Dr. Ricky Okwir Okello works behind the scenes at the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest so that tourists can safely trek alongside its great apes.
In addition to scanning for snares and run up gorilla - on - gorilla fight lesion , Dr. Ricky must check for human - borne illnesses . Because Gorilla gorilla and humans share more than 98 % of our DNA , we are susceptible to catch the same diseases . But even a coarse cold can down a gorilla . Despite the risk inherent to human - and - Gorilla gorilla liaison , Dr. Ricky believe that it ’s a necessary part of preservation . As part of the squad atGorilla Doctors — a non - net profit in Uganda , Rwanda , and the Democratic Republic of Congo ( DRC)—it ’s his business to facilitate bring off that peril .
In Uganda , Dr. Ricky focuses only on batch gorillas — which , though still endangered , are the only great ape specie whose numbers in the wild are growing . In fact , research showsthat vets like him could be responsible for up to 40 % of the conflict in growth rates between habituated versus unhabituated gorillas . It ’s one of the reasons , alongside community collaboration and abode protection , that Uganda ’s conservation - based touristry has been so successful . Currently , the estimated mountain gorilla population abide at 1,063 individuals across the two island populations in Bwindi and the Virunga Massif — a providential recovery from their lowpoint of 242 in 1981 .
It ’s challenging work fill with physical risk of infection ( gorillas are not the most willing patients ) and harsh condition . Getting from one side of Bwindi to the other involve a six - hour drive over bouldered , unpaved roads or a grueling three - 60 minutes hike . But Dr. Ricky jest that for him , the hardest part of the job is drop out on something many animal devotee can relate to . “ I make love dogs so much , but because of my longsighted hour , I ca n’t have one , ” he says . “ The first day I retire I ’m going to get a dog of my own . ”
Photo by Skyler Bishop, courtesy of Gorilla Doctors
During a recent sojourn to Volcanoes Bwindi Lodge in Uganda , where traveler canbook a fireside chatto meet with the Gorilla Doctors squad in - individual , Thrillist spoke with Dr. Ricky about his casual routine , Gorilla gorilla casts , and the latent hostility between conservation and touristry .
Thrillist : Why did you want to join Gorilla Doctors ? It sounds like you had your pick of really coolheaded animals to work with in Uganda , from chimp to lion . Dr. Ricky Okwir Okello : Of course I had see gorilla in movies and documentaries , but before my internship with Gorilla Doctors in 2010 , I had never seen one in person . During my first week , I watched a veterinary surgeon treat a gorilla who had been ensnare in a wire trap . I could see the gorilla was in a lot of infliction . After they clean the wound and bring out it , the gorilla was visibly relieved . The path they look at you is very special . You feel like you are part of them . I care work with Gorilla Doctors because I ’m able to help animals that are suffering . It find so good to have saved a sprightliness .
name what you do during a " typical " day at piece of work , if there is such a thing . Normally in the even before I sleep , I design to chew the fat one of our habituated groups for a unremarkable wellness check . By 6:30 in the morning , I ’m already heading into the field with the tracker . I look at the gorillas for sign of the zodiac of illness . Do they have any wound that need monitoring ? What is their skin color ? If they ’re all respectable , I come back to write my report , prime photos , and divvy up my appraisal with car park authorities and other squad members . Actually , yesterday I calculated that I have give chase Gorilla gorilla over 3,500 times and have about 25 terabytes of picture .
Photo courtesy of Gorilla Doctors
Anyone who has go gorilla trekking even once will apprize how tiring that sounds . What happens if the gorilla turns out to be sick ? How do you treat them?If one of the gorillas is not feeling hunky-dory , it intend my day will be longer than usual . I spend more time monitor them and attempt to get a non - encroaching sampling , like the saliva they bequeath after chewing on a plant , to enquire in the lab . The next day we have what ’s call an intervention . No Gorilla gorilla is treat outside the forest . Whenever they go down sick , I dart them and we address them mighty there . We even have a portable ecstasy - re machine if we distrust there is a geological fault . The only remainder with human being is we ca n’t use a cast made of plasterwork of Paris — gorilla will rend it off . So we use fibreglass and paint it black to correspond their fur . Then after two month , we can cut it off of them .
