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Reaching New Heights in 2019 Gorillas, Science, Sign Up! Free Monthly Community, and Gorilla Enews Education Gorillafund THE Inside DIAN Our favorite events of the year 2 FOSSEY Young researchers becoming experts 5 Adopt a gorilla and help save a species 6 Gorılla Donor spotlight: Mikael Doktar 8 ournal November 2019 J Daily Protection | Scientific Research | Educating Conservationists | Helping Communities Reaching new heights in 2019 Gorillas, science, Sign up! Free monthly community, and Gorilla eNews education gorillafund. org/enews By Tara Stoinski, Ph.D. President and CEO/ Chief Scientific Officer I’m so pleased to report that this year — our 52nd since Dian Fossey founded the Karisoke Research Center — continued the upward trajectory we have seen in recent years. The mountain gorilla groups we protect had many infants, our teams in Congo continued to inspire us with We watched as little Uhirwe got her name in this year’s Kwita Izina Helping people. Saving gorillas. their protection of Grauer’s gorilla-naming ceremony, organized by the Rwandan government. The Gorilla Journal is a publicationgorillafund.org gorillas, and our people-centered programs mourning their dead or a long-term look at of the Dian Fossey in education and communities where we the shifting ranges of birds in gorilla habitat, Gorilla Fund® work continued to grow, innovate and make each one of these studies informs both our International, significant strides toward increasing sustain- basic knowledge and our ability to develop 800 Cherokee able conservation. effective conservation strategies (see story on Ave., SE, Atlanta, There were many highlights this year, two of our incredible young researchers on page 5). GA 30315-1440, 1-800-851-0203. some of which are detailed in this issue (see And, of course, we couldn’t be more pages 2–4 for a small sampling of our favorite about the progress being made on ©2019 Dian Fossey excited ® events of the year). our new Ellen DeGeneres Campus after Gorilla Fund International. I admit to being a science geek, so I’m breaking ground on it early this year. gorillafund.org. also delighted to report that we published a I am grateful to everyone who helped All rights reserved. number of important studies this year that make this year such a good one for the goril- No information not only reached our scientific colleagues las, their critical forests and all its wildlife, from this publica- but also were covered by the mainstream and for all of us at the Fossey Fund. Please tion may be used without written media. Whether it’s a case study on gorillas stay tuned for a great year in 2020! n permission from the Fossey Fund. Daily Protection | Scientific Research | Educating Conservationists | Helping Communities Our favorite events of the year A highlight for all our staff in Rwanda is attending the Kwita Izina gorilla-naming ceremony each year. This is a time when the whole country of Rwanda celebrates the gorilla births in the past year, as well as all types of conservation progress. We started 2019 with a wonderful ing ceremony, organized by the Rwanda, the Grauer’s gorillas are event — the groundbreaking for our Rwandan government each year to not habituated to the presence of new Ellen DeGeneres Campus in name the gorilla infants born in humans and we follow them from a Rwanda! This facility, nestled next the past year. Ten infants from the day behind, avoiding direct contact. to Volcanoes National Park, will groups we monitor were named. But with more gorilla groups now in provide the first permanent home Some of our favorite names: the areas that we protect in Congo, for our Karisoke Research Center, “Uhiriwe,” which means “lucky sometimes we “accidentally” see one and feature state-of-the art labora- one” and “Sururwanda” which or two of their members from a dis- tories; classrooms for educational means “visit Rwanda”(both born tance. This is good news, says our programs; a public exhibit on the in Mafunzo’s group); Biracyaza, Congo director Urbain Ngobobo, legacy of Dian Fossey and on goril- and shows that las and conservation more broadly; wildlife is return- interpretive trails; a science and ing to these forests conservation library; computer labs; we protect, after and important meeting spaces to decades of severe bring together scientists, students, declines. community members, tourists and n We loved seeing all those interested in gorillas and the worldwide conservation. remembrances of We also saw our major programs historic gorilla continue to take giant strides, Poppy, the last including our community projects mountain gorilla in Rwanda and the Democratic that Dian Fos- Republic of Congo, and our sci- Newly named Sururwanda, sey knew and studied personally, entific research and publications. whose name means “visit Rwanda.” including a mention on the “CBS From our first conservation sum- meaning “best things to come,” Evening News.” Poppy left her mer camp to our detailed studies of born into Kuryama’s group; and group at the end of 2018 