Champion of the gorillas: the vet fighting to save Uganda's great apes

Under the watchful and resourceful eye of award-winning conservationist Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, Uganda's threatened mountain gorilla population has made an impressive recovery - as has the local communityThe Bwindi Impenetrable Forest is tucked away in a remote corner of southwest Uganda. Meaning "place of darkness" in the Runyakitara language, this dense, mist-swathed rainforest makes for a good hiding place for half of the world's remaining mountain gorillas. The other half, which the American primatologist Dian Fossey so famously befriended, live in Rwanda's Virunga national park.These majestic but shy creatures - whose existence now generates about 60% of Uganda's tourism revenue - like to hide, especially when they know veterinary intervention is afoot. The gorillas are always outsmarting the humans - if they see someone carrying a dart gun (for sedation, vaccinations, medicine, etc), they'll walk backwards so as not to expose their backs, where the dart needs to land. They also like to mock-charge at humans, stopping suddenly to indicate they mean no harm, yet leaving no doubt as to who holds the power. And if they're really not feeling the presence of humans, they'll outright charge at you. Continue reading...