Are the gorillas good patients?When you treat a Gorilla gorilla , they often need to fight down back . One of the silverbacks in Gahinga even greet my dart gun now . Once a gorilla is darted , it take them about ten minutes to fall asleep . While I ’m working , I have a grouping of porters and rangers to protect me and frighten off the other gorillas away by shaking their [ walking ] sticks . There are many social moral force involve , so we always have to assess the private situation , and may have to dart another Gorilla gorilla so we can work safely . do by a baby is one of the hardest things to do , because the mother and prevailing silverback cerebrate you are seek to take the babe aside .
What are the biggest threats to the gorillas ? What are you treating them for most often?Gorillas have four main health terror . The first one is disease , which can be from other gorillas , but also from humankind . That ’s the reason we always require citizenry to weary masquerade around the gorillas . If you ’re sick , please wait to visit . We ’ve found respiratory infection like human metapneumovirus that do n’t usually have a very big impact on citizenry , but can kill a Gorilla gorilla . We also see a sight of bloodsucking infection , some of which we distrust to be from the gorilla come into contact with human waste . So we ask hoi polloi trek in Bwindi to please ensure you use the restroom before entering the forest . If you have to go , severalise the commando manoeuver you so they can dig a hole for you to utilise .
Photo by Skyler Bishop, courtesy of Gorilla Doctors
The 2d threat to gorillas is conducting wire snare injuries . When citizenry ready illegal traps in Bwindi , they are targeting other animal like duiker and bushpig . The gorillas are inadvertent victims . Fortunately , we track the habituated Gorilla gorilla every day , so if a noose injury is reported we can turn and treat them . But if the accident is not catch soon enough , we ’ll have to amputate due to the infection , or the gorilla may die . We also see other type of human conflict . If you stand on the road by Bwindi , you ’ll notice a very sharp line between the timberland and the biotic community . There is no buffer geographical zone , think the great unwashed have crops planted at the parkland boundary . Occasionally masses will inadvertently anguish gorillas when chasing them away from their garden . lastly , we see gorilla inflicted injury . gorilla do n’t elect their leader — they fight . In that operation , they ’ll injure each other and themselves .
Do you finger like gorilla dependency and touristry actively contributes to their conservation?I personally think that in order for us to conserve any mintage , the people be around that species need to be felicitous and invested . There are many benefit that the people of Bwindi get from tourism . Part of the money from the gorilla permits and park entry fee go directly back to the community . The Pullman porter , fire warden , and hotel workers — most of those job are for the local community . mass know this , and want to protect the gorillas . Gorilla human conflict has become very minimum . If the gorillas total to the biotic community to raid crops , the biotic community themselves have been trained to crowd the gorillas back into the wood without the intervention of the wildlife sanction . I ’ve see other situations in Uganda where people are envenom elephants and lion that eat their crops and cattle because they do n’t see any big , direct benefit from them .
As you mentioned , being around humans can actually be dangerous to Gorilla gorilla from a aesculapian standpoint . Do you ever feel like tourism endangers gorillas?We always attempt to strike a balance . It ’s very crucial to supervise the ways tourists interact with gorillas , to outwear mask , to keep a right distance of ten measure , and to enforce the prescript . You ca n’t say tourism is a terror to the Gorilla gorilla . Without touristry , we would n’t have the gorilla . If you look at the western lowland gorillas [ across the Congo Basin ] for example , tourists do n’t visit them . Therefore the local mass do n’t bother about them . They go into the wood , do a lot of poaching , do this and that . There is no veterinary fear and the gorillas are more prone to illnesses . Their population has been going down , while the stack gorilla population has been steady increasing since 1983 .
Photo courtesy of Gorilla Doctors
What ’s the best part of being a Gorilla Doctor?It ’s particular to watch over a newborn Gorilla gorilla that weighs about three kilo grow up . I have several gorillas I ’ve taken picture of since they were babies that now have materialisation of their own after nine or 10 years . I would like to see a Gorilla gorilla I ’ve have it off since they were a child become a grandparent . That is my dream .
Photo courtesy of Gorilla Doctors
