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

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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

Category: Mountain Gorillas | Date: Mar 13 2009 | By: paula

The first ever animated film about mountain gorillas is about to be released it has just been announced  on the All Africa news website.

“Written in Luganda and titled Galiwango: Obulamu Bwe Kisodde, (The life of a Gorilla), the film aims to sensitise the public about the plight of mountain gorillas in Rwanda, the DRC and Uganda.

The film creater, US-based artiste Solomon Jagwe, relies on his skills and African roots to create a sombre but humour-filled animated film. His goal is to draw attention to the existence of this unique natural resource.

Galiwango is a tribute to Jagwe’s grandmother whom he says taught him how to tell stories as a young boy. “I remember sitting by her feet and listening intently as she recounted stories of Waguluddene, Wakayima and Wango.” he says.

Jagwe tells the story of the struggles and triumphs of the gorillas from a captured gorilla’s point of view. He weaves into the tale a human element of interaction with technology, war and humour.

Galiwango’s story begins in the thick tropical forests of the Virunga Mountains. Jagwe traces the gorilla’s journey after it is taken from Uganda and illegally sold to a research facility in an undisclosed Western country.

Years later, Galiwango’s journey comes full circle to Uganda.

A plane carrying equipment and a crate housing Galiwango, is shot down over the Virunga Mountains.

At the crash site Galiwango meets two other gorillas, Muwanguzi, an aging Silver Back and Lutalo, who carries a rifle. The rest of the story explores the dangers of living in a forest that is full of conflict and greed.

Close encounters with poachers and rebels drive the need by Galiwango and his friends to stay alert.

Jaggwe hopes that Ugandans can appreciate the rare gift they have in the mountain gorillas and fight against the possibility of their extinction”.

We can’t wait to see it!

Tags: , animated movie, CNDP, Congo, DR Congo, gorillas, ICCN, mountain gorilla, Virunga

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Mar 03 2009 | By: paula

Something very exciting is happening in the Virunga region. An ‘Inter-State agency’ is being created to coordinate conservation in the Virunga volcanoes called The ‘Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration (GVTC)‘. The agency formalizes the ongoing collaboration between the three countries that share the Virungas, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Uganda .

The GVTC’s will work to conserve, manage environmental resources and promote tourism in protected areas of the three countries especially the Virunga Park, which is home to hundreds of the only surviving mountain gorillas in the world. Administration of this agency will be vested in the Inter-Ministerial board, the Trans-boundary Core Secretariat and its affairs directly managed under an Executive Secretariat based in Rwanda.

With this new development, environmental management, law enforcement, gorilla census and tourism will be coordinated across the transboundary region.

We offer our heart felt congratulations to the ministers of the three countries and wish well in getting this initiative off the ground.

Tags: Congo, DR Congo, Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration, ICCN, Mountain Gorillas, ORTPN, Rwanda, Uganda, UWA, Virunga

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Jan 27 2009 | By: paula

We are all celebrating at WidlifeDirect with the good news  that the mountain gorillas in Virunga National Park have not been affected by the conflict there. In fact the population has increased by 10 new babies between August 2007 and January 2009. Five of them probaby fathered by this guy,

Kabirizi, the head of the Kabirizi family which now numers 33 individuals.

Here is the official press release from Virunga National Park.

26 January 2009

CONGO MOUNTAIN GORILLA POPULATION UP BY 12.5% IN LAST 16 MONTHS

DR Congo’s habituated Mountain Gorilla population in Virunga National Park increased by 12.5 percent from 72 to 81 gorillas between August 2007 and January 2009, according to the results of an 8-week census conducted by the Congolese Wildlife Authority (ICCN) released today. Based on a previous 2003 census, Park Rangers also estimate 120 non-habituated Mountain Gorillas in the 250 sq km Mikeno Sector of the park, the only area in DR Congo that is home to Mountain Gorillas, bringing the country’s Mountain Gorilla population total to circa 211. The worldwide population of Mountain Gorillas is believed to be 720, all of them living in the conflict-affected area between DR Congo, Uganda and Rwanda.

