the dian fossey gorilla fund annual report 2013...cessfully protecting gorillas, the 46th since the...

THE DIAN FOSSEY Spring 2014

Saving gorillas from extinction is a massive, complex anddaunting mission. It is difficult not to be overwhelmed by theresponsibility and the many challenges involved. Yet, once again,the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund has completed another year of suc-cessfully protecting gorillas, the 46th since the founding of ourKarisoke Research Center by Dr. Dian Fossey in 1967.

Although our mountain gorilla “extreme conservation”efforts are having a positive effect, mountain gorillas and all ofthe other types of gorillas still face many threats and we are con-tinually adapting and finding new ways to help save them. Withyour support, we are able to focus on all the potential threats totheir survival, even as these change from year to year.

For example, in recent years the gorilla groups we monitorhave been changing, in terms of their numbers, their ranges andtheir behaviors. This has led to the need for more trackers tocover new groups and wider ranges, as well as for more studyon the gorillas and their surroundings. Indeed in 2013 we mon-itored and documented a dramatic increase in the number ofinteractions among the mountain gorilla groups we follow.

Our long-term database and our steadily growing scientificstudies are addressing these events as well as basic questionsabout gorilla life, and as they are published in scientific jour-nals around the world, are available to all those who face criti-cal conservation management decisions.

We also continue to adapt new technologies to our work,

such as collecting data electronically and using remote camerasto record events in the forest. And, in addition to our long-term work in Rwanda, we are now collecting exciting new dataon the little-studied Grauer’s gorillas in the DemocraticRepublic of Congo and working on methods for their protec-tion as well.

Planning for the futureIn 2013, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund began preparing for

its first leadership change since the mid-1990s. Accordingly, onOct. 1, 2014, Fossey Fund President and CEO Clare Richard-son, who has led the organization for 19 years, will take thenew title of President Emerita and Director of Strategic Philan-thropy. Fossey Fund Vice President and Chief Scientist TaraStoinski, Ph.D., will become the new President and CEO. Intaking over leadership of the Fossey Fund, Dr. Stoinski carrieson the tradition of Dr. Fossey, who was herself a leading scien-tist as well as a conservationist.

Our work in 2013 was made possible by our loyal members,partners, donors, sponsors, and other supporters. We are grate-ful to have you join us in our efforts to save a magnificentspecies and look forward to continuing this important and his-toric journey together, as we approach the 50th anniversary ofthe Karisoke Research Center in just a few years.

The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund Annual Report 2013Infant mountain gorilla Fasha was born to mother Muganga in 2013, into a group monitored and protected by the Fossey Fund.

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2 THE DIAN FOSSEY GORILLA FUND INTERNATIONAL

The core of the Fossey Fund’swork in Rwanda is the ongoingdaily protection and monitoring of mountain gorilla groups, whichare among the most endangeredanimals on earth.

In 2013, our staff at the KarisokeResearch Center monitored ninegroups of gorillas, with two newgroups forming during the courseof the year. One group disintegratedafter the death of the dominant sil-verback. The 118 gorillas monitoredconstitute about one quarter of thetotal population of mountain goril-las in the Virungas, which stood at480 during the last census.

Each mountain gorilla group hasa dedicated team of Fossey Fundtrackers who monitor them everyday. The trackers’ presence helpskeep the gorillas safe and allows usto take immediate action when agorilla is caught in a snare or facesother dangers. We call this “extremeconservation” and it is working.

In addition, our daily monitoring enables us to collectbehavioral, health, ranging and other information about thegroups and individual gorillas, which go into our long-termdatabase, initiated by Dian Fossey more than 46 years ago.

This uninterrupted documentation of gorilla behavior hasprovided incredible insights into the lives of the mountain goril-las. Our staff also continue to prepare data for entry into theFossey Fund’s online database of gorilla behavior and demo-graphic data, which is currently in development. In 2013, wepiloted a new method of field data collection using handheldcomputer devices and software known as CyberTracker.

