Gorilla Protection

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Apr 29 2009 | By: paula

Earlier this year we (WildlifeDirect) were approached by someone commissioned by a rich citizen of a middle eastern country, who wanted to know how to go about purchasing a baby gorilla. We were very disturbed at the request, and explained as politely as possible, the legal and ethical implications and consequences. Well, it’s obvious that there is a market for baby gorillas as has just been reported by the ICCN.

On Sunday a suspected gorilla trafficker was caught and arrested at Goma International Airport.  He arrived from Walikale with a baby eastern lowland gorilla hidden under clothes at the bottom of a bag.  This baby came from Congo which is the only place where this species is found. The baby was stressed and was “suffering from over-heating and dehydration after spending over 6 hours in transit”.

This video shows how the operation was conducted by the Virunga National Park. WildlifeDirects former CEO Emmanuel de Merode led the 3 month opearation. Congratulations to everyone at the ICCN - lets hope that justice will be served and the baby gorilla returns to it’s natural habitat.

Read the ICCN press release here

Tags: Congo, DRC, gorilla, ICCN, lowland gorilla, mountain gorilla, wildlife trade, wildlife trafficking

7 responses so far

Category: Community, Mountain Gorillas, Threats, Year of the Gorilla | Date: Apr 27 2009 | By: Daniel

I post this on behalf of Tuver, the communications manager of the Gorilla Organization, and blogger for the stoves project.

Hi, this is Tuver,

Madame Helena, a charcoal seller in the little TMK market in Goma, came to complain last Friday about the fall in customers, now that many people in her area are using fuel-efficient stoves distributed from the display room of AIDE-Kivu located in Katindo. She accuses AIDE-Kivu of providing good fuel-efficient stoves to residents of Goma, who are now using less charcoal since they have improved their lifestyle by using these stoves, and in this way reducing the consumption of charcoal and wood coming from the Virunga National Park and its surroundings. This seller told Madame Habamungu Maisirika Docile, who is in charge of promoting and selling the fuel-efficient stoves for AIDE-Kivu, that they are not meeting the demand at the store, as many women are trying out the special “Kenya Jiko” and “Bembeleza” stoves produced through the Gorilla Organization - AIDE-Kivu partnership.

However, she was pleased to see that the stock of these stoves had noticeably reduced at the display room, and told herself to get ready to corner the market during the drop in supply, because these families will not realise how to get themselves this technology that reduces the harmful effects on the natural habitat of our close cousins the gorillas. It is therefore time to act so that AIDE-Kivu are not lacking the materials to produce these modern stoves. Act now!

Tags: charcoal, deforestation, fuel-efficient stoves, Gorilla Organisation, logging, Year of the Gorilla

3 responses so far

Category: Successes, Year of the Gorilla | Date: Apr 15 2009 | By: Daniel

To give you an impression of what the YoG is doing beyond raising funds for the great projects featured in this blog, I will try to quickly give an overview (by no means an exhaustive list…).

The YoG is as much about raising awareness and educating the general public on gorillas and the threats they face as it is about supporting the implementation of actual conservation projects.

Through our main partners GRASP and WAZA, and the numerous NGOs, zoos and other bodies that come together under their auspices, the YoG is having a great impact globally. Educational lectures, fundraising events organized by enthusiastic individuals, events for kids at the many supportive zoos are only some of the types of feedback we are seeing.

Following the main launch in Rome in December and the UK launch in London a month later, there will soon be launch festivities in Uganda and Kenya.

There are also several fundraising cooperations and a lot of in kind support for the YoG. For example, a new book on gorillas (link) supports the YoG with 50 pence per sold copy, and the Czech Radio project The Revealed is donating some of the profits made from selling merchandise to a YoG project for Cross River Gorillas.

Wildlife Artist Daniel Taylor from Canada has produced several gorilla paintings, and in cooperation with the African Conservation Foundation, these are being sold to raise funds for the YoG. The sale of soft toy gorillas is a further fundraiser.

And then, last but not least, there is of course the blog you are looking at - potentially the best fundraising tool we have!