“The status of Virunga’s Mountain Gorillas is a triumph for conservation, and is the product of 15 years’ effort and sacrifice on the part of Congo’s Rangers, of the consistent support from international organisations and individuals, and of the sustained determination of 3 African nations to protect this globally important species,” said Virunga National Park Director Emmanuel de Merode.

Over 50 Park Rangers conducted over 128 patrols during the census, and identified 6 gorilla families in Mikeno and 3 solitary
Silverbacks. The largest family is the Kabirizi Family, with 33 individuals including 5 newborns. The Rugendo family - victim of the July 2007 massacre - now has 9 members, up from 5, including 2 Silverbacks vying for control of the group.

“Mountain Gorilla family structures change with each birth, death, interaction and migration. The Kabirizi family, our largest gorilla group with 33 individuals, has 5 newborns which is wonderful news. But we are still hoping to locate the 2 gorillas from this same family that we have not yet seen,” said ICCN Gorilla Monitoring Head Innocent Mburanumwe.

During the 16-month period from August 2007 to late January 2009 10 baby gorillas were born into 4 of the habituated families - the Kabirizi, Mapuwa, Lulengo and Mapuwa families - and 2 adult female gorillas previously non-identified (from non-habituated groups) have joined habituated gorilla families. Three gorillas that had been previously identified in the August 2007 census have not been found and are listed as missing.

Significantly no evidence of gorilla mortality was reported by Rangers, although 536 snares laid by poachers were found and removed by Park Rangers, representing a significant increase as compared to previous findings. Snares are laid to catch small antelope and other forest animals, but gorillas, especially infants, are sometimes caught in the snare and can suffer loss of limb or life.

Go to www.gorilla.cd for more information and to www.gorilla.cd/press to access the Mountain Gorilla Survey Report

Tags: census, ICCN, mountain gorilla, Virunga National Park

7 responses so far

Category: Uncategorized | Date: Dec 14 2008 | By: paula

The Virunga National Park website has released a video of Miza (Mutazimiza) the baby gorilla orphaned last year during the attack on the Kabirizi family, and star of our book Looking for Miza which is her story about how she survivied the ordeal. After 14 months of conflict it is a huge relief to see that she is doing so well.

Meanwhile the ICCN rangers have joined rebels in the gorilla sector of Virunga National Park - the early progress is reported by Edmund Sanders in the Los Angeles Times

“Rebels and government officials tentatively agreed for the first time last month to work together in the gorilla sector. The agreement came a month after rebels seized the park’s headquarters in nearby Rumangabo.

As he recently resettled into his office at park headquarters under the new arrangement, De Merode said he hoped to dispatch 41 park rangers to join the 30 who already work in the gorilla sector. He also planned to re-establish five 24-hour patrol posts and resume formal surveying of the families.

But it remains unclear whether the government and rebels will be able to set aside their differences.

Park officials questioned the qualifications and political motives of rangers who stayed behind.

“These rangers are not fully trained in gorilla-monitoring,” De Merode said. “They’ve been a little cavalier.”

Government officials pressured all but one international conservationist group to suspend their work with the gorillas after the rebel takeover and discouraged tourism, saying the proceeds would fund the insurgency.

“They said I was a rebel,” Kanamahalagi said. “They spoiled my name.”

Park officials also have accused the rebels of attacking some rangers, often because of their ethnicity. Tutsi rangers, who are part of the same ethnic group as rebel leader Nkunda, were allowed to remain in the park, some say, although others were chased away.

“The risk was I would be killed,” said Innocent Mburanumwe, head of gorilla monitoring, who fled after the rebel takeover. He said rangers who tried to return were robbed and attacked.

Park officials also have accused rebels of killing and eating of two gorillas last year.

Rebels contend that their soldiers are too disciplined to ever hurt gorillas. They accuse park officials of corruption and mismanagement, saying they exaggerate the threat to gorillas in a bid for international support.

“They need to lie for their fundraising,” said Babou Amani, deputy spokesman for Nkunda’s movement, National Congress for the Defense of the People.

He said control of the gorilla sector fell into the rebels’ lap during an offensive to seize strategic land near the Ugandan border. But he said they took the responsibility seriously.

“For us, gorillas are worth more than diamonds,” Amani said.