Gorilla group and individual newsFifteen infants were born in the gorilla groups we monitor

in 2013 and eight gorillas died (one silverback and seveninfants). Among the seven infants who died, four succumbedto infanticide, while the causes of the other three deaths wereundetermined.

The silverback who died was 21-year-old Urugamba, theleader and only silverback in his small group of just seven goril-las and who was always known for his peaceful demeanor. Thisunexpected death was a rare chance to observe how the surviv-

ing gorillas would rebuild theirsocial world and regain the securitythey once enjoyed under his leader-ship. These gorillas ended up merg-ing with Ntambara’s group, after a very intense interaction thatoccurred just a few days after Uru -gamba’s death.

Two of the gorillas we monitoredwent “missing” in 2013. One was 3-year-old Turate from Gushimira’sgroup, who was not found in hisgroup beginning in October. Thesecond was 29-year-old femaleUmusatsi, who disappeared May 9from Giraneza’s group. Due to herhabit of traveling alone and trans-ferring from one group to another, her status was considered unknownand in fact she was seen again inearly 2014.

An exceptional number offemale gorilla transfers occurred in2013. In total, we recorded 24episodes of transfers carried out by16 females. Together with the trans-

fer of Urugamba’s members, that made for a very active year in group composition. In addition, the nine main groups wefollowed in 2013 were involved in 48 interactions, 40 of whichoccurred between groups and the rest between one group andone lone silverback.

In May, silverback Iyambere left Pablo’s group, becomingsolitary. He has not been seen since. Six of the known lone silverbacks were encountered in 2013: Gwiza, Mafunzo,Gushimira (before forming his own small group), Turatsinze,Rukundo and Twihangane.

Anti-poaching activitiesThe Fossey Fund’s anti-poaching team carried out 324 patrols

in 2013, 49 of which were held in conjunction with trackers fromRwanda’s park management (RDB/Rwanda DevelopmentBoard). This resulted in the destruction of 506 snares. Togetherwith RDB some 1,055 snares were found in total. While thesesnares are generally set for other animals in the forest, such asantelope, gorillas can get caught in them too, and that happenedfour times among the gorillas that we monitor.

In February, juvenile Dukore from Kuryama’s group gotcaught in a snare but was able to cut the snare rope from the

in Rwanda, 2013Our workSaving endangered mountain gorillas through extreme conservation

Silverback Ntambara saw his group grow in 2013, whenmembers of Urugamba’s group joined him.

THE DIAN FOSSEY GORILLA FUND INTERNATIONAL 3

branch with his teeth (our staffdid not witness this but foundthat the edge of the rope wasfrayed). An intervention (in con-junction with Gorilla Doctorsand RDB) was done on the fol-lowing day to remove theremaining part of the rope. InMarch, our trackers found juve-nile Hagaruka ensnared and stillattached to the branch holdingthe snare. They cut the snarewith a machete and thenHagaruka managed to cut the rest of the rope with his teeth.

In September, infant Susuruka from Bwenge’s group alsogot caught in a snare. Trackers found him and cut the ropefrom the branch, with an intervention done on the followingday to remove the remaining part of the rope. And finally, onDec. 25, infant Sabato from Ugenda’s group got caught in asnare and managed to cut the rope from the branches with histeeth. Another intervention was then done to remove theremaining part of that snare.

The Fossey Fund collaborates with the Gorilla Doctors andRwanda Development Board in medical interventions doneamong the gorilla groups we monitor. In addition to the snareremovals, one intervention was done on a female exhibitingsignificant illness of unknown cause, and another was done totreat a severe injury on an infant’s foot.

Beyond gorillas: monkeys, birds and moreThe Fossey Fund also observes other animals that live in the

forest with the mountain gorillas, as well as the plants andother aspects of the ecosystem, such as rainfall. In 2013 theseactivities included monitoring golden monkeys, birds, andamphibians, as well as other aspects of the habitat such as rain-

fall and bamboo growth.Data on behavioral ecology

of the golden monkeys was col-lected in the “Kabatwa” goldenmonkey group for 256 days during 2013. We recorded 13births in this group, which iscomposed of more than 100individuals. Data on goldenmonkey food plant species werecollected in the group’s homeranges at two-week intervals.Overall, the health status of this

group was good during the whole year and their home rangewas stable.

