Dear Eunah,

I am currently in Rwanda spending time with all our regional teams. I am very happy to tell you that on Tuesday I was with some of our DR Congo team! Drs. Eddy and Fabrice and our senior administrator, Jackson, were able to cross the border from Goma and meet me in Gisenyi, Rwanda.

From left: Jackson, Dr. Kirsten, Dr. Eddy and Dr. Fabrice in Gisenyi, Rwanda, February 18, 2025.

I cannot begin to tell you what a relief it was to be with them in-person and to put my arms around them. They have faced many challenges the last several weeks, but they and their families remain safe. As I have said previously, it is an evolving situation. M23 continues to move across eastern DR Congo. I am sharing the most current information I have with the understanding that it can change at any moment.  

As has been the case for the past couple of years, we are not able to conduct routine health monitoring of the mountain gorillas in the Mikeno sector of Virunga National Park. We are in constant communication with park staff and when possible, our team will be back in the forest caring for our gorilla patients in this sector.

Dr. Lina, our field veterinarian at Kahuzi-Biega National Park in the South Kivu province of eastern DR Congo has temporarily left our Tshivanga field station out of an abundance of caution for her safety. For now, Dr. Cedric remains at our field station in the Mt. Tshiaberimu sector of Virunga National Park and is actively monitoring the health of the Grauer’s gorillas in this area.

I am in the region for the remainder of the week, meeting with our team in Uganda next. I’ll share a detailed write-up of my activities once I am back in the States. Thank you for your continued outreach and well wishes for our teams, the region and the health of the gorillas.

Kirsten Gilardi, DVM, Dipl. ACZM

Executive Director

Gorilla Doctors | www.gorilladoctors.org