Gorilla Doctors: Saving Endangered Great Apes

By Pamela S. Turner

The author of The Frog Scientist showcases the work of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project in “an outstanding science nature title” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review)
 
Mountain gorillas are playful, curious, and protective of their families. They are also one of the most endangered species in the world. For years, mountain gorillas have faced the threat of death by poachers. Funds raised by “gorilla tourism”—bringing people into the forest to see gorillas—have helped protect them. This tourism is vital but contact between gorillas and people brought a new threat to the gorillas: human disease. The Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project is a group of scientists working to save the mountain gorilla population in Rwanda and Uganda. The gorilla doctors study the effects of human exposure, provide emergency care, and act as foster parents to an orphaned gorilla.
 
“Excellent photographs prominently feature the scientists at work (predominantly women and people of color in scientific roles) as well as the photogenic gorillas.”—Horn Book, starred review
 
“The author, who has a degree in public health, is especially successful in explaining how improving community public health benefits both gorillas and humans. Spectacular and appealing photos of gorillas, scientists and the Rwanda Preserve add even more appeal.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
 
“The readable text records their efforts to treat the great apes in the field as they encounter poachers, meet with loss of habitat, and face their newest threat: human diseases that can cross species lines . . . The whole is accompanied by striking, full-color photographs and includes a list of other resources, a postscript, and an index.”—School Library Journal

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Aug 6, 2008
• ISBN: 9780547530772

Pamela S. Turner

Pamela S. Turner has a master’s degree in public health from the University of California, Berkeley, and a special interest in microbiology and epidemiology. Her articles for children and adults have appeared in numerous scientific publications. Her books include Hachiko: The True Story of a Loyal Dog, Gorilla Doctors, The Frog Scientist, Dolphins of Shark Bay, and Project Seahorse. She lives in California. www.pamelasturner.com

Book preview

To Rob and Paul, for putting up with the monkey business

Silverback gorillas will fight to protect their families.

Mararo’s Jewelry

Mararo is in trouble.

A nylon rope is looped tightly around her ankle and tied to a stake in the ground. A poacher set the snare to catch an antelope. Instead, it has snagged curious Mararo, a five-year-old mountain gorilla.

Agashya knows something is wrong. He is the silverback of Mararo’s gorilla group, their leader, their protector. When Agashya hears a group of tourists and their guide coming through the forest, he defends helpless Mararo. Agashya roars, he screams, he shreds the forest, and he charges the invaders.

It isn’t easy to face a rampaging four-hundred-pound gorilla, but Rwandan park guide Patience Dusabimana knows these animals well. He knows Agashya’s tantrum is a warning, not an attack. Patience calmly moves the tourists away As other park workers distract Agashya, Patience slashes the rope holding Mararo. But the loop is still wrapped around her ankle. Untreated, it may become infected. Mararo may lose her foot, or her life, Mararo needs the gorilla doctors.

Mike and Felicia prepare a dart to tranquilize Mararo. The dart has two chambers: one is filled with a drug to make her sleep, the other with compressed air. The air will inject the drug into Mararo.

The warden of Rwanda’s Parc National des Volcans, where Mararo and her family live, calls Dr. Mike Cranfield and Dr. Felicia Nutter. Mike is the director of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project (MGVP). Felicia is the MGVP’s field veterinarian in Rwanda. At the park entrance, gorilla trackers, guides, and porters (who help carry equipment) join Mike and Felicia.

The team finds Agashya’s group, but the gorillas are hard to follow. The nervous silverback keeps his nine-member family moving through the thick, wet forest. The gorillas easily cross deep, vine-tangled ravines by knuckle walking on all fours. But for the MGVP team, it is like struggling up and down slippery green staircases—with tripwires!

At last, Mararo stops for a snack of wild celery. Felicia’s dart gun makes a soft pfftt sound as she shoots a tranquilizer into Mararo’s thigh. Mararo grunts, pulls out the dart, and walks away. But soon she is sleepy and topples over, face-down.