Common bird monitoring started in June for the 2013 ses-sion and data was collected for 71 days in Buhanga eco-parkand Volcanoes National Park. Some highlights include sightingof the African pitta (a migratory bird species) in Buhanga. AnAlbertine Rift bird species called the “Shelley’s Crimson-wing”was recorded in the Volcanoes National Park, and is the 16thendemic bird species and fourth threatened bird species in theFossey Fund bird research records. This bird was once seennear the border of Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda andVirunga National Park (in Congo), 10 years ago.

Our yearly survey of amphibians in the Volcanoes NationalPark was conducted over a period of 31 days in 2013. All data were collected using hand-held devices with CyberTrackerapplications developed specifically for this project. Eightamphi bian species were recorded during the survey.

To find the presence of larger animals, the Fossey Fund par-ticipated in a collaborative project with RDB in VolcanoesNational Park to operate remote cameras in the forest, betweenMount Muhu bura and Mount Bisoke. Animals recorded by

Continued on page 4

Our teams helped destroy 506 snares in 2013. Field staff also began using handheld CyberTracker devices for data collection.

Fossey staff worked with Rwanda park authorities to useremote cameras in the forest. This serval is among those seen.


these cameras in Volcanoes National Park included buffalo,bushbuck, duiker, genet, jackal and serval, in addition to goril-las and golden monkeys.

Community programs:Education The Fossey Fund continued its

efforts in local communities nearthe Volcanoes National Park tohelp support gorilla conservationthrough education and health initiatives.

Students from the NationalUniversity of Rwanda’s (NUR)biology department were givenpractical field research methodstraining in the park in February.Zoology students were trained indata collection methods for pri-mate behavior ecology, bird moni-toring and large mammal research techniques, while thebotany students were trained in random and stratified sam-pling of plants. Both groups had the chance to visit the Rugeziswamp (a wetland land protected by international law as habi-tat for rare, endangered and endemic species as well as ecologi-cal services to Rwanda and the international community) tosee the impact of agriculture on the ecosystem and learn aboutthe implications for water and electricity supply.

In March 2013, Karisoke Research Center hosted a total of83 students and six lecturers from NUR for a three-day intro-duction to mountain gorilla conservation field course. Thecourse included presentations about the conservation ofmountain gorillas and other biodiversity in Volcanoes NationalPark and two field days to see the mountain gorillas and visitRugezi swamp. This course completes the “Principles of Ecol-ogy” and the “Plant and Animal Diversity” theoretical modulesfor the students and offers them a glimpse into zoology andbotany careers.

In lower-grade education efforts, science teachers fromseven different schools near Volcanoes National Park weregiven two-day training on schoolyard ecology and nurturinghabitats for wildlife on school grounds. The participatingteachers are patrons of their schools’ nature clubs, which wehave been collaborating with on “citizen science” initiativessince 2011, including common bird monitoring on schoolgrounds. This program aims to promote student-directed,interactive learning, as well as giving students an early oppor-tunity to become scientists, investigating real scientific issues inand around their community. The schoolyard wildlife habitatinitiative provides students and teachers with an outdoor “lab-oratory” where they can learn about species and ecosystemswhile nurturing their curiosity about nature.

In September, the Fossey Fund also participated in thetraining of teaching assistants (all of whom have a biology

degree from the National University of Rwanda). They receivedtraining in how to deliver information about the need to con-serve gorillas and their habitat, with the ultimate goal ofchanging behavior toward the natural world. The lessons tar-geted all primary-3 and primary-5 children in six schools,

bringing the total number of par-ticipating children to 1,811.

Following the delivery of thelessons, the Fossey Fund gave 120best-performing primary-5 chil-dren from the six schools anopportunity to visit the VolcanoesNational Park on a guided naturewalk that ended at Lake Ngezi,inside the park.

