Gorilla Protection

After a few days absence the Rugendo Mountain Gorilla family has returned to Bukima in the Mikeno sector of Virunga. Rangers visited the family today, and these are the photos.

This is Congomani and Noela. You will remember them from a previous post where they were playing in a video.

And this is Gakoti, a young member of the family who was very playful today.

I can also tell you that the sick member of the Kabirizi is still being monitored. The family have moved from Bukima to Gatovu, close by. The infant is still sick, but is showing slow signs of recovery.

Kwa Heri, Paulin

Technorati : bukima, gorilla, wildlifedirect

help us and share this

Thank you for your donation of $12,000 Chris A that was for a vehicle for ICCN. It is now on the road. I just wanted to get these first photos up on the blog, and I will provide all the detail in a later post of what it cost - ie the shell, the engine, the wheels and other parts. They came from lots of different places. Thank you Chris. My work is made much easier with this vehicle. Paulin

Here I am with some of my men at Rumangabo, the headquarters for the southern sector of the Park. This was the first day I drove in the vehicle.

Technorati : congo, drc, iccn, vehicle, wildlifedirect

help us and share this

Here is a recent video of the Kabirizi family. You will recognize some of the footage from my video on Friday, but here is the complete version. I will be posting again later in the week. Paulin will also post pictures of the vehicle that was donated in February by Chris A. It is now on the road and working very well for ICCN. Thank you for all your comments.

Augustin

Technorati : bukima, congo, drc, gorilla, iccn, ranger, virunga, wildlifedirect

help us and share this

Hello. This is my latest video talking about the Kabirizi Mountain Gorilla family - the sick infant and the newborn. This family has 34 members now and is growing. The family lives near my patrol post, Bukima, in the Mikeno Sector in the south of Virunga National Park. I would like to hear your comments. You will also see video of the gorillas.

Augustin

Technorati : bukima, congo, drc, gorilla, iccn, mikeno, primate, ranger, virunga, wildlifedirect

help us and share this

I am happy to tell you all that the 2 1/2 year old infant of the Kabirizi family is not in grave danger. Ntibahanana has discoloration of the hair and the hair is also falling out on the thighs. Dr Jacques from the Mountain Gorilla Vet Program visited the family yesterday, but was unfortunately not able to get too close.

Ntibahanana is suffering from hair loss and discoloration because her mother recently gave birth - this means that Ntibahanana was not able to breast feed for as long as is best in normal circumstances, because her mother, Ngashangi, was pregnant and then with a newborn. Gorillas should breast feed for at least 2 to 2 1/2 years.

However Ntibahanana is eating well and continues to follow Kabirizi and the rest of the group. So she is not deemed to be in any danger. This is a big relief. I will be posting another video soon explaining things in more detail - and telling you about another birth in the family which is very exciting!

Here is Kitagenda, she is a juvenile in the Kabirizi family. Kitagenda means “the one who does not walk a lot” in Kinya Rwanda, the language of our neighboring country.

And here is another photo of Ndekasi, on the back of his mum Rubiga.

And now they are relaxing!

Augustin

help us and share this

Last week I introduced you to Augustin Kambale, head of the patrol post in Bukima. He would like to tell you about his wedding to Josephine, on 31st March 2007. Here is Augustin:

Hello. On 31st March 2007 I married Josephine. We got married in the church in 1990, but we had not yet done the civil ceremony. We did this in the place we live, a town called Kiwanja in the Rutshuru area. Kiwanja has about 40,000 inhabitants. Josephine and I already have three sons, Samuel, Mechac and Enoch. It costs a lot of money to get married in the civil way, about $200, so this is why we have waited for so long.

Here we are at the beginning of the service, that lasted 3 hours in total.

Josephine and I both read the contract of marriage. Here in Africa we get married until death. We do not believe in divorce.

We also swear to our marriage with the flag of our country.

And at the end we sign the contract of marriage. We had all our family with us. You can see them sitting behind us.

Afterwards we left to celebrate and eat.

The food was prepared by my wife and her family and neighbors. They spent all day the day before the wedding doing this. We ate beans, beef, chips, rice, Fanta, sombe (a Congolese vegetable) and cassava foufou, another Congolese staple.

Women eat separately to men on these occasions.

But we all enjoyed a soft drink or Primus, the local beer.

And here are two of my sons, Enoch who is 2 and Mechac who is 4. They had a good day.

I am happy to share this with you and I am happy you enjoyed the video. I will be doing more soon for this blog. I cannot believe so many people have watched my video on YouTube. This is all very new to me and I find it fascinating. Thank you.

Augustin

Technorati : bukima, congo, drc, gorilla, virunga, wildlifedirect

help us and share this

Following my post last week Dr Jacques from the Mountain Gorilla Vet Program traveled to Bukima today in the Mikeno sector to try to see the sick 2 1/2 year old infant of the Kabirizi family. He was unable to visit the family. The trackers, who following the Mountain Gorilla families every day, had trouble locating the Kabirizi family as they had moved to about 4 hours walk from the patrol post. So by the time the trackers got back to Bukima, it was too late for Dr Jacques to set out. With an 8-hour round trip you need to make sure you have enough daylight.

Dr Jacques is going to try again tomorrow. He will leave early from Goma. It takes 2 to 3 hours from Goma to Bukima, and then the walk starts.

Fingers crossed.

Technorati : bukima, congo, drc, goma, kabirizi, mgvp, mountain gorilla, ranger, wildlifedirect

help us and share this

Look at this link on Discovery Channel (just click it and you will get the whole picture). They have done a feature on the most dangerous jobs in the world, including being an aid worker, cowboy, fisherman, gold miner, logger, tunneler and… JUNGLE RANGER.

They have used my blog as an example of being a Jungle Ranger. This sort of work is just amazing to us here in Congo. We have been so used to working in isolation - and now for people to hear about us is incredibly fulfilling. Thank you Discovery Channel and Vanessa. Kwa Heri, Paulin

Technorati : congo, discovery channel, drc, ranger

help us and share this

A couple of weeks ago I posted a video of a 2 1/2 day old Mountain Gorilla of the Kabirizi family. Here are the latest photos taken by Congo Rangers. The baby has been named Kabila, because he or she (remember it takes a while to figure out the sex of a Mountain Gorilla) was born on the same day that our President, Joseph Kabila, took power. Kabila’s mother, Rubiga, is actually the largest female in the Kabirizi group. Both baby and mother are doing well.

Technorati : bukima, congo, drc, iccn, kabirizi, mikeno, mountain gorilla, virunga, wildlifedirect

help us and share this

I keep having problems… i hope this works. Paulin

Technorati : bukima, congo, drc, iccn, karema, mountain gorilla, wildlifedirect

help us and share this