Baby Gorilla Rescued from Snare in Rwanda

Back in February, a three-year-old gorilla was caught in a poacher's snare meant for antelope. Fortunately, wildlife staff from the Karisoke Research Center discovered it and it's okay now.

Here's the story from the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund website.

Obituary for Shinda the Silverback

This from the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund website.

Shinda had been observed to be unwell for about two weeks when, on Nov. 22, our trackers could not find him within his group, probably because he was too weak to catch up with them. The field team began patrolling the area around the group and finally found him on the morning of Nov. 24, but he had already died.

Since 2007, Shinda had been observed on other occasions to be very weak and remained behind the group. However, in all those episodes he was always able to recover, as well as to maintain his dominance. We were all hoping that he could do it this time too.

Shinda was 31 years old and still the dominant silverback of his group. He had led the group since it was formed in 1993 (after the split of an older group, called Group 5). He was observed at birth by Dr. Dian Fossey in 1977 and later grew to become a large, handsome adult with strong leadership skills. In 1993, when staff returned to Karisoke following an evacuation due to the civil war, they found that Shinda’s brother Ziz, who had led Group 5 since the death of Beethoven, was dead. Some of the females had followed Shinda, while the others remained with Cantsbee and Pablo in what came to be known as Pablo’s Group. Shinda maintained dominance of his group until his death and presided over its growth. He had his tender side as well, and was often observed spending hours grooming his favorite female, the elderly, one-eyed Pandora.

So Far, Mountain Gorilla Deaths Only from Natural Causes

Pretty amazing that the 7 mountain gorilla deaths recorded thus far in Virunga have all been due to natural causes. Remember that Virunga National Park has been under Congolese rebel control since 2007 and the park rangers have only just been allowed back in.

Two of the deaths were newborns killed by a silverback. The rest were adults that died from illness or age.

Gorilla Rangers Return to Virunga

Yay!

More than 120 Park Rangers of the Congolese Wildlife Authority, ICCN, today returned to Virunga National Park - 14 months after fleeing violent hostilities between rebels and government soldiers.

The Gorilla Sector of Virunga National Park is inhabited by 200 of the last remaining 700 critically endangered mountain gorillas in the world. Since September 2007, it has been occupied by rebels who had driven the rangers out.

"It is a huge step that all sides have agreed that the protection of Virunga as a World Heritage Site and its mountain gorillas is of sufficient priority to transcend political differences," said Virunga Park Director Emmanuel de Merode.

Now it's time to assess the damage.

Mountain Gorillas Left Unprotected in Virunga

Of course, there is more war in the Congo. Always, always, war. And the mountain gorillas are once again vulnerable. The rebels have taken over the wildlife rangers' headquarters and the gorillas are unprotected. Unless they flee to the Rwandan side of the forest, they may die.

About 200 of the 700 remaining mountain gorillas are in this forest. They don't breed in captivity. Once they're gone, they're gone.

Why can't we just leave them in peace?

Six Thousand Leave Virunga, One Ranger Killed

Six thousand people (over 1,000 Congolese soldiers with their families) have left Virunga National Forest where so many of the remaining mountain gorillas live. This development is the result of an agreement between the army and the Congolese Wildlife Authority.

It's great news because it takes stress off the habitat and the species.

Sadly, though, another ranger in the Congolese Wildlife Authority was killed by rebel guns. You can donate to his family here.

Lowland Gorillas Doing Better than Expected

About 125,000 were unexpectedly counted during a recent census.

But don't get too excited....

Jillian Miller, executive director of conservation group The Gorilla Organization commented: "The discovery of such a large population of western lowland gorillas is absolutely fantastic news for the sub-species and for conservationists, but we should be careful not to be too complacent.

"The area where these gorillas have been found is in the path of the Ebola virus, which has wiped out large numbers of Western lowland gorillas during the past 25 years."

She added: "Numbers are less important than trends, and sadly the trend for all gorilla sub-species, apart from the mountain gorillas, has been a downturn in population figures."

Gorillas Need Ebola Vaccine

Ebola is taking its toll on the critically endangered western lowland gorilla. There is hope that the vaccine for humans may be the answer, but there are some tough challenges involved.

Even if researchers find the vaccine effective in preliminary trials, it will be tough to vaccinate enough gorillas to make a difference. The gorillas are spread out throughout the Republic of Congo, Gaban, Cameroon and the Central African Republic, and they are notoriously difficult to find. For those reasons, shooting large numbers of them with dart injections of the vaccine could be a challenge. But if scientists try to hide oral vaccines in some of gorillas' favorite fruits, individuals could hoard them or other animals may get to them first.

"I think we're going to be able to protect particular populations, but not every gorilla," said William Karesh, vice president and director of wildlife health services at the Wildlife Conservation Society. "The urgent thing is to make sure we get some animals protected. That might buy us time to figure out some other strategies and mechanisms to protect them from going extinct."

The article does briefly note that the western lowland gorilla is thriving in zoos. It's the gorillas in the wild that may go extinct.

Photo by Tut99 (Roger).

Cameroon Gorillas Make it Home!

Yay! Four gorillas make it back home to Cameroon! Many thanks to the Cameroon government for its perserverance in this long saga.

