WWF worried over gorillas

Dec 16, 2002

OVER 10 mountain gorillas are believed to have been lost after a series of raids this year by poachers in the Virunga volcanoes (Rwanda and DR Congo and Bwindi national park).

OVER 10 mountain gorillas are believed to have been lost after a series of raids this year by poachers in the Virunga volcanoes (Rwanda and DR Congo and Bwindi national park).

The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) has expressed concern over the recent wave of poaching and kidnapping of the endangered mountain gorillas whose population now stands at 670.

In a press release dated November 27, WWF confirmed that 10 gorillas representing three percent of the Virunga population, have either been killed or confiscated or gone missing. The Virunga population of mountain gorillas roams in Uganda (Mgahinga), Rwanda and DR Congo and are listed on Appendix one on the Convention for International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Appendix One prohibits trade as this animal is threatened with extinction. In the last six months, there have been four poaching incidents in the three countries where the world’s only populations of mountain gorillas, Gorilla gorilla beringei are found, according to a press release quoting park authorities in Uganda, Rwanda and DRCongo.

Six adult gorillas were killed in two incidents, in May and September as poachers tried to capture their babies for sale abroad, the statement said.

One infant captured in the May incident from the Parc National des Volcans, Rwanda has disappeared, the second one was found huddled next to its dead mother the next day, the statement added.

It also said from the September incident on Mt. Visoke in the DR Congo, park authorities, the police and military managed to rescue another infant from suspected poachers on October 4, in Rwanda.
The fourth baby is believed to be missing following the discovery of its lactating mother among the six dead, the WWF release said.

“The situation looks bad,’’ Dr. Liz Macfie, Manager for the International Gorilla Conservation Programme said. “We are trying to find the source of the problem through investigations to pinpoint from where the market is being driven. Twelve suspects have so far been arrested and are at various stages of prosecution in connection with the May and September incidents,’’ Macfie added.

The most recent incident occurred on November 12, when a group of seven poachers armed with spears were caught by rangers as they tried to accost a gorilla family of five.

“The dominant silverback had charged at the poachers and grabbed one man injuring him on the leg,’’ said John Makombo, the chief park warden at Bwindi and Mgahinga park.

Five of the poachers, all of them
Ugandans, have since been arrested and are helping to expose intermediary merchants and trafficking routes to curb the practice.

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