Numerous publications introduce the YoG or report on gorillas in the context of YoG. The in-flight magazines of Kenya Airways and others as well as travel catalogues are examples, as are the innumerable newspaper articles the YoG has been highlighted through. National Geographic Germany is planning a feature on the Virunga park situation, and there will be one large and several small features in NG Kids.

The Jane Goodall Institute’s various branches are doing their part to spread the word, and YoG Ambassador Ian Redmond is very active, giving lectures, providing images and movie clips and possibly doing a lecture tour later this year.

We also have a new regional Ambassador in Australia, Guy Williams, who will give the YoG a tangible presence in this remote corner of the world.

YoG has also been mentioned in numerous radio and TV programs, and supports several film projects aimed at helping awareness and education efforts.

Enthusiastic individuals around the globe are also doing their part, e.g. young James Brooks from Canada, Laurel Colton from California, or Fatima Chuecco from Brazil, to name but a few.

A gorilla symposium, to be held in Frankfurt, Germany in June will bring together experts, NGOs, businesses, governments and UN agencies to discuss the main threats to gorillas and ways of addressing them. More on this at a later time…

You see, we are keeping busy, and this is just a fraction of what YoG is achieving around the globe. Add the countless activities by GRASP partners and at WAZA zoos, and it becomes quite impossible to keep track of everything … but that’s a good thing.

 Please help us help the gorillas by supporting the Year of the Gorilla! You can donate here or have an event of your own, be it educational or for fundraising (or both or something else..).

Tags: events, fundraising, lectures, publication, Year of the Gorilla

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Category: Eastern Lowland Gorilla, Patrols, Political situation, Rangers | Date: Apr 03 2009 | By: Daniel

Another of the expert-selected YoG projects - this one focuses on the currently hardest-hit subspecies: the Eastern Lowland Gorilla.

Introduction: The Eastern Lowland Gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri) has probably suffered the greatest losses, in relation to its total population, of all gorilla species over the last 10-15 years. War and conflict in eastern DR Congo are to blame for this, as militias invade protected areas making long-term, steady conservation work practically impossible, and the civilian population is forced by hardship to turn to poaching and habitat destruction for firewood.

Project summary: The main goals of this important project are to reinstate regular monitoring and effective surveillance of the remaining Eastern Lowland Gorilla population throughout the Kahuzi-Biega National Park in eastern DR Congo, which has been largely inaccessible to researchers and rangers due to instability and the presence of various armed factions in this region. The last reliable data on population size and distribution were recorded in 1995, and it is suspected that the population has shrunk dramatically since. New, precise information will be one outcome of this project, enabling intelligent and effective approaches to the conservation of this rare species.

Implementing partners: Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature with experienced international partners: GTZ (German Development Cooperation), WWF (Worldwide Fund for Nature), WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) and MGVP (Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project).

Budget: € 283,250 for 12 months

Please support this project, crucial for the survival of the remaining Eastern Lowland Gorillas, by donating.

For all the details, please click here.

Tags: bushmeat, coltan, DRC, Eastern Lowland Gorilla, kahuzi-biega, logging, mining, war

One response so far

Category: Mountain Gorillas, Rangers | Date: Apr 03 2009 | By: paula

Four senior wildlife officers who had been arrested for the July 2007 killings of 5 mountain gorillas have been found guilty of a lesser charge o f destruction of flora and fauna.

There was insufficient evidence to link them to the killings of the gorillas and they were each fined US $ 5,000 and sentenced for 6 months imprisonment for the illegal charcoal trade which is said to have earned each of them up to $15,000 per month. The officers have been suspended from the ICCN.

The alleged mastermind of the gorilla killings Honore Mashagiro, is on trial. He is the former Director of the Virunga National Park and is accused of involvement in the illegal charcoal mafia and killings of the gorillas in July 2007.

This is the first time that the ICCN has prosecuted it’s own officers and represents a significant achievement towards zero tolerance of illegal activities by the wildlife officers.

Emmanuel de Merode, former CEO of WildlifeDirect, is the current Director of the Virunga Park. All of us at WildlifeDirect applaud Emmanuel and his team for this achievement, and look forward to continued successes in protecting the mountain gorillas.

Tags: charcoal, DR Congo, gorilla massacre, ICCN, illegal killings, Mountain Gorillas, Rangers, Virunga National Park

6 responses so far