mountain gorillas

Dave transcends time and space to talk with business women and global trekker Brenda Beatty.   Brenda travelled with her husband and friends to Africa in March of 2022.  She shares how fortunate her party was that the border between Rwanda and Uganda opened on the day they planned to cross after being shut for 3 years!  Brenda shares her observations of the importance of our connection with nature and need to be responsible tourists as she shares her experience interacting with the great mountain gorillas of Windy Impenetrable Forest National Park Uganda.  Did you know Rwanda banned single use plastics in 2005?  Did you know people have been wearing masks when observing the great gorillas for decades?  Learn this and more in this episode of the Pandemy Show!

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Dr. Tara Stoinski, the CEO and chief scientific officer of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, speaks with us about working with MASS Design Group on her organization’s new Ellen DeGeneres Campus in Rwanda, how mountain gorillas have become a conservation “success story,” and why her work with gorillas can serve as model for conservation efforts elsewhere.

Episode sponsored by Grand Seiko.

Can saving one species once on the brink of vanishing in the mist show us the way out of the extinction darkness? Joining us to celebrate World Gorilla Day is Dr. Tara Stoinski, President & CEO, and Chief Science Officer of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, and discover how saving one species can help tip the scale in favor of others too. 

More about Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International: https://gorillafund.org/

Talking Apes is the podcast that gets to the very heart of what is happening with and to apes like us. We explore the world of apes and primates with experts, conservationists, and passionate primate people from around the world. Join us as we unpack their weird and wonderful lives piece by piece.

Talking Apes is made possible through generous support from listeners to nonprofit GLOBIO.org. 

Talking Apes is an initiative of the nonprofit GLOBIO.
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Gorillas and humans share about 98% of their DNA in common. There are truly no words to describe the experience of trekking into the African highland rainforests to spend an hour with these incredible animals. It’s like visiting an ancestor from an ancient time. Happily, their status was downgraded from critically endangered to…endangered just a few years ago. But there is still so much more that needs to be done to preserve these forest-dwelling living wonders.

Building upon the legacy of visionary researchers like Dian Fossey, who brought awareness to the plight of mountain gorillas when it was most critical, conservation of these primates is a case study in how of tourism can accomplish a tremendous amount of good – not just because of the international interest and funds coming in, but because of how carefully the industry is managed by dedicated people in Uganda and Rwanda.

On today’s episode, we talk to three individuals whose work is ultimately crucial to the survival of the mountain gorillas of Africa’s Great Lakes region. Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka is the first Wildlife Veterinary Officer of the Uganda Wildlife Authority and the founder of an NGO called Conservation Through Public Health. They work to educate and empower the communities living around the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest and make them partners in protecting the endangered mountain gorillas.

Praveen Moman grew up in Uganda and, when he founded Volcanoes Safaris in 1997, pioneered the idea of luxury gorilla tourism in the country. He was also among the first operators to open a safari lodge in neighboring Rwanda after that country’s strife in the 1990s and 2000s. His unique perspective on the central role of tourism to gorilla conservation programs, and how travelers can bring much-needed attention, aid, and action to the effort to save the great apes, leaves us hopeful and all the more determined to visit this part of the world once again.

We would also like to thank Emmanuel Bugingo of Partners for Conservation in Rwanda, who spoke to us on background. His organization helps communities living around Volcanoes National Park and promotes conservation efforts by focusing on three main priorities: public health, literacy, and conservation education and employment..