CONSERVATION
Gorillas in our Midst A recent census reveals that the species is escaping extinction. Sarah Marshall finds out why while on a conservation-themed tour of Uganda.
B
ouncing through the undergrowth like a furry football, juvenile gorilla Masanyu is entertaining a small crowd. One of the amused observers, Dr Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, is especially pleased to see this member of the Rushegura troop; the only surviving offspring of famous silverback Kanyonyi. He rightly deserves the name (Masanyu), which translates as ‘joy’. Although she has tracked great apes more than 300 times, Uganda’s first dedicated gorilla doctor is still enchanted by the enigmatic animals inhabiting Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park. “Kanyonyi was my favourite,” she says, wistfully recalling the famous mountain gorilla which died in 2017. “He was wonderful - small, but very well-mannered, and the women liked him. He had grown up seeing people all his life.” When Gladys first arrived in Bwindi 25 years ago as a veterinary student, only two groups of Uganda’s mountain gorillas were habituated for tourism, and the species was listed as critically endangered by the International Union For Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Today, there are 18 groups visited by tourists, and the number of mountain gorillas in the Bwindi-Sarambwe ecosystem is estimated to be 459, according to results of a 2018 census that were released in 2019. Combined with data from a 2016 survey conducted in the Virunga Massif, that brings the world’s wild population 84
NG'AALI
DECEMBER 2020 - FEBRUARY 2021
to 1,063 - an increase partly down to work conducted by Gladys and her team. Proving diseases could easily be transmitted between humans, gorillas and livestock, she set up an NGO - Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH), to help communities surrounding Bwindi Impenetrable Forest improve their health and hygiene. “Before, we were only looking at parasites, but now we are starting to look more regularly at bacteria salmonella, shigella - the kind that are common in the community and can be fatal to gorillas,” she says back at her research station, where tourists can also stay and witness conservation work in action. The five rooms and two tents are simple. Set high up, where hills roll into infinity and mist rises from the forest canopy like wisps of smoke, they have the best view in Bwindi. Inside her laboratory, Gladys - who was shortlisted for a Tusk Conservation Award in 2019 - lines up several plastic pots filled with gorilla faeces, carefully examining their contents under a microscope. Despite the obvious unpleasantness, collecting samples isn’t easy. Earlier that morning, we had battled with stinging nettles and belligerent troops of ants to find nests built by the Rushegura troop the night before. Every evening, gorillas make a temporary bed from leaves, which they inconveniently position on steep slopes, with the silverback always watching guard from the top. Conveniently, though, many