In an effort to provide studentswith educational resourcesbeyond the classroom, the DianFossey Gorilla Fund also distrib-uted a coloring book called “Pri-mates of Rwanda” (along with col-

ored pencils) to 1,500 children in six primary schools locatedaround Volcanoes National Park. This is the second year in arow that the Fossey Fund has printed and distributed thebooks. The coloring books, designed in collaboration with theJane Goodall Institute of Uganda, contain photos and shortinformative notes on all the primates found in Rwanda.

With assistance from a Fossey Fund donor, 107 classroomdesks were made and delivered to Bisate school in January. Thedesks will seat 321 children and will help reduce the crowdingthat is still evident in the school.

A radio drama on mountain gorilla conservation titled“Nyiramacibili” aired on Radio Musanze in June throughAugust 2013. A total of 11 episodes were aired, one each week.Feedback from the public was collected after each episode andthe preliminary analysis shows that the drama was wellreceived by the public. Plans are in place to re-air the drama in 2014.

Community programs: HealthIn 2013, the Fossey Fund’s ecosystem health program con-

tinued working toward reducing health threats facing thewildlife in Volcanoes National Park, and tackling health prob-lems that obstruct the socio-economic development of peopleliving close to the park.

A particular focus was put on strengthening health strategiesat Bisate clinic, as well as conducting a baseline assessment onwater, sanitation, and hygiene; infectious diseases; and commu-nity demographics and livelihoods in the Bisate catchment area.

The main health program achievements in 2013 includedassessment and treatment of intestinal parasites in people liv-ing in Bisate Conservation Action Village, with 500 peopletested for intestinal parasites and approximately 5,000 peoplereceiving prophylactic medications.

Continued from page 3

Fossey Fund biodiversity manager Deo Tuyisingize workswith Rwandan university biology students.


Inspired by the successfulmodel of saving mountaingorillas in Rwanda, the FosseyFund is working in neighbor-ing Democratic Republic ofCongo (DRC) to study andprotect the lesser-knownGrauer’s gorillas (formerlycalled eastern lowland) as wellas their ecosystems. This criti-cally endangered type ofgorilla has received little pro-tection due to civil unrest andother factors, and it is believed that their numbers are drop-ping significantly.

Unlike mountain gorillas,there are few habituatedgroups of Grauer’s gorillas and they are spread out in vastforests of eastern Congo. Over the past decade, the FosseyFund has set up various ways to learn more about these gorillasand find the best ways to protect them, including working withcommunity-based reserves and national parks, setting up aprogram to begin direct monitoring and protection, establish-ing a rehabilitation center for young gorillas rescued frompoachers, and assisting with gorilla rescue efforts.

Setting the stage for Grauer’s protectionIn 2013, our Grauer’s Gorilla Research and Conservation

Program carried out its next phase, after establishing a researchbase in Biruwe, hiring Congolese trackers and team leaders,and conducting 30 explorations in Grauer’s territory in 2012.The goals in 2013 included setting up a research protocol tostudy Grauer’s gorilla densities on both sides of the Kyasa river,their feeding ecology and ranging patterns, as well as theimpact of mining activities.

In March, 12 field technicians and three field assistants weretrained in the techniques of collecting data on animal presencein the forest using the reconnaissance survey method, as well ascollecting fecal samples from gorillas and chimpanzees forDNA testing and feeding pattern information. Additionally,program director Urbain Ngobobo and GIS officer EscobarBinyinyi attended advanced training on ArcGIS and R statisti-cal software for data presentation and analysis. Field staff arenow collecting reliable data and completed data collection on85 transects consisting of 4 kilometers each, covering an area of700 square kilometers deep in the forest. Community reservelandowners of these areas were closely involved and gave theircommitment and support to these efforts.

Data from these surveys arenow being analyzed, but pre-liminary results show that thearea still contains many largemammals (though signs ofelephant presence are gone,seemingly within the past 15years). The large mammalsidentified, in addition togorilla, included yellow-backed duiker, small redduiker species, blue duiker,sitatunga, water chevrotain,western bongo, bushpig, aard-vark, pangolin, red-tailedmonkey, blue monkey, owl-faced monkey, and chim-panzee. Chimpanzees were

found throughout the study area, while gorillas were morelocalized, possibly due to poaching in certain areas (gorillaswere found in those areas that are much harder for poachers to reach).

