Posts Tagged ‘Mountain Gorilla’

Feb
17

Houston Zoo Wildlife Conservation is on Facebook!

Posted by in Africa,amphibians,Attwater's Prairie Chicken,Black bears,Borneo,Carnivores,Chimpanzee,community-based conservation,Conservation,Elephant,Endangered Species,Field Research,Galapagos,Going Green,Gorilla,orangutan,Painted Dog,Panama,Rhino,Travel

 

Booming chickens on prairies and adventures to find bear hair in the Big Thicket. Leech infested forests? Monsoons? Leg swallowing mud and Sea Gull poo? Wild Orangutans that use bridges and toads with implants.  Confused? Don’t be. Join us and interact with local and global conservation on our new Houston Zoo Conservation Facebook page. Keep up with the conservation department and our partners in the field, and don’t forget to comment along the way!

Link here and follow along: http://www.facebook.com/#!/houstonzooconservation

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Dec
10

More gift ideas that save species

Posted by in Africa,community-based conservation,Conservation,Endangered Species,Going Green,Painted Dog,What You Can Do

Did you know we have an area of the Zoo’s gift shop that is dedicated to benefiting wildlife conservation?  This means that we get to buy product made by local artisans connected to the wildlife conservation projects we support, and make it available to you in the gift shop, with all proceeds going back to these projects.  We carfully select projects that combine conservation research with capacity building for the local communities. This conservation commerce helps to create a sustainable local economy in rural villages that surround the endangered species habitats. 

 

 
 
Partners In Conservation consists of women from rural villages that surround gorilla habitat.  The products from this organization are hand-made by women from Rwanda, Africa.  They sew colorful stuffed rhinos, elephants, giraffes and turtles and fill them with recycled plastic bags.  The production of these animals helps to reduce the amount of plastic in the landfills and to create a sustainable local economy. 
 
Gisimba Memorial Association  is an orphanage located in Kigali City, Rwanda close to gorilla habitat.  GMC serves about 200 Rwandan children who have been orphaned due to the 1994 genocide, HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other tropical diseases, poverty and abandonment.  Production of this artwork provides much needed skills and financial security for the children of Gisimba.

 

Virunga Artisan Products “The Art of People & Gorillas Living in Harmony ”is staffed by locals from the communities surrounding Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda/DR Congo and the Impenetrable National Park in Uganda. 
Only 700 mountain gorillas remain in the world today.  Survival of this species greatly depends on the well being of the people who live nearby in Rwanda, Uganda & DR Congo.  The women of the Nkuringo Basket Weavers Association live on the southwest edge of Bwindi National Park in an area seldom visited by tourists.  The people of Nkuringo traditionally have made their living from subsistence agriculture. Earnings from basket sales have made a tremendous difference in the lives of the women of Nkuringo and their families, including the ability to send their children to school and access to health care.
 

Snare wire art

Iganyana Art Center was created by Painted Dog Conservation (PDC) in Zimbabwe. Fewer then 3000 African wild dogs remain in Africa due to various human pressures.   Poaching with snares (wire traps) continues to be one of the leading threats to the survival of this species. PDC has developed three highly trained anti-poaching units in an effort to control this threat.  Since the first of these units was deployed in August 2001, they have collected well over 10,000 snares. Had the snares gone untouched, it would mean approximately one thousand animals killed.  The wire collected by the anti-poaching units is sent to PDC’s Iganyana arts center, where local artisans from rual villages use it to create beautiful intricate art.  Production of this artwork provides skills and financial security for the artists.  In addition, the program provides an opportunity for conservation education on sustainable use of resources and reuse of materials.

Animals hand-made by women in Rwanda

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Aug
23

What Really Matters

Posted by in Animal Origins & Fun Facts,Endangered Species,Going Green,What You Can Do

It can be overwhelming. Every media outlet you turn to – all the messages are negative. Crime, economy, natural disasters…so we shut down mentally.

At the zoo we talk about the struggle to preserve wildlife and wildlife habitat. People need to see what is going on in the world, but you need to see the positives as well.

In Rwanda, a team of field veterinarians are tending to the health of Mountain Gorillas. In Zimbabwe, education bush camps are teaching children to protect Painted Dogs.  In Texas, the Houston Zoo and partners are reintroducing Attwater’s Prairie Chickens and Houston Toad back into native habitat. In Botswana, our partners at Cheetah Conservation Botswana are helping to protect the health of the communities’ domestic animals and working side-by-side to ensure the safety of their livestock. At the zoo, we recycle and reduce our landfill waste stream. 

