Although the Entebbe International Airport is still closed there is still good news from a conservation perspective coming out of Uganda. One of our very own, Dr Gladys Kalema Zikusoka won The Aldo Leopold Memorial Award Europe 2020. The Aldo Leopold Memorial Award is the highest honour bestowed by the Wildlife Society. Dr Gladys Kalema Zikusoka won this award because of her distinguished service to wildlife conservation. The basic selection criterion is the significance of an individual’s contribution(s) to the wildlife field.
She received a medal, plaque, and honorary membership in; The Wildlife Society recently awarded Dr Glady Kalema – Zikusoka The Aldo Leopold Memorial Award for her outstanding contribution to wildlife and conservation.
As a tour operator in Uganda, we would like to congratulate Dr Gladys on this incredible award and pay tribute to all the veterinary and conservation work that she has carried out.
Dr Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka has received a number of other awards over the years a few of which are mentioned below:
Dr Gladys Kalema Zikusoka is the first wild Ugandan veterinarian doctor. Dr Kalema is an outstanding personality and through her works in the conservation of wildlife has risen to achieve world recognition. Dr Gladys Kalema Zikusoka, at an early age of 12, had a passion for animals that drove her to start a wildlife club and go-ahead to organize trips to Queen Elizabeth National Park.
Her passion earned her a scholarship at the Royal Veterinary College of London where she trained. Dr Gladys Kalema Zikusoka is also a North Carolina State University’s Alta Malta. Due to her efforts in gorilla conservation, one can relate to Dr Zikusoka as the Dian Fossey from Africa. The latter name is a world-renowned American zoologist and primatologist who spent 18 years in Africa doing an extensive study of gorillas. We now see Dr Gladys Kalema Zikusoka in that legacy trying to carry one that heritage and create her own legacy as a conservationist working to save the critically endangered mountain gorillas. It’s a cause well-chosen as growing up in Uganda the pearl of Africa, the mountain gorilla is a fundamental part of the country’s heritage and tourism industry. Thousands of people annually flock Uganda to see the mountain gorillas. The nation is home to more than half of the world’s remaining 880 mountain gorillas.
Dr Kalema has discovered another threat to mountain gorillas in her study and research that is not the traditional poaching, war conflicts and habitat loss. There is the transmission of human diseases to the gorillas known as zoonotic transmission due to the similarity between man and gorillas. Diseases like scabies and tuberculosis can be shifted from humans to animals. This threat has led Dr Gladys Kalema Zikusoka to form the organization Conservation Through Public Health with a mission to improve African public health to save gorillas.
The Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH) is an NGO with grassroots in Uganda and has spread its wings as far as the North Carolina State in the United States where the global hub is. It seeks to promote conservation and public health by uplifting primary health care to human and animals in gazetted areas. Dr Gladys Kalema Zikusoka has received many awards like the Whitney Gold Award in 2009, the San-Diego Zoo Conservation in Action Award and the CEO Communications Africa’s Most Influential Women in Business and Government Award.
World over Dr Gladys Kalema Zikusoka is fighting for a better future for humans and gorillas and as the urge in Uganda to see gorillas grow. She ensures that the population grows to build a sustainable heritage so that everyone who is looking for a Uganda Safari has ultimate memories.
Cate
Samuel
Robert
If you're looking for exceptional safari recommendations or require professional assistance, don't hesitate to reach out to us.