The teams came across many signs of poaching during theirsurveys, including snares, traps, poachers’ camps and trappedanimals. As an international NGO, our staff can only take lim-ited actions when coming upon illegal activities in the forest,but we work in conjunction with local leaders, who work withlocal law enforcement authorities.

In addition to the above survey project, we worked withCongolese park authorities (ICCN/Institut Congolais pour laConservation de la Nature) in Kahuzi-Biega National Park todevelop and implement a joint research project to study vari-ous aspects of Grauer’s gorilla groups and help develop infor-mation to assist park management with gorilla and habitatconservation strategies. Study questions here include whyGrauer’s gorilla groups seem to be limited to one male, howthis affects group dynamics and whether the higher frugivory(fruit eating) of Grauer’s gorilla diets influences their rangingpatterns. In 2014, training of Kahuzi-Biega monitoring staff ondata collection is planned.

Gorilla rescue and rehabilitationThe Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education

(GRACE) Center was founded in 2009 by the Fossey Fund incollaboration with ICCN and Tayna Center for ConservationBiology. GRACE is the only facility in the world dedicated toproviding in situ rehabilitative care for orphaned Grauer’sgorillas and ultimately aims to reintroduce gorillas back into

Continued on page 6

The Fossey Fund is working with Congolese park authorities tostudy Grauer’s gorillas in Kahuzi-Biega National Park.

in Congo, 2013Our workStudying critically endangered Grauer’s gorillas


the wild. GRACE alsoworks alongside localcommunities, througheducation and otheroutreach programs, to help ensure thelong-term survival ofwild gorilla popula-tions. Other majorpartners for this proj-ect include The WaltDisney Company and the Houston, Dal-las, Nash ville, andDetroit zoos.

Located near theTayna Nature Reserve inNorth Kivu Province ofeastern DRC, GRACEcared for 13 gorillas, ages3-13 years, during 2013,including two new goril-las who arrived duringthe year. These gorillaslive in a single, integratedfamily group with olderfemales serving as surro-gate mothers.

In 2013, GRACEachieved several impor-tant milestones. First,major progress was madeon the construction of aforest enclosure for theGRACE gorillas. The“freedom fence” project is fundedlargely by Fossey Fund donors andwill give the gorillas daily access to 24 acres of their natural forest habi-tat, allowing them to practice sur-vival-critical behaviors, such as treeclimbing, nest building, and foragingfor wild foods. Construction has beena massive undertaking. The workoccurred on a mountainside with noaccess roads, and every supply andpiece of equipment needed had to becarried up the mountain by hand.This forest enclosure is now nearlycomplete and was scheduled to open

in spring 2014. Inaddition to benefit-ting gorillas, this proj-ect also benefitted thelocal community byemploying more than100 local people,mostly women, whoserved as porters totransport the buildingsupplies.

A second signifi-cant achievement wasa series of trainings

held at GRACE to buildthe capacity of the staffthere. The gorillas aregrowing quickly and thecaregivers at GRACEmust adapt to the goril-las’ changing needs.Gorilla husbandryexperts and scientistsfrom Disney’s AnimalKingdom and the Hous-ton and Dallas zoos, allmajor GRACE partners,conducted on-site train-ings to help the care-givers learn new skills sothey can continue toprovide top-notch careas well as help preparethe gorillas for routinehealth exams. The visit-ing teams also helped

launch a behavioral monitoring pro-gram at GRACE to collect data meantto evaluate each gorilla’s rehabilita-tion progress and assess their candi-dacy for potential reintroduction.

Currently, GRACE is in the processof becoming an independent non-profit organization. In 2013, GRACEtook important steps toward this goalby applying for non-profit status inthe U.S., forming a board of directorsand technical advisory committees,and hiring a U.S.-based executivedirector.

More at www.gracegorillas.org


Fossey scientist Dr. Damien Caillaud working with GIS officer Escobar Binyinyi.