To demonstrate their commitment, rebels have been organizing visits, a kind of guerrillas’ gorilla tour for journalists and others. A recent trip suggested that rangers are well-intentioned, if not always well-trained.”

Meanwhile, help has been proposed for orphaned gorillas.  A group of international conservation organizations is building a center to rescue, rehabilitate and reintroduce orphaned gorillas back into the wild.  The sanctuary will cover 150 hectares near Lubero in the northeastern corner of Congo and will cater for up to 30 gorillas.  The center $300,000 center will cost 100,000 to run each year,

To finance this U.S.Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Agency for International Development have put up some money, and so has The Walt Disney Company, which operates a number of animal parks in the United States and promotes conservation. Hopefuly lasting peace can be achieved in the region to make this center a success. Read more about it here

Tags: gorillas, ICCN, orphans, Virunga National Park, wildlifedirect

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Dec 11 2008 | By: paula

We’ve been closely monitoring the talks in Nairobi over the last three days. News agencies are stating that the talks have stalled, our contacts have told us that the problem is indecision by CNDP - it seems that the representatives are unable to make decisions on behalf of Laurent Nkunda. What a waste of time!

Meanwhile the United Nations have published  a report  implicating that both Rwanda and Congo have been supporting rebels.  Rwandan government and army has been found helping the CNDP - the report alleges directly involvement in the hostilities, recruiting of child soldiers, supplying artillery and even holding bank accounts for rebels. The report even claims that UN monitored phone calls between Kagame and Nkunda.

Rwanda  of course denies any involvement in the CNDP. In an interview on BBC today, Rwanda’s ambassador to the UN, Claver Gatete, denies any role of Rwanda but that as a democratic nation anyone can have a bank account in Rwanda, and he also claims that the arms that the CNDP have are not supplied form Rwanda, but are ‘found on the ground’ when they take villages and towns.

The report also claims to have evidence of the Congolese army of supporting the Rwandan Hutu militia in eastern Congo which includes some Hutus accused of carrying out the Rwandan 1994 genocide. It names foreign companies that have benefited from the FDLR through access to mines, and recommends that sanctions be imposed against them and individuals named in the report.

While there is a lot of talk going on but many are questioning the political will by nations to intervene and halt the cycle of violence.

Tags: Congo, crisis in Congo, ICCN, Rwanda, Virunga National Park, wildlifedirect

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Dec 09 2008 | By: paula

Talks have begun between representatives of rebel forces fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and delegates from the Kinshasa government in Nairobi, Kenya. The discussions mediated by Olusegun Obasanjo (former president of Nigeria) hope to bring an end to fighting between the the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) and the army that has displaced about 250,000 people since August. Neither Kabila nor Nkunda attended the talks.

On Friday, the governments of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda agreed  to launch military operations against armed groups operating in Congolese territory as early as 2009. MONUC the United Nations mission in the country will also provide troops. But in response Hutu rebels operating in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo warned that any attempt to disarm their forces could spark a “long and dreadful war.”

In a related development, the EU declined to send additional troops to Congo because though the troops are urgently needed, the countries fear that “expanding commitments in Afghanistan mean that they have no soldiers to spare for other UN missions, such as the DR Congo”. But Belgium seems to be warming to the idea reports Radio Okapi. The Belgian ambassador de Gucht says Belgium is canvassing the EU to send a special force to eastern DRC.

 Meanwhle 71 rangers and their families from Virunga have sough refuge in IDP camps in Uganda following the latest conflict in North Kivu. Their situation is poor and they are surviving on rations provided through online donations.

Tags: Belgium, CNDP, Congo, DRC, ICCN, Nkunda, Virunga National Park

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Category: Kabirizi Family | Date: Dec 05 2008 | By: paula

Its amazing that the ICCN are able to conduct a gorilla census sin Vurunga National Park despite the continued conflict that is ongoing (even though most news agencies have tired of telling that story apart from Bloomberg who reports cooperative efforts between Congo and Rwanda).

