'What is Virunga?' asked my friends when I told them about this article I am writing. The same question could be on your minds as well at this juncture.Virunga is the name of the National park in the Virunga mountains, in the eastern Democratic republic of Congo, declared a world heritage site in 1979 its also a home to mountain gorillas. The park is managed by the Congolese National Park authorities, the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la nature or ICCN.
Virunga is considered as one of the crown jewels of African parks due to its unrivaled biological and geological diversity. It is home to animals as varied as Okapi, Mountain gorillas, Ruwenzori Duiker, Savanna and forest elephants, Hippopotami and wintering Siberian birds.
The national park covers the western shores of Lake Edward, known for its hippopotami (depleted by more than 95 percent in 2006) while elsewhere, marshland, grassland plateau and plains dominate the park. The Ruwenzori Mountains lie on the Ugandan border and rise to alpine meadows and a glacier, while Nyiragongo and Nyamuragira are both active volcanoes with substantial associated lava plains.
Although mountain gorillas are now extremely rare and listed as one of most critically-endangered species, successful conservation work has helped to secure the remaining populations. Their populations actually increased during the years of political upheaval in the region (1994-2004), but renewed military conflict in the park (October 2008) including the seizing of the park headquarters and expelling of park rangers, poaching, and rampant deforestation for illegal charcoal production once again cast doubt on their future. The numbers of these mountain gorillas are dwindling day by day due to the violence outbreaks between the Tutsi tribes and the rival Hutu fighters who have now joined forces with the Congolese army.
The killing of the five silver backs in July 2008 gave rise to the first global outrage in regard to Virunga. Mountain gorillas were found shot dead behind their heads in execution style.
One thing seemed very certain; Poachers had not killed these animals. Poachers kidnap the infants and cut off the heads and hands of the adults—to be sold on the black market. But these bodies were left to rot where they fell, and the motherless infants left to starve to death.
So the ultimate question that lurks in our minds is:
"Who killed the Virunga Gorillas?"
- To be Contd…
Excerpts taken from Wikipedia and the article by Mark Jenkins on National Geographic
Photography by Brent Stirton
Special Note: Some 1,100 park rangers protect the National Parks of Eastern Congo, which are inhabited by mountain gorillas, chimpanzees, forest elephants and rhinos.
Despite a 10-year civil war and current political instability, the rangers have remained active in protecting these parks. Thirty-nine wildlife rangers are still unaccounted in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) since the rebels took over the Virunga Park in Oct 2008.
Over 120 Park Rangers returned to Virunga on 24th Nov. This is an extremely positive step and follows over 14 months of frustration at not being able to patrol the Gorilla Sector and protect the critically endangered Mountain Gorillas. However these rangers still need our help.
If you would like to donate to the cause of the ranger families, food supplies for the Rangers or for the cause of the baby Gorillas orphaned by the July killings visit the following link:
http://gorilla.cd/
You could also track the daily updates at the blog link maintained by Animal Activists.
http://gorilla.cd/blog