There are many ways to help save gorillas through the Fossey Fund’s programs. You can 1) become a member, 2) join our Adopt-a-gorilla program, 3)make a donation, 4) include the Fossey Fund in your will, 5) hold a special event, 6) become a sponsor, 7) shop our e-store, and more! For ideas, please visit our website: gorillafund.org/takeaction

Isangi and 12 other young orphaned gorillas atGRACE will soon be able to practice critical wildsurvival skills in a large area of the forest.

A special forest enclosure called the “freedom fence” got underway at the GRACE gorilla rescue center in 2013.


Dr. Dian Fossey began the tradition of collecting data onmountain gorillas when she established the Karisoke ResearchCenter in 1967, setting the stage for decades of scientific analysis.In more recent years, this research has expanded dramatically,both in scope and in volume. From 2010-2013, Fossey Fund sci-ence staff and partners had 16 papers on gorilla studies pub-lished in scientific journals, with another five submitted for pub-lication. Studies in related subjects were also published, includingthe first update on the small mammalpopulation of the Volcanoes NationalPark in more than 80 years.

Although the Fossey Fund is bestknown for its work with mountaingorillas, our scientific efforts regard-ing gorillas include both mountaingorillas and Grauer's (eastern low-land) gorillas. In addition, we alsonow study other animals that live inthe forests with gorillas, and the sur-rounding flora and other elements of their overall ecosystem, as well as aspects of human health in thenearby communities.

The Fossey Fund’s scientificefforts are led by Vice President andChief Scientific Officer Tara Stoinski,Ph.D., who will become presidentand CEO in October 2014. Researchassociates include Damien Caillaud,DVM, Ph.D., and Winnie Eckardt, Ph.D. Karisoke DirectorFelix Ndagijimana started a doctoral program at the Universityof Montpellier and will be conducting a long-term analysis ofgorilla population genetics, inbreeding and mate choice for hisdissertation. Our biodiversity studies are led by DeogratiasTuyisingize; many other staff, including five research assistantsand Gorilla Program Manager Veronica Vecellio also areinvolved in our research program.

The Fossey Fund’s scientific studies are supported by anumber of significant grants from foundations, individuals,zoos, and governmental organizations. In addition, these proj-ects are undertaken with a wide variety of partners from uni-versities, research institutions and other organizations fromaround the world. One example is a new project begun by JordiGalbany, Ph.D., of George Washington University, to study howgorillas grow and what factors influence growth patterns, usinga relatively new technique called photogrammetry, whichallows remote measurement of physical characteristics of wildanimals, using a camera, distance meter and calibrated laserpointers. This study developed out of our long-term collabora-

tion in the Mountain Gorilla Skeletal Project, based at Karisokeand led by Fossey Fund collaborator Shannon McFarlin, Ph.D.,of the George Washington University, in conjunction with theRwanda Development Board and Gorilla Doctors.

Science highlights in 2013Mountain gorillas have been closely studied for more than

45 years and, based on Dian Fossey’s pioneering methods,many are now habituated to humanpresence. As a result, we are able to follow known individual gorillason a daily basis, recording theirbehavior in extreme detail. This hasled to the creation of a scientificdatabase that is now one of thelargest of its type and thus of enor-mous value to scientists who wantto study various aspects of gorillabehavior and ecology.

In 2013, the Fossey Fund’s long-term data collection on mountaingorillas was carried out by 11 datatechnicians, including two fieldcoordinators and four researchassistants. Approximately 5,000hours of behavioral data were col-lected in 2013.

Some of the scientific studiesabout mountain gorillas that

rely on this data and are currently in progress include: mortal-ity patterns, intergroup encounter rates, vegetation distribu-tion within Volcanoes National Park, male partner preferences,female reproductive hormone patterns, maternal and paternalinvestment, paternity analysis, personality, and hormone andparasite studies that may point to the relationship betweenstress and health among the gorillas.

