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The team reached the group at 1:20pm in the Buchuchu area of the park and found subadult female Buzara carrying baby Mayani on her back. She was sticking close to silverback Bukima, and finally settled down next to the group leader, placing Mayani between them. Dr. Martin began to prepare the anesthesia dart while Dr. Eddy organized the protection team. Once the team was ready, Dr. Martin darted Mayani with the sedative to begin the intervention, prompting the males of the group to full alert.

There are four silverbacks in Rugendo group, so Drs. Eddy and Martin were concerned about the safety of this intervention: silverbacks can become aggressive if they suspect that a group member is in danger. Typically, trackers will form a circle around our field veterinarians to protect them from the other group members while they administer medical treatment. But in this particular intervention, the trackers had some help: when the silverbacks of the group became agitated at the onset of the intervention, dominant silverback Bukima began pacing back and forth between the other silverbacks and the intervention team, vocalizing to calm his group members. He continued to block his group members from approaching the intervention team throughout the entire time Drs. Eddy and Martin worked – a remarkable observation that our field team has never experienced before.