Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka has studied gorillas for over 20 years kibuuka mukisa/UNEP
WHEN Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka became Uganda’s first wildlife vet in 1995, there were just 650 wild mountain gorillas in the world, 300 of which were in in south-western Uganda. The species as a whole was critically endangered and the future looked bleak.
Then Kalema-Zikusoka had an idea. At just 25 years old, having recently graduated from London’s Royal Veterinary College, she recognised that three major threats to the gorillas – disease, habitat loss and poaching – could be tackled by improving the health and well-being of local people. This approach was highly unusual at the time, but is now seen as a model of conservation practice globally.
In 2003, she left the Ugandan Wildlife Service to become founder and chief executive officer of non-profit organisation . She has spent the past 20 years conserving mountain gorillas in Bwindi, and populations are on the rise. Her memoir, , will be published on 13 April. She spoke to Â鶹´«Ã½ about her life and work.
Gorillas are vulnerable to many of the diseases that affect their human neighbours Jo-Anne McArthur
Graham Lawton: How did you get the job as Uganda’s first wildlife vet straight out of veterinary college?
Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka: Whenever I came home on holidays from college, I worked with wildlife. I worked in , where I did my very first study on wildlife, looking at parasites in the faecal samples of chimps. Two years later, I went to Bwindi and I studied mountain gorillas.
I thought, I would like to do…
