Dr. Jonathan Sleeman examines an African grey at
the UT veterinary hospital. He taught zoo animal medicine here until departing
for Colorado State University, where he has accepted a new post.
photo by Kreis Weigel
"If there's a serious outbreak of disease,
that's it. There is no other population."
"Too much intervention can interfere with
the natural selection of the population."
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In the Midst of Gorillas
UT veterinarian directs medical
center for endangered species in Rwanda
by Nancy Howell
Learning to distinguish
dozens of free-roaming gorillas from one another is an opportunity few veterinarians
experience. For Dr. Jonathan Sleeman, being director of the Mountain Gorilla
Veterinary Center, located on the side of a volcano in war-torn Rwanda,
provided not only this frequent interaction with the endangered mountain
gorilla, but a remarkable cultural experience in a region fraught with conflict.
Sleeman, who completed a residency at the UT College of
Veterinary Medicine, returned to the college last May to teach zoo animal
medicine following a two-year stint in this east-central African nation.
During that time he refined his technique of gathering urine samples from
gorillas, conducted parasitic research yielding important findings, treated
gorillas with serious conditions and used his laptop computer to catalog
health records of 130 gorillas. He also came face-to-face with the results
of war, the plight of refugees, and the impact these conditions have on
safeguarding the remaining population of mountain gorillas.
The endangered species is estimated to consist of only
about 650 individuals living in two populations some 20 miles apart. About
320 live in the Virunga Volcano area on the border of Rwanda and the Democratic
Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) and another 300 occupy the Impenetrable
Forest in Uganda. Their entire world consists of 285 square miles of rain
forest where elevations rise to 10,000 feet or higher.
The mountain gorilla facility is sponsored by the Morris
Animal Foundation, established in 1986. Dian Fossey, the American zoologist
whose life became entwined with the mountain gorilla, proposed the need
for a veterinarian shortly before her untimely death in 1985. The foundation
pursued the goal and continues to select veterinarians to direct the facility.
Sleeman, the eighth veterinary director, was stationed in Kigali, about
three hours from the gorilla range in Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park.
At least twice a week and accompanied by armed guards,
he ventured forth from the relative safety of Kigali to find his "patients"
in their protected habitat some 50 miles away. It was no easy matter, he
says, for there were military roadblocks and miles of jungle trail to pass
through before he could reach his destination.
Veterinary care of the mountain gorilla centers around
a non-intervention policy, Sleeman related. Although some may argue that
the laws of nature and natural selection may preclude veterinary care, the
human influence on the population warrants it, said Sleeman. Poachers, hunters
setting traps for game and the increasing proximity of human beings to the
gorilla habitat have introduced disease and injury that require limited
intervention.
"We don't want to start managing the gorillas as a
zoo would manage," said Sleeman. "Too much intervention can interfere
with the natural selection of the population." Mountain gorillas exist
only in the wild; there is no captive population. "If there's a serious
outbreak of disease, that's it. There is no other population. That's why
this is so important."
The mountain gorilla is one of three subspecies of gorillas.
The other two are the eastern and western lowland gorillas; the latter are
typically found in zoos. Mountain gorillas are the largest and most endangered
of the great apes. Notoriously timid despite their strength and imposing
size (a male can weigh around 450 pounds), they tend to hide deep within
their limited habitat to avoid humans. It was no simple feat, then, when
Sleeman and other researchers and trackers tried to unobtrusively capture
urine samples in a plastic cup. He gained their "approval" by
crouching submissively and grunting in their "language."
Sleeman's practice of directly collecting urine allowed
him to establish normal physiological values to be used to examine for certain
diseases such as liver and kidney disease and metabolic disorders. The urine
samples were also used to conduct pregnancy tests with kits that are sold
in stores here. For the record, blue means yes in apes, the same as with
humans.
Sleeman has completed research evaluating parasite samples
and is publishing results in collaboration with UT veterinary professor
and parasitologist Dr. Sharon Patton. Among other results, he has identified
trichuris and ascrid, parasites that are possibly spread through contact
with human waste. The implications of this are of great concern to Sleeman.
"When a disease jumps a species, it has a tendency to be much more
serious," he said in a recent newspaper interview. "Even a mild
cold in a human can turn into pneumonia in a mountain gorilla."
Providing care for gorillas that had been entangled in
poachers' snares was another priority of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary
Center. Such incidents had become frequent during Sleeman's stay in Rwanda,
where starving refugees set up small wire snares along established wildlife
trails to catch antelope and other game. Gorillas using the same trails
often snagged a hand or foot, which can cause infected wounds and gangrene.
In such cases, Sleeman immobilized the gorillas using sedative darts and
removed the snares.
Sleeman's veterinary career is taking another direction
at an age (29) when most veterinarians are just beginning. His interest
in veterinary medicine began in his native England and eventually led to
a six-year stay at Cambridge University, where he completed degrees in zoology
and veterinary medicine. Following an externship at the University of Georgia,
Sleeman was awarded a Fulbright scholarship in zoological medicine to complete
two years as a resident in UT's veterinary college.
His experience in Rwanda left him with a bittersweet feeling.
Although it was a unique opportunity to contribute to the project, the 1997
murders of four expatriates living near his home was a grim reminder of
the danger in the region.
"It was very sad to leave, but I put as much energy
as I could into the  project; now it's someone else's
chance," he said. |