Kwitonda is a mighty and noble Silverback living in the Rwandan side of the Virunga Mountains in Volcanoes National Park. At nearly 40 years of age, he is the chief of an important and well-studied gorilla group in his namesake, and was featured in Artists for Conservation’s First documentary Film. This sculpture was intended to capture my incredible experience in the field with him during the making of that film and to draw public attention to the extraordinary work of the heroic rangers in Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo, and the extraordinary veterinarians of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinarian Project, who all dedicate and risk their lives to help this species survive.