"People ask why we do this work," Cranfield said. "It's because each individual's genetic makeup is so important to such a small population as this that the death of a few makes a fairly large difference."
"It may be the most important work I have ever done," he said.
That is saying a lot for a career that has spanned nearly 30 years. After earning his degree and completing a residency in zoological medicine and pathology at Ontario Veterinary College in Canada, he came to Baltimore in 1982.
"I cannot say enough about my association with the Maryland Zoo and working in the medically rich scientific community of Baltimore," he said.
Yet Cranfield left his longtime position as the zoo's director of animal health, research and conservation in February to become senior veterinarian at the Wildlife Health Center at the University of California-Davis, where the Mountain Gorilla One Health program was established in April.
Despite this change, he will also serve as clinical and conservation consultant to the Maryland Zoo, and continue to run MGVP and carry out his work from the zoo.
"We stay in touch with our vets in Africa through Skype [an online Web communication site], so it really doesn't matter these days where you are located," said the Butler resident, who noted that his main responsibility as director lies in policy-making.
Yet despite that emphasis, Cranfield still takes a hands-on approach and travels to Africa four times a year to help monitor and provide care for the mountain gorillas, which receive bimonthly visits from MGVP doctors.
He just returned 10 days ago from a monthlong trip to Africa, where he was joined for two weeks by Dr. Kim Hammond, an MGVP board member, veterinary surgeon and CEO of Falls Road Animal Hospital.
The longtime associates work well together because they "trust one another 100 percent," said Hammond. "The primates' habitat is in a very dicey area, and working there requires a no-mistake operation."
But the work of MGVP extends well beyond concern for the primates' plight, he said.
"It's gotten to the point for me that the mountain gorillas are the portals to helping people," Hammond said. "You can't convince a person who's starving that they need to save gorillas. You've got to work with the people first."
Natalie Schroeter, a 23-year-old veterinary technician at Falls Road Animal Hospital, accompanied Hammond and Cranfield on their recent trip.