A colleague once said to me Human nature does not program us to be proactive until it is almost too late. Well that is dissapointing. What really matters is for everyone to do something positive, just one thing. What really matters is that one thing can ultimately lead to a larger chain of events.

Find one minute a day to step back and look around – have you ever just stopped to watch the birds or butterflies in your neighborhood?  A recent poll found Houston #3 on the list of most stressful cities. We work too much, do not get outside enough (it’s hot, it’s humid, it’s buggy – I get it). But if you take a moment and find one minute a day to do that one simple positive thing – that is what really matters.

…and now for your viewing pleasure, a random photo of a mountain gorilla and his very engaging feet…

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Jul
28

Rwanda Calling? Volunteers Wanted!

Posted by in Africa,community-based conservation,Endangered Species,Featured,Gorilla,Travel,What You Can Do

Looking for a new experience working with children at the base of a volcano where half the world’s Mountain Gorillas remain? If so, you can volunteer with Art of Conservation in Rwanda. 

Art of Conservation, Inc. educates Rwandans about conservation and the importance of maintaining a healthy environment for both people and animals while instilling in them an understanding and respect for themselves, their peers, and the natural world. The Houston Zoo is a proud supporter of the Art of Conservation program in Rwanda

Art of Conservation (AoC)  is seeking a dedicated, experienced administrative support intern to work directly with AoC Director Julie Ghrist. Interns must commit at least six weeks to the position. After six weeks, the intern position may be extended at the discretion of the Director. For a description of the position and application – link here

Rushubi Primary School 5th grade class

AoC also occasionally accepts volunteers (link here for application) for short- to medium-term volunteer placements. Their needs vary depending on the staffing situation and class schedule. In general, they seek honest, hard-working individuals who can offer support in one or more of the following areas:

  • Teaching the English-language portion of our conservation education curriculum. We are particularly interested in volunteer teachers who have a background in conservation, biology, agriculture, medicine, or public health.
  • Teaching the English-language portion of our art curriculum. We are particularly interested in volunteer teachers who have a background in drawing, painting, music, or drama.
  • Administrative work including memo writing and grant research.
  • English-language training for non-English speaking staff.
  • Computer skills training for staff.

Ready for an experience of a lifetime? Well, here is one where you can both learn and give at the same time.

I wonder if Art of Conservation will let me volunteer with them this week...maybe I will just eat some bamboo instead

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Jul
01

Mountain Gorilla: Follow along at your own pace

Posted by in Africa,community-based conservation,Endangered Species,Field Research,Gorilla

From here on out we ask you to follow along on the Gorilla Doctors blog or even their Facebook page and immerse yourselves in the day-to-day lives of the staff and Mountain Gorillas of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Today we introduce you to Dr. Fred Nizeyimana,, an in-country field veterinarian from Uganda, on a visit to one of the Mountain Gorilla groups.

“Today I went for routine health check of the Nyakagezi group. The group was in the place closer to Sabinyo base. We found the group feeding on bamboo shoots and vines. The group was fine and healthy. I observed all the 9 gorillas and they were feeding normally. All the Silverbacks were feeding and moving together. The Blackback were the ones that trailed the group but not far from the others. Group composition: Mark (dominant Silverback), Bigingo (old Silverback), Mafia (young Silverback), Ndungutse (Blackback), Rukundo (Blackback), Inshuti (adult female), Inshuti’s baby and an un-named adult female and her baby. Their dung was normal. Parameters like breathing rate and rhythm observed physically were within normal limits. Musculo-skeletal and integument systems, no wounds observed.”

We all have responsibilities in our day-to-day lives. Theirs are to monitor and protect the world’s remaning population of Mountain Gorillas.

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Jun
30

Mountain Gorilla: Summer Reading

Posted by in Africa,Endangered Species,Field Research,Gorilla

If you are not visiting the Houston Zoo, swimming in a pool or going to the beach – you are most likely locked inside with air conditioning turned on. I understand completely, they tell us the official start of summer is June 21st but it has been ascorching hot for 6 weeks and we are tired of it already.

So add this to your summer reading list – that’s right reading, something us older folks did “back in the day” of 3 television channels which were black and white. The horror! Actually it was horrible as we did not have books like this to read.

