Babygorillasoftenpanicandscream
whentheirmothersgounder,and
thiscandistressthewholegroup.
Sometimesbabiesneedtobeanaes-
thetisedjusttokeepeveryonecalm
- doctorsandgorillasalike.
Suspicioussilverbackscancause
evenmoretroublebydecidingto
‘protect’their sleeping kin and
threatentheapproachingdoctors.
They may even charge and bite, so
portersandtrackersmuststandin
a perimeteraroundtheworkingvet-
erinarians.
Onthisday,though,theentire
Rusheguragroupwasjustasunim-
pressedbythe doctors as Buzinza’s
babywas.
INHERFORMERROLEasanERvet,
Denstedthandledintensivecas-
es– dogsrunoverbycars,forex-
ample,orfelinecancers.Although
she’strainedtofocusonhertask,
shefindsitimpossiblenottoform
anemotionalconnection with the
animalsshetreats.“Allmypatients
mattertome,”shesays.“Mostof
themhavenames,andifyouspend
enoughtimewiththemyoufeelre-
sponsiblefortheircare.”
Thesimilaritybetweenthegorillas
andhumansbringsanevengreat-
ersenseofconnection.“Whenthey
lookatyou,youcanalmostsensethis
extralevelofunderstandingand
intelligence,”Denstedtexplains.“I
thinkdogsaresmart,butthere’sjust
somethingaboutlookingattheface
ofa gorilla.Itfeelshuman-like.”
Thegorillasbehavelikehumans,
too.Denstedtrecallshowjuve-
nilegorillaswilloftensneakupon
a trackerora guide,touchtheirleg,
thenscurr yoffasifplayinga game
oftag.Gorillasarenotsupposedto
getthatclosetohumans,andthe
trackersscold theseyoungsters
withrepetitivegruntsthatindicate
- inmockgorillalanguage–that
theyshouldstopmessingaround.
Likenaughtychildrenevery where,
though,someofthemignorethe
rebukeandsneakuptotagagain.
Sometimesthegorillasevenseem
toknowthedoctors’intentions.
InSeptember2017,ababynamed
MayanioftheRugendogroupwas
caughtina poacher’ssnareinthe
Democrat icRepublicoftheCon-
go.Trackershadmanagedtocut
Mayaniloose,butGorillaDoctors
werecalledintoremovea lengthof
nyloncordtightly wound around the
b a b y ’s w r i s t.
“THERE’S JUST
SOMETHINGABOUT
LOOKINGAT THE
FACE OFA GORILLA.
IT FEELSHUMAN-LIKE,”
SAYS DENSTEDT
(CLOCKWISE FROM TOP) ROBERT HAASMANN/GETTY IMAGES; COURTESY OF EMILY DENSTEDT; SKYLER BISHOP
30 Augus t 2019
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