14 Oct Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka: Protecting Gorillas, Enhancing Health
I just recently read a National Geographic article, highlighting an absolutely extraordinary woman!

Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka is a true trailblazer as her love for Gorillas sparked a passion in her that she established the first veterinary department at the Uganda Wildlife Authority where she then became the first woman veterinarian at the department. She then went on to be the first to discover a scabies outbreak in a troop of Mountain Gorillas that was linked back to human influence. This highlighted just how big of an effect any human population has on the local ecosystem especially when inadequate living conditions result in the spread of sickness and disease. Gladys recognized this issue and stepped into action to mitigate it. “For nearly 20 years Kalema-Zikusoka has been the CEO and founder of Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH), an award-winning initiative committed to educating locals on the link between healthy wild animals and quality human livelihoods. CTPH promotes safe hygiene and sanitation practices, and family planning education for humans. On the animal side, the team engages in hard science–collecting stool samples, and conducting nest evaluations to monitor gorillas’ general health–mostly at Bwindi–a World Heritage Site and home to nearly half of the world’s endangered mountain gorillas.”
“If you don’t attend to the needs of the people who share their habitats with gorillas and other wildlife, it’s very difficult to conserve wildlife in the future.” —Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka
It’s reading about remarkable people like Gladys, who was inspired by amazing individuals and has now changed the world. That raises the question in my head of what would the world look like if these people never stepped out and pursued their dreams? Not only would their contributions be lost but those of so many others who they have inspired! Having been inspired by others, especially the work of Jane Goodall, launched Gladys to pursue a dream and make a difference that countless people and species are now benefiting from.
One step can make all of the difference!
Read the full article here: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/impact/article/gladys-kalema-zikusoka-explorer-story
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