IGCP responds to mountain gorilla deaths - 24/07/2007
Three female mountain gorillas and one male silverback gorilla have been killed in the Virungas National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The bodies were discovered in the southern sector of the park by a warden during a routine patrol on Sunday.
All four mountain gorillas were shot, but it is unclear who killed them and why.
Just over 700 mountain gorillas survive in the wild today. None exist in captivity. They live in the afromontane forest habitat that straddles the shared borders of Rwanda, Uganda and the DRC.
For such a small population the unnecessary and indiscriminate killing of four mountain gorillas equates to a massacre.
The International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP), a partnership between Fauna & Flora International, the World Wide Fund for Nature, the African Wildlife Foundation and the protected area authorities in Rwanda, Uganda and the DRC, is holding emergency talks with the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature - the DRC’s wildlife and protected areas authority. Patrols within the southern sector of the park have been increased.
Post mortem examinations on the four gorillas are underway. The bodies will be buried near Bukima, an outpost within the park.
Please help IGCP respond to the recent killing of mountain gorillas in the DRC.
Formed in 1991, the International Gorilla Conservation Programme ensures the conservation of mountain gorillas and their afromontane forest habitat. Extra security and better equipped rangers are now desperately needed. Please make a donation now to help us respond during this difficult and dangerous time. Your donation today could make a real difference.
In January this year two mountain gorillas were killed in the same park. The skin of one gorilla was recovered from a latrine in a nearby rebel camp. Fauna & Flora International is determined to act to help the International Gorilla Conservation Programme protect the world’s last remaining mountain gorillas.
To find out more about this news item, please contact IGCP
