Killings of gorillas spark fears for the species' survival
22 Jan 2007
Nairobi, Kenya/Gland, Switzerland - Two solitary silverback gorillas have been killed by Congo rebels allied to a local warlord in the Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) over the last ten days.
According to WWF, this is the latest in a series of poaching incidents, which also include hippos and buffaloes over the last few weeks during violent clashes between the DRC army (FARDC) and rebels in the area.
One of the gorillas is believed to have been eaten, sparking fears for the tiny population that has clung on tenaciously throughout years of bloody conflict.
Just 700 mountain gorillas survive in the wild, more than 150 of them in the Virunga National Park.
"With so few left in the world, every individual counts," said Marc Languy, of WWF's Eastern Africa Regional Programme. "The two recently killed silverbacks are from groups habituated for tourism and are easy targets. Because one of them has likely been killed for its meat, there is reason to believe that other gorillas may be in danger too."
WWF says the Mikeno section of the park and its gorillas are facing a range of recent potentially catastrophic threats.
"We have worrying evidence that cattle ranching and charcoal burning have resumed in the sector. This poses a direct threat to the habitat of this endangered species," added Languy.
Mountain gorillas are the premier tourist attraction in the DRC and represent an important income for the local economy, estimated at US$3 million annually in periods of peace.
WWF is calling upon the DRC government, MONUC - the UN mission in DRC - and the troops loyal to local warlord Laurent Kunda to take measures to ensure the long-term protection and conservation of the mountain gorilla and its habitat, not only for the survival of one of the world's rarest mammals but also for the well-being of local people and the national economy.
For more information
Marc Languy, WWF Eastern Africa Regional Programme Office (EARPO)
Phone: +254 20 387 26 30/31
Mobile: +254 733 227 650
Email: MLanguy@wwfearpo.org
Peter James Stephenson, Programme Officer, Madagascar, WWF Eastern Africa
Phone: +41 22 364 9327
Mobile: 0424 649 689
Kimunya Mugo, WF Eastern Africa Regional Programme Office (EARPO)
Phone: t + 254 20 387 26 30/31
Mobile: +254 723 786 191
Email: KMugo@wwfearpo.org
Joanna Benn, Communications Manager, WWF Global Species Programme
Phone: +39 06 84497 212
Chris Loades, Communications Officer, Fauna & Flora International
Phone: t +44 1223 579021
Email: chris.loades@fauna-flora.org
Notes
- A subspecies of the eastern gorilla, the mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) became known to science on 17 October 1902. Uncontrolled hunting, destruction of its forest habitat and capture for the illegal pet trade have led to a dramatic decline in gorilla numbers and as a result the species was threatened with extinction in the same century it was discovered.
- Despite these dire predictions, ground-breaking work by conservation groups has seen the population growing from 624 in 1989 to approximately 700 today. Half of these gorillas are found in Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and the rest are in the Virunga Mountains, in habitat shared by Mgahinga National Park in Uganda, Volcanoes National Park in Northern Rwanda, and the southern sector of Virunga National Park in DRC.
- Virunga National Park, created in 1925 as Africa's first protected area, extends over an area of 8,000km2. It is located in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, bordering Rwanda's Volcano National Park to the south and Uganda's Mgahinga National Park. It is characterized by largely unspoiled tropical montane forests that are extremely rich in biological diversity, including some of the remaining populations of the endangered mountain gorillas. Virunga National Park is now a World Heritage Site. Encroachment for farming and settlement, as well as by warring rebel factions, is leading to uncontrolled exploitation of the natural resource base.
- The goal of the International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) is to ensure the conservation of mountain gorillas and their forest habitat in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). IGCP is a partnership of three international organizations - African Wildlife Foundation, Fauna & Flora International and WWF - working with the protected area authorities of the three countries where mountain gorillas occur. IGCP has worked across the three borders since 1991, forming a strong regional framework for collaboration and cooperation.
- WWF's African Great Apes Programme addresses the greatest threats to great ape conservation: bushmeat hunting, habitat destruction and fragmentation, the live ape trade and disease outbreak and transmission through field initiatives in partnership with range states governments and their relevant natural resource management authorities, local communities living with great apes, local, national and international nongovernmental organizations and research institutions.