Diddy at Bukima camp last year when he found Miza

Diddy and Innocent have revealed that not only have they found most gorilla families intact, but that there migraitons, and importantly, there have been some births. We are still waiting to hear about Miza and look at her photos. Her sister Mivumbi who rescued her when she was orphaned, has had an infant of her own. If you haven’t got it yet,  the childrens book Looking for Miza is a perfect Christmas gift for any child or adult.

Miza was orphaned last year and it was feard she was dying

Read more about the exciting survey and watch the videos from the field here

Tags: Diddy, DR Congo, ICCN, Innocent, Kabirizi, Miza, mountain gorilla, mutazimiza, Virunga National Park

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Category: Uncategorized | Date: Nov 13 2008 | By: paula

GOMA, Congo, Nov 10 (Reuters) - East Congo’s conflict has put more than a quarter of the world’s last mountain gorillas at the mercy of armed groups who hunt and camp in their territory, park officials said on Monday.

With no rangers left to protect or care for them, the gorillas face even greater risk of extinction, they said.

Recent fighting between Tutsi rebels and the government army and its militia allies has displaced hundreds of thousands of people in Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu province, home to the Virunga Park, Africa’s oldest national park. It has also eliminated all protection and effective conservation monitoring for 200 of the last remaining 700 mountain gorillas in the world, who live in the forested hills of Virunga, on the border with Uganda and Rwanda.

Virunga’s Gorilla Sector has been in the hands of rebel General Laurent Nkunda’s fighters since September 2007 and the Rumangabo park headquarters, from which conservation operations were run, fell to a rebel assault in October this year.

More than 50 wildlife rangers, who had spent years protecting the gorillas and other animals in Virunga, were forced to run for their lives, joining 200,000 other refugees sheltering around the North Kivu provincial capital Goma.

“It’s not possible now to have any news about the gorillas,” one displaced Virunga park ranger, Diddy Mwanaka, told Reuters.

“We don’t know about their health, their security or if they remain in a secure place or not,” he said, speaking at a makeshift camp housing refugee rangers and their families.

The park’s website, www.gorilla.cd, chronicles the Oct. 26 capture of the park’s HQ by the rebels and its consequences.

Samantha Newport, communications director of the Virunga National Park, said park authorities were extremely concerned that the unprotected mountain gorilla families, or solitary gorillas, could now be caught up in the crossfire of combat.

“No one is looking after them in any way, shape or form,” she said. At least 40 percent of the Virunga Park was no longer under the control of the Congolese Wildlife Authority (ICCN).

Newport said that while park authorities did not believe that gorillas were being singled out for killing, they and other animals such as elephants, hippos and antelopes faced threats from armed groups, poachers, land invaders and charcoal burners who destroyed their forest habitat.

POACHING

“All these rebel groups, from whatever side, use the park to train, to camp out, to rest and to eat,” she said.

“We have problems of poaching of elephants, hippos, buffalo and antelope, just to name a few as a result of the presence of these armed groups in the park,” Newport added, saying 40 elephants had been poached in Virunga this year alone.

Over the years, east Congo’s conflict, which has persisted despite the formal end of a 1998-2003 war in the vast, former Belgian colony, has taken its toll on both the gorillas and the ICCN rangers who protect them.

More than 150 rangers have been killed in the last decade protecting parks in east Congo.

Virunga’s Gorilla Sector suffered repeated attacks in 2007 during which 10 mountain gorillas were killed.

Newport said Nkunda’s rebels saw the south of the border park as strategic territory. They used it as a supply route.

“At the moment, there is no chance of going back to the gorilla sector… When you have such a vulnerable, critically endangered population of animals, you really need to keep track of what is going on,” she added.

Newport said that unlike other endangered species, mountain gorillas had never managed to reproduce in captivity.

“So the ones we have in the wild, that’s it, when they’re gone, that’s it, they’ve gone,” she said.

Meanwhile two independent news sources have said the rebels continue to make progress and, as of Wednesday night, CNDP rebels had advanced to about 10 kilometres south of Kanyabayonga, the town looted by government troops earlier this week which is around 175 kilometres (110 miles) north of the Nord-Kivu capital Goma.

Tags: CNDP, DR Congo, gorillas, ICCN, Laurent Nkunda, Virunga National Park

6 responses so far