maketerribleneighbours.Mountain
gorillashavealwaysfacedhabitat
destructionandpoachingatthe
handsofthehumansintheirmidst.
Theydiebecauseofcivilunrestand
militaryconf lict;theygetcaughtin
snareshunterssetforantelope;and
theyriskcatchinghumanrespira-
torydiseases.Asa resultofallthat,
themountain-gorillapopulationhas
languishedbetween 300 and 400 for
mostofthelast 30 years.
When a species is so critically
endangered,thesurvivalofevery
individualmatters.Suchaserious
situationcallsfor‘extremeconser-
v a t i o n’.
Conventionalwildlifeconserva-
tioneffortstrytolimitthenegative
humaneffects onanindividual
speciesorspecificecosystem– by
protectingwildlifehabitatagainst
industrialpollution,say,orbyen-
forcingrulesagainsthunting.Theex-
tremeversiontakesa morehands-on
approachbyincreasing our positive
influence.
FORGORILLADOCTORS,thatmeans
protectingthespeciesbysavingthem
oneata time.Forty-twogroupsofha-
bituatedgorillas– thosefamiliesthat
havegrownaccustomedtohumans- arecontinuallymonitoredduring
daylighthoursbytrackerswhofol-
lowthemthroughtheforest.They
alsoreceivemonthlyhealthchecks
bylocalfieldveterinarianswho
examinestoolsamplesandwatch
forvisiblesignsofinjuryordis-
ease,suchasweightloss,weakness,
labouredbreathingora discoloured
coat.Whenagorillashowsanyof
thesesymptoms,theteamdiscusses
whetherornottostepin.
“Thereareonlyreallytwoscenar-
ioswherewe’lldoanintervention,”
Denstedtexplains.“Thefirstisif
humanswereresponsible– suchas
whena gorillagetscaughtina snare.
Thesecondiswhenwe’reprettysure
theyarenotgoingtopullthroughon
theirown.Otherwiseweletnature
doitsthing.”Besidesfreeinggoril-
lasfromtrapsandtreatingthesub-
sequentwounds,GorillaDoctors
havemostoftenintervenedtocare
forseriousrespiratoryinfectionsand
injuriescausedbyconf lictsbetween
theanimalsthemselves.
GorillaDoctors’Africanfieldvets
makemostoftheseforest‘house
calls’.TheRwandangovernment,
inpar ticular,preferstheysendlocal
doctorstotreatgorillasratherthan
relyingonforeignveterinarians.
But for cases that requireX-rays
FIELDVETS WATCH
FOR SIGNSOF INJURY
ORDISEASE,SUCH
ASWEAKNESS,
WEIGHTLOSSAND
LABOURED BREATHING27
Can We Save the Mountain Gorilla?