GORILLA DOCTORS: SAVING ENDANGERED GREAT APES by Pamela S. Turner. GORILLA DOCTORS: SAVING ENDANGERED GREAT APES written for children age nine to twelve was named an American Library Association Notable Book, a National Science Teachers Association Outstanding Science Trade Book, and is the winner of the Flora Stiglitz Straus Nonfiction Award and the ASPCA Henry Bergh Award. Half of all royalties from the sale of the book go directly to Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project. -the same program we have been gorilla blogging about the past few days.

There are a number of reasons to get this book. It has great photographs, a fantastic story about wildlife veterinarians who literally make house-calls in the forest-many who you are meeting through the blogs, and it supports the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project. Can’t get out of the house for fear of melting in the Houston sun? Easy enough then, you are already on the computer so just link here “Gorilla Doctors” and pop over to Amazon for the book.

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Jun
29

Mountain Gorilla: through mud, hills, more mud…

Posted by in Africa,Endangered Species,Gorilla

Three days ago (for those of you with short-term memory loss) I noted that the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project (MGVP) wildlife veterinarians and staff  have some of the most difficult jobs, and most rewarding jobs in the profession. Dr. Jan Ramer, MGVP ‘s Regional Veterinary Manager gives us a brief glimpse into how catching up with a Mountain Gorilla group is not as easy as a stroll in the park:

We got a call from trackers that Agahozo, a 5 year old male gorilla in Pablo group, was coughing and staying behind the group. This is the season when we begin to worry about respiratory disease in the gorillas – the end of the rainy season. It has been rainy and cool recently, and Pablo group is very high on the volcano so it is very cold where they live. We were concerned. Dr. Jean Felix went up to assess Agahozo last Thursday and while he was coughing a bit, and moving a bit slowly, he was not in a life threatening situation. We decided to wait it out, getting reports from the field daily. Unfortunately the next day news was not good – Agahozo had a wound on his neck that smelled bad and was he was far behind the group.

Pablo group has 47 individuals with 3 silverbacks including Cantsbe, one of the oldest and wisest silverbacks in the area. We needed to be very careful. Dr. Magda, Dr. Jean Felix, Dr. Fred and I headed up to the group early the next morning along with Joel from Karisoke and many very experienced trackers. Of course if we decided to do an intervention once we got to the group and re-assessed Agahozo, we would all be garbed in masks and gloves, to protect both ourselves and gorillas from any exchange of disease.

It was a long, difficult climb. We trudged up the slopes of Visoke for over 5 hours, through mud up to our knees and beyond, up and down steep, muddy ravines, over a raging river, finally finding the group above the tree line (above 10,000 feet), eating on either side of a deep ravine. I was exhausted – I had not been in the forest for almost a month, and had not yet re-acclimated to the altitude. Drs. Magda and Jean Felix were in the advance team (I was definitely in the rear guard…) and the reports were good – Agahozo was bright and alert, in the middle of the group, behaving normally and feeding well! No coughing at all. He was cleaning a wound on his neck that looked to be an abscess that had ruptured – no wonder he felt better! After a brief meeting with everyone involved we decided that there was not a good reason for any intervention. We were all relieved, and started the long walk back to the truck. That day I didn’t even see a gorilla.

So you are saying to yourself, the team climbed for 5 hours at an altitude of 10,000, at times through knee deep mud, and she did not even get to see a gorilla! And, yes, they then had to climb back down the same way they came. Visit the complete MGVP update here and scroll down to May 2010 which includes numerous photos and videos from the months event as well as the highs and lows of everyday life for the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Team.

Mountain Gorilla Susa Group photo courtesy S. Kaufman

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Jun
28

Mountain Gorilla Blog

Posted by in Africa,Endangered Species,Field Research,Gorilla,What You Can Do

Two weeks ago, one of the Gorilla Doctors field veterinarians, Dr. Eddy Kabale, posted an update on two Mountain Gorilla orphans, Ndeze and Ndakasi who were transferred from Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to a facility in Senkwekwe at Rumangabo, DRC about 6 months ago. You can watch a short video of Ndeze and Ndakasi’s move to Senkwekwe back in December here.

Dr. Eddy Kabale is the groups Democratic Republic of Congo in-country Field Veterinarian. Eddy’s duties include monitoring Grauer’s gorillas (eastern lowland gorillas) as well as mountain gorillas—and caring for the orphans.

