Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka’s One-Health Strategy Revives Uganda’s Mountain Gorillas

In 1996, while serving as Uganda’s first wildlife veterinarian, Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka confronted a mysterious skin disease afflicting mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. After consulting a medical colleague, her team identified the illness as scabies, a mite-borne infection linked to poor hygiene in nearby human communities. The diagnosis led to treatment of the affected gorillas, though a severely infected infant did not survive. The outbreak traced back to mite-infested clothing used on a scarecrow at the park’s edge, prompting Kalema-Zikusoka to conclude that gorilla protection required improving the health of adjacent human populations.

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In 2003 she founded Conservation Through Public Health, which trains Village Health and Conservation Teams to educate households on sanitation, disease prevention, and family planning. The program also introduced “Gorilla Guardians” who safely return wandering gorillas to the forest and work to reform poachers. To diversify livelihoods, Kalema-Zikusoka and her husband launched Gorilla Conservation Coffee in 2015, paying farmers above market rates; participation grew from 75 to more than 630 farmers, over one-third of whom are women. Gorilla tourism expanded dramatically, rising from roughly 1,300 visitors in 1993 to almost 39,000 in 2023, generating $31.7 million for the local economy according to a World Bank report and directing 20 % of park revenue to community projects such as schools and roads.

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The combined health and economic interventions correspond with a rise in the Bwindi gorilla population from about 300 in the early 1990s to 459 in the 2018 census. Across the species’ range—including the Virunga Mountains in Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo—the total number has reached 1,049, prompting a reclassification from “critically endangered” to “endangered.” Local residents report that gorilla tourism has “completely transformed” livelihoods, fostering a view of the animals as a shared future.

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Kalema-Zikusoka emphasizes that protecting gorillas hinges on community well-being, noting that the health outreach “builds healthier communities” and helps villagers see the link between their actions and wildlife safety.

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• “The baby gorilla had lost almost all their hair.” — Worried

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• “The mountain gorillas have really shaped my life,” — Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka

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• “This is showing people that we care about not just the gorillas,” — Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka

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• “The journey that the gorillas have been on in the past 30 years is a beacon of hope in the world of conservation where there (are) so many depressing stories,” — Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka

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