For example, a study analyzing gorilla ranging patternsfrom 2000 to 2011 (published in early 2014 in The AmericanJournal of Primatology), focused on the movements of 11gorilla groups — roughly one-fourth of the Virunga popula-tion — over the course of 12 years. Despite a roughly 50 per -cent increase in the population during this time, our research -ers found no major changes in ranging patterns compared tostudies from the early 1980s. Additionally, this study foundonly a weak influence of group size on home range size —meaning large groups do not have significantly larger homeranges than small groups. This is good news because it indi-cates that despite the dramatic population growth, competition

Continued on page 8

in Science, 2013Our workDecades of data, recent studies, help illuminate gorilla life and more

between the groups has not increased much. Researchersattribute this to the fact that as the population increases in size,groups avoid feeding competition by shifting their home rangetoward areas where gorilla densities are low. But there were alsosome findings that may be cause for concern. The larger num-ber of groups in the area has resulted in a considerable increasein intergroup encounters, which are stressful events that canlead to injury and death.

Dr. Winnie Eckardt embarked on fieldwork for a studyabout stress and health in mountain gorillas in 2011. Over thecourse of 18 months at the Karisoke Research Center, Eckardtcollected behavioral data and fecal samples for hormone andparasite analysis from 110 mountain gorillas.

This study is expected to yield information about the rela-tionship between stress physiology and health in mountaingorillas and to offer insights to guide conservation and parkmanagement strategies.

Eckardt is currently focused on analyzing more than 10,000fecal samples to determine stress levels associated with variousenvironmental and anthropogenic events and identifying para-site prevalence and its relationship to various stressful events.Ultimately, Eckardt would like to determine if individuals who experience higher levels of stress have increased parasiteloads, suggesting that stress is acting to suppress their immuneresponse.

When the study is complete, it will be the most compre -hensive study of gorilla behavior, hormones, and parasites todate and could help map a holistic approach to measuringstress and health and help conservationists understand whatevents or environmental conditions are particularly stressfulfor gorillas.

In another interesting paper, published in the journalBehavioural Processes, Fossey Fund scientists described the useof a bamboo stem by an adult female mountain gorilla to pre-

sumably serve as a “ladder” for her offspring, helping himclimb up a pile of vegetation to reach her. The paper’s authorsinclude Cyril Grueter, Ph.D., former scientist at the FosseyFund’s Karisoke Research Center; Felix Ndagijimana; TaraStoinski, Ph.D.; and Martha Robbins, Ph.D., of the Max PlanckInstitute for Evolutionary Anthropology.

Other studies in progress are covering such topics as changesin vegetation patterns, golden monkey behavior, bamboo phe-nology, rainfall data, human health, and water quality analyses.

Six students from the National University of Rwanda’s biol-ogy department were supported by the Fossey Fund to do their thesis projects in the academic year 2012-2013. Theirstudies included investigations on such topics as the impact of stress events on the nesting behavior and mother-infantbehavior in golden monkeys. Six new Fossey Fund-sponsoredstudents who will complete their final projects in 2013-2014did their field data collection between July and September2013. These studies are investigating the ecology of bamboo in gorilla group home ranges, the impact of human activities(such as agriculture) around the park on plants and soils, and drinking water quality in and around Bisate, among other topics.

Overall, the scientific studies underway by Fossey Fund staffand partner scientists are continuing to increase in numberand significance, leading to greater understanding of gorilla lifeand their critical rainforest ecosystems, and even providinginsight into broader questions about basic gorilla behavior andhuman evolution. For example, another study published in2013 relied on the Fossey Fund’s long-term database and long-term databases of other primates, to look at reproductive agingpatterns as compared to those in humans. The study foundthat among eight species of primates—humans and seven non-human species—only humans experienced reproductive cessa-tion. This paper was published in the very prestigious Proceed-ings of the National Academy of Sciences.



Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund Financial Summary: Fiscal year October 2012–September 2013

Support & Revenue Contributions, Merchandise & Interest: $3,935,478In-Kind Revenues: $605,497Total: $4,540,975

Expenses Program Services: $3,337,324Administration & Fundraising: $644,235Total: $3,981,559

Thank you to our Collaborating Funders for their extraordinary support of our programs in 2013

©2014 Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund® International. All rights reserved. No information from this publication may be used without written permission from the Fossey Fund.

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