered to be one of the causes of dysentery in Ugandan human populations and possibly communities surrounding the park. Therefore the diagnosis of bacteremia could be due to Shigella or any other bacteria.                                                                                                                                                         My trip to Mount Tshiaberimu on request of the Gorilla Organization, who set up the Mount Tshiaberimu Conservation Project in 1996 in collaboration with the ICCN, was to do another health check on the gorilla groups, especially as blood was seen on the dung of Kitawite, one of the three remaining adult females in Kipura group. We traveled with Mount Tshiaberimu project director, Jean Claude Kyungu, Dr. Mavisi and CTPH Founders, Steven Rubanga (Chief Veterinary Technician) and Lawrence Zikusoka (Director of ICT for Development).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                On arrival in Mount Tshiaberimu we found two other gorillas in the Lusenge group, one silverback and one adult female, that had also been seen with blood on their dung a couple of days previously. A visual health check indicated that these two gorillas were clinically healthy and their dung was well formed with no blood or mucus. Also on arrival, the park staff reported that Kitawite, the adult female gorilla, was looking healthy, behaving normally and had a normal looking appearance. We examined fecal samples from the night nests of Kitawite and the rest of her group, which showed normal formed gorilla dung with no blood or mucus. Though the gorillas appear to be clinically healthy, the Mount Tshiaberimu staff are rigorously monitoring them for any further clinical signs.                                                                                                                                                                                          In the meantime there is a very urgent need to get medication to treat any further infections, and prevent further gorilla deaths. We would only treat the gorillas if it was absolutely necessary but it is important to have the right equipment to hand just in case. We therefore need to obtain long acting broad spectrum antibiotics effective against Shigella and most other bacteria, such as Ceftiofur, fortunately found in USA. We also need funds for darting equipment and proper necropsy kits for the attendant veterinarian, Dr. Mavisi and funds for training the veterinarian and support staff at Mount Tshiaberimu in gorilla health monitoring and emergency veterinary procedures.                                                                                                                                                                                                                         There is a possibility that the source of infection in these gorillas could have come from the surrounding local population, who have inadequate health care and ill equipped health centres, putting the gorillas at risk when they leave the park. Therefore there is a great need to identify common causes of intestinal infection, especially those causing dysentery as well as other diseases in people and livestock bordering the park, and find ways of reducing the prevalence of infection by assisting the health and veterinary centres with appropriate equipment and resources and intense community education campaigns.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        Finally there is a great need for good radio communication equipment; it was extremely difficult to track the Kipura group because they were fighting with Kanindo, a silverback who recently acquired a female. The advance team were not able to communicate effectively with our group, and we eventually were not able to that gorilla group before dark.

9 responses so far

Category: Gorillas, Tshiaberimu, Uncategorized, Virunga National Park | Date: Jun 16 2008 | By: tshiaberimu

Hello, this is Jean Claude. We have just received the results from the initial analysis done on the tissue samples taken during Molo’s autopsy. The results show that Molo was suffering from Shigellosis, an infection of Shigella bacteria that causes dysentery. She was also suffering from a relatively high parasite load. While Shigellosis is not necessarily a killer, if contracted by an animal that is weakened by worms, then the bacteria can cause death.  Shigella is spread by the faecal-oral route so the remaining gorillas in this tiny population are in grave danger. (here is a photo of one of our precious gorillas during happier times).  Dr Mavisi, the vet who carried out the autopsies, and everyone at the Gorilla Organization would like to thank Dr Gladys Kalema from Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) who has responded so rapidly to our distress call from Tshiaberimu following the death of two gorillas.Dr Gladys has been able to quickly arrange some advanced training, and last week myself, Dr Mavisi and Safari (the head monitoring agent) went to Uganda to learn how to identify even the slightest signs that a gorilla is unwell. When we returned to Mount Tshiaberimu we trained all the other monitoring agents here. The training was extremely useful and will help us protect the remaining gorillas. We do not have all the equipment we need here but Dr Gladys has been able to come to Mount Tshiaberimu to look after the gorillas during this difficult time. Dr Gladys will not be able to stay long so when she leaves it is important that we get equipment we need so we can carry out advanced checks ourselves. My colleague Vhosi has also been sending out messages on the radio about health and wellbeing to ensure that all the local communities are healthy, and that we minimise any spread of disease. We are doing all we can to protect our gorillas. 

9 responses so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Jun 12 2008 | By: tshiaberimu

Hello, this is Jean Claude. Thank you for all your messages following the second gorilla death at Mt Tshiaberimu.

I have been working in conservation since 1995, yet I have never before experienced such difficult times. The work at Mt Tshiaberimu has not been at all easy recently. I have worked through periods of insecurity, I have received death threats, the Tshiaberimu sector has been attacked, members of the team have lost their lives and others have been wounded …. and now, after everything, the gorillas are sick.     

 This is enough to dishearten us, but what would happen to my friends the gorillas if we gave up?  

Since May 2007 I have not slept well. The attack on May 20 2007 threatened the gorillas and the project’s staff and for many months the future of the project and the safety of the gorillas and staff rested on my shoulders. (This is a picture of my colleague Vhosi, in hospital after the attack).  