Agashya sits down next to Mararo. He eyes the humans warily. Mike, Felicia, and their team form a human wall and walk slowly toward the silverback. Agashya stands up and screams, then races off. His family follows.

Felicia, holding the dart gun behind her back, waits for the right moment to tranquilize

Reviews for Gorilla Doctors

[sarahbatte · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A story about gorrilla's. Gorilla's are alot like humans. They can even catch the same diseases as humans. The scientist in this book try to protect the gorilla's from poachers giving and taking bllod form gorilla's. This book is very informative and interesting.

[jmvarnad · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a great book about scientist who study and protect African Gorillas. It tell about 3 three doctors who work together to help preserve these amazing animals. This book was a great inspiration.

[sandra_loya_9 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book tells of the importance of veterinarians that work in the national park systems in Africa. It discusses how diseases spread among the gorilla as well as how they help the species survive. It tells how they track them, monitor their health, and give them medical care all with little disruption to their natural state as possible. The details and information in this book are amazing. Not only does it discuss how the veterinarians and the gorillas live but also includes the culture and lifestyles of those living around the national parks. It is filled with great quality, colorful photographs that bring the story to life. There are maps so that you can see geographically where they are talking about. I found myself referring to them often. There are also many charts covering diseases and populations. There is a dedication at the front but no table of contents although the chapter titles are quite descriptive. The end mentions making a donation to the project to help as well as listing books and web sites that you can go to to learn more. There is a postscript to update you on the gorillas and their population. The acknowledgements give credit to those involved with the project and book. On the last page, there is an index and they Library of Congress information that is typically at the front that I searched for a long time to find before I finally saw that it was on the last page.I am guessing the target audience would be 4th through 8th graders but I found it interesting as well. My 10 and 12 year old daughters read this and loved it. It drew us in and we could not put it down until we got to the end. We wanted to know what happened to each gorilla. We became invested in them. The author's writing style was informative but she used a narrative format to keep you interested.This book would obviously be great in a science classroom but could easily be used in a math classroom as well. The maps could be used for distances and area. Population numbers could be charted and graphed. Prediction equations could be used to predict what the future populations may look like. Instead of just using a boring textbook, the students would truly become engaged with the real life scenarios put forth in this book.

[meganschneider · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Takes you through the day of scientists working with mountain gorilla in a national park. At first the main concern was keeping them safe from poachers, but the doctors come to find out that one thing hurting the gorillas was themselves. Throughout the book, it uses science and the scientific method to answer the questions "Are gorilla catching human diseases?" Although the book leaves you without a definitive answer to this question, they did find overwhelming evidence to this being an extremely likely possibility and have now adding many precautions to protect gorillas from the spread of disease from human to ape. This book was be an awesome illustration of science in the field. It also illustrates the diversity of what a scientist could be. Many of the scientists shown in this book are African American males, a huge underrepresented population with science, and females, another one. Not to mention, everyone loves apes!

[alexcirasuolo · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is another great book by Pamela Turner. the photographs are not as good as they could be but the text itself is excellent.

[abbylibrarian_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Okay, you knew that humans and apes were genetically close. But did you know that humans and chimps are so close that you could get a blood transfusion from a chimp? Or that apes can catch human diseases? It's true. And that's one factor in the disappearing gorilla population (other factors are poachers and loss of habitat). This book is about a team of scientists that works to prevent gorillas from catching human diseases and to treat them when they become sick. It's interesting and informative, giving a little bit of history behind the study and conservation of gorillas and how that's led to where we are now. If you're an animal lover, pick up this book! A great entry in the Scientists in the Field series.

[adriennewood · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What really hurts the Mountain Gorilla? At first glance one thinks "poachers"... but a deeper look makes you understand the terrible effect that humans have on the amazing creatures (and many others). Whether it be overconsumption of land or spreading disease, it is clear that we are a threat to the other creatures on this planet. Good news is, that we can change that.