and after the gorillas and their habitats, we Bisoke, named after the volcano in long searches was presumed to have are learning, teaching, and reaching the Virunga mountains where this died at the elder age of 42. She was out more every day. Here are some group often ranges. a member of one of the mountain of our favorite events: n Our trackers in the remote gorillas’ “royal families,” daughter forests of Congo have now had of legendary matriarch Effie, whose Gorillas several sightings of the Grauer’s family are spread across many n We helped celebrate at the gorillas that we follow there. Unlike gorilla groups in Rwanda. Her sister annual Kwita Izina gorilla-nam- the mountain gorillas we protect in Maggie was Sigourney Weaver’s 2 November 2019 gorillafund.org | THE DIAN FOSSEY GORILLA FUND INTERNATIONAL Daily Protection | Scientific Research | Educating Conservationists | Helping Communities favorite gorilla while filming published in August in the jour- “Gorillas in the Mist.” nal Ecology, we reported some important elevational shifts Science in where many bird species in n One of the more unique Volcanoes National Park are liv- studies by our scientists suggested ing. Some of this may be due to that gorillas reacting to the deaths climate change but more study of others show behaviors similar is needed. to human mourning. One of these Another study showed a case studies involved gorilla reac- decline in the regeneration of tions to the death of the legendary bamboo shoots in the park. silverback Titus, who died in 2009. Bamboo is a key food plant for Our long-term detailed records, the mountain gorillas as well as videos and photographs make the endangered golden monkeys. possible this kind of research, comparing behaviors spread out in Community and education time and place. The speckled mousebird was among n We held our first-ever con- those in our bird study of gorilla habitat. n Our new post-doctoral This species and others were found to have servation camp for Rwandan researcher, Dr. Robin Morrison, shifted their ranges to higher elevations, primary school children this came on board earlier this year, possibly related to climate change. summer, in collaboration with just as her Ph.D. research from the Children in the Wilderness, Con- University of Cambridge was pub- n We’re closely studying other servation Heritage-Turambe, and lished and hitting the media. Dr. species that play critical roles Muhisimbi Voice of Youth in Con- Morrison’s work focused on the in the forest where gorillas live, servation. The students focused social interactions among gorillas, including birds, which distrib- on learning about the wildlife of showing that they form lifetime ute seeds and also help us more Rwanda and even got to visit the bonds with even distant relatives quickly see changes in the health unique Buhanga Eco-Park. and unrelated “friends.” of those ecosystems. In one study See Events, page 4 Gorilla trackers visit Rwanda’s Akagera Park The Fossey Fund gorilla trackers work every day in Rwanda’s Vol canoes National Park where the mountain gorillas live, but Rwanda is also home to other national parks with different wildlife, which most of our trackers have rarely if ever seen. This fall, as part of our com- mitment to offer training oppor- tunieies to our staff, we sent our trackers to visit Akagera National Most of our trackers had not seen wildlife in Rwanda’s other parks. Park, the only Rwandan park with Akagera has many different species than are found in gorilla habitat. a savanna environment. seen before! We all look forward local land owners to Kahuzi-Biega “I enjoyed an unforgettable to visiting more national parks National Park in Congo to see experience,” says tracker Hamdan and furthering our knowledge Grauer’s gorillas — some for the Nkerakurinda. “I saw elephants, about the great biodiversity of first time — and to develop rela- zebra, giraffe and many other ani- Rwanda,” he adds. tionships with Congolese national mals and plants that I had never We also sent field staff and park authorities. n THE DIAN FOSSEY GORILLA FUND INTERNATIONAL | gorillafund.org November 2019 3 In Life with Pablo Gorillas: Episode Six Events Continued from page 3 Mother and daughter n In Congo, our fish farming project got off to a great start, raise offspring together with our team testing out artificial insemination of native catfish. If successful, farming this local fish would provide a sustainable source of protein for local people — a great win for both community health and conservation! We also pro- vided training to local people who already have fish farms. n Research assistant Nadia Niyonizeye, who started with us as a University of Rwanda college student and then a professional intern, was featured in a Canadian television documentary that aired in September, called “In the Foot- steps of the Trimates.” This film looks at women field scientists who are following in the footsteps of the great primatologists Dian Fossey, Jane Goodall and Birute Galdikas.
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