Jan 17 2007
A second trip across no-man’s land
Just back from our second trip to Bikenge. I think we may be making some progress.
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Planning the operation with the UN peace keepers. They have been a big support these last few days
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The patrol post had been temporarily deserted - rebels obviously aware that we were coming and didn’t want to be around - but we did make it to the site where the gorilla had been shot and saw the drop pit that it’s remains had been discarded in. The skin was lying there, the hair still silver. 10 meters away the banana tree that the gorilla had been feeding on when it was shot.
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Moving cautiously into rebel territory
with the support we needed
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Something positive has come out of today’s visit into the zone under rebel control… we had a chance encounter with the new Indian Battalion Commander for MONUC who has agreed to arrange an official meeting for us with the commander of the rebel brigade currently occupying the gorilla habitat. This will allow us to impress on him that even during times of conflict, it is inexcusable to kill these animals that are so important to the country and to the world.
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At the scene where Karema’s remains were
dumped in a pit latrine.
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The UN have also agreed to carry out a number of mixed patrols (MONUC Peacekeepers and the ICCN rangers) into the gorilla sector to try and locate the habituated groups. This will allow us to establish the status of the habituated groups and determine whether or not other gorillas have also been shot and killed…
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Daily news from the conservation frontline by Innocent and Diddy, and other Congolese rangers risking their lives to save mountain gorillas of the Virunga National Park in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
I just wanted to express my profound sadness for what is going on right now. I also wanted to express my deep gratitude for your dedication to help save these beautiful and magnifecent creatures. I would really like to help in some way if at all possible. Please feel free to contact me and let me know what I can do to help your cause. If I can donate money to you directly just tell me how.
Sincerely,
Sherry
Dear Sherry, your message is extremely kind. You can use this blog to donate funds, which are handled by the Africa Conservation Fund and Frankfurt Zoological Society. Otherwise, if you can spread the word, that is a great help and comfort to us and our families. We still have some hope that the gorillas can pull through
Is there any way you can negotiate with the rebels to offer them food instead of them eating the meat of the gorillas? Or do they kill and eat them as a right of passage? Do you have any idea of what their motive is?
I just want to thank you and all of the people throughout Africa and the US who are working so hard to save the endangered gorillas and all other at-risk wildlife. Your efforts are very much appreciated. Not enough people are aware of what is truly going on and how critical the need is to save these magnificent animals. (Diane Fossi would be so proud of all of you! We can’t let her death be in vain!)
From the United States, I’m sending all of you my prayers for your continued safety and, eventually, success in your efforts.
I’m stunned and deeply saddened… Thank you so much for what you’re doing to help these precious animals. Bless you all in your struggle that this may end soon.
I saw your story on MSN.com and it is very hard but not unbelievable to think that someone would do this to god’s creatures. I hope you know that you have a lot of support in the United States from those that love gorillas and animals in general. Keep up your great job and I will pray for you and your cause. The worst animals in the world are the humans ones and we are the educated ones. Funny that is you would think we would know more and not do the terrible deeds we do.
What a horrid death for such a majestic creature! I hope that you and your associates can continue to make a change in the way these animals are regarded, I wish you all the success and pledge to spread the word to all I know.
It deeply saddens me to hear of the great destruction that Man is creating in this world. Global warming. Killing endangered animals. Pollution. Overdevelopment. It makes absolutely NO SENSE for anyone NOT to be an environmentalist, conservationist and lover of all of God’s creatures. No sense at all! Because we ALL live in this world and need plants, animals, and what this world is made of to survive. It just baffles me how MAN continues to destroy this planet and everything on it, ultimately, destroying themselves.
But you, your organization, and your cause leave me with some hope. Because, as Martin Luther King said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
As an anthropologist and nature lover I was horrified to learn about this horrible slaughter. Many blessings are extended as you fight arduously to prevent this from continuing.
Why do you refer to Karema as “it” in this post. He deserves better. The more people identify gorillas as the individuals they are, the harder it will be for anyone to accept these cannibalistic atrocities.
The African situation continues to disgust anyone with a brain. these peopel are savages of the first order and it is sad that a full military response on behalf of the wildlife is not in place. None of these faction appear to have any clear goals and any siutaiton including “warlords” (what the hell is that anyway?)suggest these idiots have just left the caves. Good luck.