Cameroon has welcomed home four endangered western lowland gorillas known as the "Taiping Four", following an international campaign that won their return from Malaysia, where they were illegally smuggled five years ago.

The four, a male and three females, were flown to Douala airport late on Friday from South Africa, where they had been kept at the National Zoological Garden in Pretoria after the Malaysian government sent them back to Africa in 2004.

Malaysia' Taiping Zoo had acquired the apes after they were trapped as infants in Cameroon's forests in 2002 and illegally smuggled out of the central African country.

DNA tests established they came from Cameroon, whose government launched an intense diplomatic lobbying campaign for their return, backed by international conservation groups that seek to protect endangered primates.

"This is a victory for our diplomacy. This is proof of our commitment to the principle of the protection of our wildlife," Cameroon's Minister of Forestry and Wildlife, Elvis Ngolle Ngolle, told reporters at Douala airport as the gorillas were unloaded in big cages from the plane.

...After their arrival, the gorillas were taken to the Limbe Wildlife Centre sanctuary. They will initially be freed into a quarantine facility before joining 11 other gorillas at the sanctuary in a special enclosure.

Let's hope they live safely for many, many years, safe from poachers, bush-meaters, hunters and all other harm.

Photo by Tomskeeee.

Treaty to Protect Mountain Gorillas

Last month, nine African countries signed a treaty in Paris to improve protection of the mountain gorilla. The mountain gorilla is on the verge of extinction due to habitat loss, disease and poaching.

The agreement, finalised today at a meeting hosted by the Government of France and the United Nations (UNEP) Convention on Migratory Species, will function like a mini-convention or treaty. It specifies efforts that governments need to undertake and to collaborate on. These include combating poaching, supporting law enforcement and building capacity in the legal and judicial areas. The agreement will be legally binding, unlike previous declarations from the range countries, such as the such as the GrASP Kinshasa declaration in 2005.

Central African Republic, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, Cameroon, and Gabon participated in the talks while Rwanda was unable to attend. WWF and TRAFFIC, who between them are active in gorilla conservation in most of the range countries, were heavily engaged in the negotiation process and final text.

Too little, too late?

Photo by Simian.

Nightmare in Mountain Gorilla Country

More trouble in mountain gorilla country. It just seems to get worse and worse.

Renegade troops in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are trying to forcibly enlist park rangers charged with protecting rare mountain gorillas, an animal welfare charity charged Sunday.

Forces loyal to cashiered general Laurent Nkunda, a powerful local leader, took control of the gorilla sector in Virunga national park as they fought with government troops, Wildlife Direct said.

Wildlife Direct chief Emmanuel de Merode urged the feuding sides to pull out of the park, warning: "They (gorillas) are not a target, but can so easily get caught in crossfire and shelling...."

Lucy Fauveau of the London Zoological Society said security situation was "appalling" and made it "virtually impossible" to work with the gorillas.

When fighting flared up late August, Nkunda's men attacked ICCN gorilla patrol posts and looted weapons, ammunition and communication equipment.

A subsequent UN-mediated armistice unravelled, pushing fighting from the displaced countryside to the dense park.

Ten mountain gorillas have been killed and two have gone missing in Virunga national park since January. These slaughters, some blamed on Nkunda's men, have sparked outrage among conservationists....

Only about 700 critically endangered mountain gorillas remain in the wild, all of them in the mountain forests of Rwanda, Uganda and the eastern DRC.

DRC is also home to chimpanzees, forest elephant, rhinos and bonobos -- pygmy chimps whose population has been decimated over the past 15 years.

Photo by Futureatlas

One Ugandan's View of the Mountain Gorilla

This is an opinion piece by Ugandan journalist and advocate Moses Sserwanga regarding the recent killing of three female mountain gorillas and one male silverback gorilla in the Virunga National Park along the Uganda-DR Congo border. He is highly critical of the Ugandan government and its lack of effort to protect these animals. It is very frustrating to read the following....

Veteran activists are sunk in gloom –resigned to the back seat as our wildlife slides into absurdity. So what’s the cause of the wildlife crack-up? The obvious cause for this is the government’s flouting of the law and its failure to put in place a well articulated policy on environment conservation and wildlife protection. The government has both quietly and publicly encouraged or condoned illegal activity in the national protected areas like Mabira and Queen Elizabeth National Park where hundreds of herdsmen continue to occupy a wildlife sanctuary.

This ineptitude can perhaps explain why government kept silent while the rest of the world was mourning the brutal killing of three female mountain gorillas and one male silverback gorilla in the Virunga National Park along the Uganda-DR Congo border.

What is great thoughis that he makes the economic argument in favor of the mountain gorillas' protection. It would be great if people followed morals and ethics, but we live in a society where money speaks louder than any family tie or human value.

According to the International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP) – a coalition of the Fauna & Flora International, African Wildlife Foundation and the World Wide Fund for Nature- the annual revenue earned directly from gorilla tourism is estimated at $3 million.

When combined with the additional income received by, for example, hotels and restaurants, the total figure may exceed $20 million shared between Uganda , Rwanda, and DR Congo.

Therefore the long-term success of gorilla tourism hinges on the enthusiasm and commitment of government and the local communities around the parks to protect these animals.

Photo by Nailbender