MOUNTAIN GORILLAS FACE EXTINCTION AS GUERILLAS TAKE OVER

October 26, 2012

The promised truce offered by various rebels operating from Virunga National Park, that was supposed to allow rangers and conservationists to ensure the protection of the endangered gorillas living there, appears to have come to an end as two rangers and a soldier are killed in an ambush. Five rebels, thought to belong to the Mai Mai militia, were also killed as military guards shot back.

The park, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is the home to the largest concentration in the world of mountain gorillas, with about 480 out of 790 living there. The gorillas are threatened with extinction owing to human incursions into their habitat. The militias, which include M23 guerillas, have had a particularly devastating effect on the primates and on other wildlife in the National Park, owing to their disregard for the environment and animal welfare. The extreme threat to rich bio-diverse Virunga National Park is such, that the UN has placed it on its list of endangered World Heritage sites.

Since 1996, more that 130 rangers have been murdered while bravely trying to protect the primates from militia and poachers. The military are helping protect them, but clearly more needs to be done. At this rate we will soon be left with guerillas, but with no gorillas or rangers.