How are you going to be able to stop the rebels from killing these beautiful gorillas? It is so sad to read about the fate of these great creatures. The United States have helped to save some species that would have become extinct. Tell us how we can help you. (Money, manpower?) We will help. God Bless you for all you are trying to do.
the rebels are uneducated & foul.its ashame losers like that are allowed to kill.
Last year I had the honour of visiting Africa and doing a trek to see the Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda. It was hands down the most AMAZING experience of my life - something I could never adequately describe and something I will never forget. They are such gentle giants and absolutely beautiful beyond belief. It makes me absolutely sick that these animals are still endangered and more have been brutally killed and eaten recently. They are only a small percentage away from being human - one of our closest living relatives, how can anyone treat them in such a horrific way? Oh, I forgot, we humans are savages who treat each other just as bad. Disgusting. I guess the hardest part is knowing that the industrialized world as a whole (save for a small minority of compassionate people) has typically turned a blind eye when it comes to the tremendous suffering of the people in Africa. I think that’s why it’s hard for African people to understand why anyone would care about the animals. The truth is, it shouldn’t be a choice. We should be able to help the innocent people AND the animals. God Bless all of you who are trying to help the Gorillas. We can’t risk losing them - please let us know what we can do to help.
YOU ARE UNBELIEVABLY BRAVE TO RISK YOUR OWN LIFE TO SAVE THESE MAGNIFISENT CREATURE’S GOD BLESS AND GOOD LUCK MY FRIEND I WISH YOU WELL AND HOPE YOU SUCCEED IN SAVING AS MANY GORILLAS AS POSSIBLE.
First I want to applaud all that you are trying to do to save one of God’s majestic creatures. I pray that God protects you. Second, with incidents like this, I am ashamed to be of the human race. We as humans continue to destroy all that gives life, breath and beauty. Why???
People are contacting news programs to see if this immediate and increasing travesty can be brought into the limelight on more prime time US News shows. Fingers crossed someone will listen. Paulin, your work stands alone. Your group should be commended by the governments and peoples of every nation on earth. Your soul is the sum of all that you’ve done with your freedom. God bless and keep you.
Thank you for all you do. God Bless you and keep you safe. My husband and I are helping to save gorillas as well. You are in our thoughts and prayers!
I found your Web site through a story printed in the Washington (DC) Post. You and your fellow rangers are doing great work and I appreciate it very much. I’ve informed my friends and colleagues about your blog and entreated them to make donations to help. Thank you so much for trying to save the gorillas. Be safe.
At what time will we humans, “wake up” and embrace all lifeforms as we would love our own child.
You need an army. You should use donations for the Africa Conservation Fund and the Frankfurt Zoological Society to purchase guns and soldiers. Remember Malcolm X:
“Power never takes a back step - only in the face of more power.”
“Usually when people are sad, they don’t do anything. They just cry over their condition. But when they get angry, they bring about a change.”
The work that you and your organization is doing puts the daily trials and politics of the average American workday in a new perspective - trivial. I hope that this problem gets more attention. Saying thanks seems insufficient, but sincerely, me and my family wish you the best with your work - be safe.
I was atonished to hear that this is happening all over again. Have we not learned from our past mistakes. I will pray for you and the gorillas that help will soon be on the way. Keep the faith!
It saddens me that so much of Nature’s beauty and mystery lies in a region which is plagued by so much of humankinds misery and suffering. I give great praise to all who risk their lives daily to protect and nurture all the species, in particular the Mountain Gorilla, in this region of the world. I thank everyone for all that has been done and hope that aid from those who can do more will assist and protect these creatures, and those protecting them, from harm’s way.
Are the rebels eating these gorilla’s to survive? If they have no other means of food what do you expect them to do? If there is other food then i understand your efforts.
I am without words as to what I just read about the gorillas. I have always been fascinated by these animals. We visit the San Fransisco Zoo whenever we are in CA. The first place we go is to see the gorillas. We can stand there and watch them for a very long time. They are very interesting, and it pains me to hear that there are not very many mountain gorillas left. They are so close like us (or we like them), that I get very sad to read something like this. I commend you and the others for what you are doing, and I pray that a solution will happen so that many generations can still learn about this species, and not in the past tense, but still in the present. They are so beautiful, that I can’t imagine the world without them. Have faith; I know God will help.