Yesterday I mentioned that the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project (MGVP) was a field project – treating wildlife in their natural habitat. Although never intended, MGVP has also taken the duel role of having to care for and manage confiscated orphan gorillas. Sadly, poaching and illegal trade have resulted in the confiscation of mountain and Grauer’s gorillas in Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

MGVP's Orphan Guardianship Program

In their lovely home, Ndeze and Ndakasi are enjoying a fresh, suitable and cleaned environment with very little pollution compared to Goma. They are taking enough fresh forest food and they are still discovering new forest food items. They enjoy playing, climbing, rolling over and are progressively getting use to their new home, and are behaving normally.

Nevertheless, even in this healthy state, they continue with the quarterly preventive medicine program that includes visual and physical examinations and a de-worming program for Ndeze and Ndakasi.

So how do you perform a check-up on a gorilla? On May 11, 2010, Dr. Arthur, the ICCN veterinarian and I visited Ndeze and Ndakasi for their quarterly health check. We found them to be very active, playful, running, rolling over on grass, climbing on us very often and showing a degree of their satisfaction! We took the opportunity to start lesson teaching the little gorillas to be comfortable with stethoscope, syringes and needles. We will progress to getting them to accept injection as part of this activity. 

I used a sterile syringe without a needle for this training session; Ndeze and Ndakasi played with the syringe with no fear. After that I took another sterile syringe with sterile needle on it, and a second syringe filled with honey (they LOVE honey!). I offered them the honey and when they ate it I pricked them in the arm, one after another. Because they had honey as a reward for accepting the injection, no one ran – they gave me a positive reaction! After this lesson I put in the syringe the indicated dose of Ivermectin for their quarterly de-worming and gave it directly in mouth to Ndeze and Ndakasi, they continued even lapping drug on the empty syringe. Success – they took their medicine, they accepted some small pricks in their arms and left Ndeze and Ndakasi with a very good memory!

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Jun
25

Mountain Gorilla’s and the people who care for them

Posted by in Africa,community-based conservation,Endangered Species,Featured,Field Research,Gorilla

We are going to spend the next few days getting to know some of the wildlife veterinarians and staff who have some of the most difficult jobs, and most rewarding jobs in the profession. The Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project dedicate every minute of the day to their amazing patients,  the critically endangered Mountain Gorillas of Rwanda, Ugandan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is not a captive setting, these wildlife veterinarians routinely trek hours into the fields and mountains to check on the health of individual groups of mountain gorillas.

There are approximately 720 Mountain Gorillas left on earth; they live only in two small parks, one in Uganda and one that includes a corner of Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In order to ensure a healthy future for this special animal, we monitor the gorillas on a regular basis; provide life-saving medical care, conduct health studies, and do all we can to build local capacity in veterinary medicine and ecosystem health.  

Much of the information you will find here can be seen on the MGVP website at http://www.gorilladoctors.org/. 

MGVP’s veterinary staff—collectively, the Gorilla Doctors—are a unique, diverse, and interesting group of people. They differ in terms of  nationality, training, and experience, as well as in the territory they cover. The in-country field vets are stationed in their home countries, either Rwanda, Uganda, or the DRC, while the regional vets and project director move about. MGVP’s regional headquarters are located in Ruhengeri (Musanze), Rwanda for two main reasons: most of the world’s habituated mountain gorillas live in Rwanda, and Ruhengeri itself is about halfway between the border with Uganda to the northeast and Congo to the west.

Please check in with us over the next few days as we highlight the Gorilla Doctors blog and introduce you to one of the world’s most amazing wildlife programs.

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May
22

World Environment Day June 5th

Posted by in community-based conservation,Gorilla,What You Can Do

We tend to hear quite a bit about Earth Day here in the US, but we rarely promote World Environment Day.

The theme of World Environment Day 2010 is “Many Species. One Planet. One Future.” It echoes the urgent call to conserve the diversity of life on our planet.  A world without biodiversity is a very bleak prospect. Millions of people and millions of species all share the same planet, and only together can we enjoy a safer and more prosperous future.

Take a look at this short video: http://www.unep.org/wed/2010/english/infomaterials/videos/

This years “Global Host Country” is Rwanda, home to the endangered Mountain Gorilla and the World Environment Day Organizaers are asking everyone, everywhere to Take A Stand for the Gorillas! Let us come together to support the protection and conservation of gorillas in Rwanda. For every activity or positive environmental action organized and registered on the WED website, $10 will go toward gorilla protection. Their target is to reach a minimum donation of $50,000USD.

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