May 1, 2014

Gorilla infant caught in snare

In early April, another young mountain gorilla was found by Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund staff to have been caught in a snare set by poachers. While these snares are generally set for other animals in the forest (such as antelope), gorillas can get caught in them too.

Sometimes gorillas that become caught in a snare manage to break the snare’s rope, using their teeth or sheer force, but even then there is often a piece of rope left tightly wound around one of their limbs. This was the case with 1-1/2-year-old Ingamiya. When our field staff arrived in his group (Ntambara’s) on April 8, they found Ingamiya with a piece of rope on his left wrist. Luckily the rope was not too tight (which could cause severe injury) and not too long (which could allow it to get caught as he moved around), so he, his mother Tegereza and the rest of the group were exhibiting normal behaviors.

As a result, an intervention was planned for the next day, in collaboration with Gorilla Doctors veterinarians and the Rwanda park authorities from the Rwanda Development Board. An intervention requires a lot of planning and coordination, since in this case both the mother and infant gorilla needed to be anesthetized in order for the veterinarians to work on them, while the rest of the gorillas in the group needed to be controlled and kept at a safe distance during the process.
Indeed, throughout the intervention, the three silverbacks in the group acted very aggressively, charging, screaming and trying to approach the sedated gorillas and the veterinarians, but Fossey Fund field staff showed their usual expertise and managed to keep them away.

Luckily, Ingamiya was found to have no wounds or other medical effects from the snare, and the whole group was monitored until he and mother Tegereza were fully awakened and moving. Ingamiya had already started suckling and some of the other gorillas, including silverbacks Ntambara and Twibuke, were close to them and not showing aggression toward them.

Unfortunately, snares continue to be a threat to the gorillas, with four gorillas among the groups we monitor getting caught in them last year. Our anti-poaching teams, together with park authorities, found more than 1,000 snares on their patrols last year.

We are grateful to The Milton and Tamar Maltz Family Foundation, Oracle, Orange County Community Foundation, Turner Foundation, US Fish & Wildlife Service, and Gorilla Council members, as well as our sponsors, members and donors for their generous support of our protection and monitoring programs both in Rwanda and in Congo. We could not continue our studies without the contributions from those who understand the importance of a daily presence in the forest to the survival of gorillas.

We are grateful to The Milton and Tamar Maltz Family Foundation, Oracle, Orange County Community Foundation, Turner Foundation, US Fish & Wildlife Service, and Gorilla Council members, as well as our sponsors, members and donors for their generous support of our protection and monitoring programs both in Rwanda and in Congo. We could not continue our studies without the contributions from those who understand the importance of a daily presence in the forest to the survival of gorillas. – See more at: https://gorillafund.org/news–events/news_140423_newborn-gorillas-welcomed-april#sthash.4L1yJ8rw.dpuf

We are grateful to The Milton and Tamar Maltz Family Foundation, Oracle, Orange County Community Foundation, Turner Foundation, US Fish & Wildlife Service, and Gorilla Council members, as well as our sponsors, members and donors for their generous support of our protection and monitoring programs both in Rwanda and in Congo. We could not continue our studies without the contributions from those who understand the importance of a daily presence in the forest to the survival of gorillas. – See more at: https://gorillafund.org/news–events/news_140423_newborn-gorillas-welcomed-april#sthash.4L1yJ8rw.dpuf
We are grateful to The Milton and Tamar Maltz Family Foundation, Oracle, Orange County Community Foundation, Turner Foundation, US Fish & Wildlife Service, and Gorilla Council members, as well as our sponsors, members and donors for their generous support of our protection and monitoring programs both in Rwanda and in Congo. We could not continue our studies without the contributions from those who understand the importance of a daily presence in the forest to the survival of gorillas. – See more at: https://gorillafund.org/news–events/news_140423_newborn-gorillas-welcomed-april#sthash.4L1yJ8rw.dpuf