We often hear the debates as to how we as a species (homo sapiens) are destroying our planet ie. global warming the waste of natural resources or the myriad of other things we do, but there is no debate as to this matter, defenseless animals killed after we helped “tame” them, seems as though before we study them we should spend some money to protect them. The bible said we are caretakers of our planet, we have turned out to be a virus to this planet. We, “civilized people”, pretend to protect people from tyranny and other atrocities from there own leadership, but only when it benefits our own ends, oil,
commerce, or any other political agenda. Well it is plain to see that we, “civilized people” are not worthy of the mantle caretaker, protector or any other honorable title that any book or historical manuscript has placed upon us. Sympathy is a feeling that makes us feel bad for something or someone, and you can’t feel bad enough to ever make it better. empathy makes us feel what they feel, giving us insight to a solution, this is what we as a species have that makes us what we are, until we as a species take responsibility for what we are things like this will not stop, as a matter of fact they will only get worse. I commend you and your group for the risks you take, but all who read this realize, god is not the answer, we collectively as a species are, and until we realize that we are responsible for our own actions we are in a downward spiral with no good end.
My thoughts and prayers for the awakening of “man”.
I saw your story on MSN, and forwarded it, and the link to this blog, on to my friends and family. I hope they too will forward it on to spread the word of what you courageous people are doing to save these magnificant creatures. You are doing some amazing things, risking your lives for their survival and protection. I will keep you in my prayers and thoughts.
I am a city kid and can’t even imagine being out there in the jungle with these mountain gorillas. It almost seems like science fiction to me when I saw the beheaded Gorilla. It was a sad site. I am against these killings of Gorillas and I am against all the murdering going on in IRAQ. In Iraq thousands of innocent citizens, children and American Soldiers are being slaughtered. Let’s stop the killing and let’s start working together to make the world a better place, in Africa, in Iraq, in the US ghettos and in third world countries. It sounds so easy to be peaceful and yet…politicians want to be angry killers.
It troubles me to read and hear of all the different types of murder going on in Africa. I know every country has its troubles, and America’s “doorstep” has not been properly “swept”, but Africa’s woes saddens my heart. An animal trusting enough to let a human get close enough to abuse and murder it is horrific. I can not understand this anymore that I could understand someone attempting to throw one of my beloved pet dogs on the grill for a barbeque. I think if we were all starving I’d lay down and offer myself as food before one of them would harm me or my daughter. I would also lay beside a tame gorilla, and let it “flea” me…I could not imagine attempting it as a main course-and with bannanas so readily abundant? This is a product of ignorance and evil, and it lends an understanding to the genocide of Rowanda, if the hutu’s had no trouble murdering the tutsi’s (I sure hope I have not transposed those groups, my memory tricks me at times, but I am not ignorant of the happenings!) how would rebels have issues murduring gorillas? To think there is so many natural resources and beauty in Africa, and it’s being robbed as many of the people are, is truely appalling. God bless you all, and every humanitarian, mission worker, animal activist, and simple person in Africa wishing, praying for, and attempting change. I just hope it all happens before there is no Africa left…I’d hate to think of an Africa with no gorilla, hippo,giraffe, natural resource, or even bannana tree due to the greed and inhumanity that seems to waggle it’s way in…again, God bless and keep you all…Godspeed.
I was nearly brought to tears when I read your blog yesterday. My dream since studying anthropology in college was to visit Africa especially to visit the area where these magnificent creatures still remain. In my mind, it is a peaceful beautiful place and to read this truly horrific story opened my eyes to the brutality and inhumanity that exists.
Thank you for all of the work that you and the groups you are working with are doing to protect the gorillas. The fact that you are risking your life for these animals speaks volumes to the type of individuals you are. You are heroes. I will be donating to your organization as well as doing what I can to spread the word to enlist help here in the states. Please post occasionally if there are other things that we can do to help.
May you be safe and successful in your endeavors. Our thoughts are with you.
I am brought to tears by this. I thought we had stopped the killing of gorillas. We need to hire mercenaries to protect the gorillas, and at the same time provide food for the rebels. The UN should also provide military support. Permanent, large scale operations need to be developed that will protect these few remaining individuals. You deserve a Nobel prize for your work.
This is a very sad and grave situation for not only these animals, but the entire world. I’m thankful there are people that are as passionate about this these creatures as you are. I commend you for your dedication and wish you great success. You are making a big difference, keep up the great work.
Paulin, may God give you and your group the strength to continue the fight in saving the gorillas. Thats a heritage we as human beings should save for the future generations.