It's been a year (June 2007) since the smallest of the two mountain gorilla orphans, Ndakasi, nearly died of pneumonia. Her story is up on the Gorilla Doctors blog Ndakasi's Fight to Survive Revisited. The slightly older orphan, Ndeze, was rescued from the forest about a month later (July 2007). I'll post the story of her dramatic rescue soon.

Ndeze (front) and Ndakasi (back), two orphaned female mountain gorillas being hand-raised by park rangers in Goma, DRC.

We continue to recommend no visitors for the orphans, although both are doing very well on their new milk and daily doses of acidophilus. There's just too much risk of human-gorilla disease transmission, particularly respiratory disease.

We did, however, make a recent exception--for National Geographic. Mapendo,a juvenile Grauer's gorilla, was photographed for a magazine story; Ndeze and Ndakasi were filmed for a television special. We felt it was important that their story be told, given the sad state of conservation in DR Congo. We made certain that the photographer and two film-makers wore masks and coveralls.

Everything went fine, and now the Nat Geo magazine story, "Who Murdered the Virunga Gorillas" is in the current issue, and also online. The film, "Gorilla Murders", airs on July 1, 2008. I was invited to the screening and posted a blog on Gorilla Doctors about my reactions. Nat Geo Channel then linked my blog to their National Geographic Channel Explorer blog, so there's lots to read on this topic!

Both stories recount what happened one year ago when the mothers of both infants were shot and killed, the result of the ongoing war in Congo, next to the mountain gorilla sector of Virunga National Park.

The situation in the park remains grim--rebel soldiers supposedly guard the habituated mountain gorillas, but recent video shows them making fun of them. Thousands of people live in refugee camps close to the park without sufficient food, water, or fuel. The illegal charcoal trade, blamed for the death of the orphans' mothers, continues. Those of us charged with the protection and care of Congo's mountain gorillas cannot safely visit.

The narrator in the Nat Geo film made the point that it will take only one epidemic of disease to wipe out the gorillas. Experience has taught me that the health of the mountain gorillas is inextricably linked to human health. After the film airs, many more people will know this, too.