Mountain gorilla defender Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka visits the Libraries Oct. 23

If you admire Dian Fossey’s career researching and advocating for mountain gorillas in Rwanda, then you will want to meet Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka when she visits the Libraries for a talk about her memoir, Walking with Gorillas: The Journey of an African Wildlife Vet on Monday, Oct. 23 from 7:00-8:00 p.m. at the College of Veterinary Medicine’s South Theatre.

Kalema-Zikusoka’s talk is free and open to the public; pre-registration is required.

As Uganda’s first wildlife veterinarian, Kalema-Zikusoka works in the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest—which means “place of darkness” in the Runyakitara language—where half of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas live. In her book, she tells the remarkable story of her animal-loving childhood that led to her career protecting endangered mountain gorillas and other wild animals.

“It is hardly surprising that this remarkable woman has been the recipient of countless awards and prizes,” Dr. Jane Goodall writes of Kalema-Zikusoka in the book’s foreword. “She has made a huge difference to conservation in Uganda.” When Kalema-Zikusoka became the park’s wildlife vet in 1996—in her mid-20s—there were only about 300 gorillas left. Today, there are around 500—enough population growth for the gorillas to move from “critically endangered” to just “endangered.”

Walking with Gorillas details how she embarked upon her accomplished conservationist and medical career from a childhood in a politically fraught Uganda. When Kalema-Zikusoka was two, her father was abducted and murdered by Idi Amin’s dictatorial regime. Consequently, she grew up between boarding schools in Uganda, Kenya, and the U.K.—but couldn’t avoid several arrests and prison time for her family’s politics. Nonetheless, Kalema-Zikusoka’s family stayed strong, and her mother even became a member of Uganda’s parliament in the 1980s.

As a child, animals became a fascination for the escape they offered from the difficulties of daily life and she aspired to be a veterinarian. But it was a life-changing encounter with a gorilla while working on a research study when she was 24 that showed Kalema-Zikusoka her calling.