The situation settled in January 2008, but in the meantime we lost a baby gorilla - killed accidently during an interaction between two silverbacks (the photo here is of the baby’s body). In February 2008 we lived through the death of a female gorilla. The gorilla had shown no signs of illness so her death came as a great shock to us all. The  autopsy revealed that she had an obstruction of the intestine but it was not clear why she died. While we were working heard to seek the true cause of death and protect the remaining gorillas, tragedy struck again and on May 10 a second female gorilla was found dead - just 10 days before the commemoration of the attack at Mt Tshiaberimu a year before. 

These tragic events have struck Mt Tshiaberimu after 10 years of successful conservation and do not reflect the hard work of our team. A lot is needed for us to continue our work. I think we need to improve our logistics; we need an all terrain vehicle for the rapid deployment of patrols and rations; we need to improve telecommunications; and we need a laboratory to analyze field samples. 19 gorillas remain in the population.      

 Abandoning the gorillas is sacrificing their survival. 

6 responses so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Dec 21 2007 | By: admin

Ten Years of conservation with the communities

In october 2006, we celebrated 10 years of succesfull gorilla conservation at Tshiaberimu. When the project started, it was one of the first conservation programme to work with and enlist the support of the local communities and it became a pilot scheme upon which the Gorilla organization based its future gorilla conservation projects.Tshiaberimu conservation projects was proving to be a great success and so a year later, the Gorilla Organization rolled out community conservation projects in communities living near other gorilla habitats. Last week with our colleagues in Ruhengeri(Rwanda), Kisoro(Uganda) and Goma (DRC), we celebrated ten years of this success.At Tshiaberimu, about 300 persons attended the ten years ceremony with the Conservateur Kamate and Vhsosi who is in charge of communities problems. 30 irons were given to the Vusitoro community dispensary and 10 pigs to local chiefs
(on left)I was invited to the 100 years celebration of catholic tshiaberimu local communities(at right)
We feel so proud of the partnership that has emerged between gorilla conservation and the community, The project done so much to help people live independently of the forest and in harmony with the gorillas. 14 road members are paid regularity and the routes to Tshiaberimu are well maintained but we need to support other new road for 35km(forI will introduce you to the road menders in a later post); loads of seeds have been distributed to local families, the roofs of schools and dispensaries have been improved and the local people take part in monitoring the gorillas(there is one gorilla who leaves the park to live with the cows so it is important that we keep an eye on him). I will introduce you to this gorilla soon. 29th november was a day we devoted to celebrating all this success and collaboration.

Cassava produced by communities(photo in left), Local Chiefs involved in 2008 planning meeting( photo at right)and try to analyse how to monitor the gorilla out the park.

Thanks for all donors.

Jean Claude Kyungu

8 responses so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: May 11 2007 | By: admin

Tshaberimu and young pupils

To protect gorillas is one important aim but to see them it is a requiement of local comminities.

That was observed by the young pupils from the Butembo Tourism Institute after a speech lead by Vhosi .

Pupils were happy to read digit news.

Jean Claude

One response so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: May 11 2007 | By: admin

WHAT IS TSHIABERIMU

Tshiaberimu is an impressive mountain in the northen sector of Virungas national Park. It is situated near Ishango to the west of lake Edward in the north east of Democratic Republic of Congo.The small bamboo forest that envelops the mountain is home to a diversity of species including antelopes, monkeys, birds, elephants, bufaloes and small isolated group of 21 special gorillas.

The gorilla Organization, a UK based conservation charity inspired by Dian Fossey introduced a project called the Mount Tshiaberimu Conservation Project in 1996.The project uses the CRED(Conservation-Research-Education-Development) approach to protect the unique population of gorillas and its vulnerable habitat.

The Tshiaberimu project takes a holistic approach to gorilla conservation.It supports the ICCN(the Congoleses wildlife authority) to save gorillas within their habitat through patrols,infrastructure and monitoring activities;it works with the local communities on development and education projects; and it is researching the flora and fauna of the mountain. For more details about Tshiaberimu and the work of the Gorilla Organization have a look at www.gorillas.org

since the beginning of the project DRC has been travelling through a crisis period. some protected areas have been badly affected and other areas of the Virungas many gorillas have lost their lives. At Mount Tshiaberimu we suffersd great losses(which I will talk about in depth in alater blog post) and ther were periods where the gorilla conserevation became uncertain. But Tshiaberimu gorillas have so far been saved because of the dynamic work and determination of the Gorilla Organization’s field team, the congolese Wlidlife authority and the valuable donations that we have received.

Tshiaberimu has started blogging with Wildlife Direct this month as we are eager to send our message the outside world.Gradually the Tshiaberimu project is making progress and we hope that this progress continues. The ongoing crisis in North-Kivu could have a devasting effect on the Tshiaberimu gorillas but we believe that this can be prevented by involving local communities in their conservation.

Jean Claude Kyungu

Project Manager

Mount Tshiaberimu Conservation Project

One response so far