Below:EmilyDenstedtgatherswithlocalnursesshetrainedatGorilla
Doctors’regionalheadquartersinRwanda(bottomleft), aspart of an
initiative to improve human healthcare in the areaWhen the field team dart-
edMayaniwithanaesthetic,the
malesinthegroupbecameagitated
andaggressive.Butthedominant
silverback,Bukima,wouldnottol-
eratesuchmachismo.He paced
backandforthbetweentheGorilla
Doctorsteamandtheothersilver-
backsandvocalisedatthemtocalm
downuntiltheteamhadfinished
removingthesnare.
The incident was even more
remarkableconsideringthatten
yearsearlier,criminalsillegally
harvestingwoodforcharcoalhad
attackedtheRugendogroupand
killedsevenofthefamily’s 12 goril-
las,includinga 225-kilogramsilver-
back.Bukima,nowinhislateteens,
wouldhavebeenpresentduringthat
event,buthesomehowknewthe
doctorsmeantnoharm.
Denstedt wonders if Bukima
remembered one of the doctors’31