Activist endures painful history to embark on inspiring work to save critical species: 'The mountain gorillas have really shaped my life'

Conservationist and veterinarian Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka has been on a decades-long mission to save critically endangered mountain gorillas in Uganda. 

As CNN reported, she fell in love with the great apes over 30 years ago after visiting Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable National Park — one of just two patches of forest in the world where the animals live. 

"You don't hear them, but you see their trails as you're walking," Kalema-Zikusoka told the news outlet. "You can be looking for them, thinking will I ever see them? Then suddenly — they're there. It's such a magical feeling."

Describing the first time she saw a mountain gorilla up close, she added, "I looked into his very intelligent brown eyes, and I felt a really deep connection. He was just willing to let us into his presence, and not at all threatening."

She had originally visited the park as part of a summer placement after graduating from the Royal Veterinary College in London, but the month-long internship revealed a deeper calling, and she decided to pursue conservation work in the park full-time. 

For three decades now, she's been helping the mountain gorilla population rebound, with their numbers in Bwindi growing from less than 300 individuals to nearly 460. According to the IUCN Red List, the species was downgraded from critically endangered to endangered thanks to Kalema-Zikusoka's dedication. 

Over the last century, mountain gorillas have faced numerous pressures from poaching, deforestation, and violence in Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Compounding these issues, the brutal eight-year dictatorship of Idi Amin in Uganda devastated remaining gorilla populations and many other wildlife. 

During the military coup, Kalema-Zikusoka's father — who was a minister in the government — was abducted and never seen again. As she got older and learned more about what happened that day, she felt it was her duty to keep his legacy alive by restoring Uganda through conservation work. 

Mountain gorillas have been pushed to near-extinction, confined to just two isolated areas: the Virunga Mountains, which straddle the borders of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda, and Bwindi in southwest Uganda. 

All these events sparked Kalema-Zikusoka's passion to become a veterinarian and help the wildlife return to Uganda's ecosystems. Part of the mission involved efforts to improve public health as well, which isn't usually in the job description for a vet. 

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But after a scabies outbreak in low-income communities bordering Bwindi spread to some of the gorillas, Kalema-Zikusoka saw an opportunity to better the lives of both humans and animals. She launched the nonprofit Conservation Through Public Health to enhance the well-being of rural communities. 

Through the organization, community volunteers are trained to educate families about the importance of proper hygiene, family planning, infectious disease prevention, and other aspects of health. Meanwhile, local farmers escort wandering gorillas back to their forest homes if they venture close to humans.

Kalema-Zikusoka's conservation efforts have also led poachers to give up their livelihoods in favor of gorilla tourism, a booming industry in Uganda. Some are also training to become farmers, guides, and rangers after learning about the importance of protecting gorillas. 

Ensuring the gorillas have a safe place to live has also positively impacted people, bringing them more jobs and opportunities. It's another example of the interconnected nature of life on our planet, proving that humans and animals can coexist with a little planning and goodwill. 

"The mountain gorillas have really shaped my life," Kalema-Zikusoka told CNN. And in turn, "the gorillas have really transformed Uganda, and brought Ugandan conservation and tourism back on the map."

"Gladys, I think she's born with conservation in her blood. If you go through the life of her family, how she was brought up, she was brought up in that life of being a conservationist and I think she'll die a conservationist," Joshua Masereka, the community conservation warden at Uganda Wildlife Authority, added.

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