Tackling the Hippo Slaughter
Category: Crises, Hippos | Date: Oct 30 2006 | By: admin
What the Mai Mai do to Rangers Patrol Posts
The situation at Muramba is now calm, and only one of the three Advance Force troops still remains at Ishango. Their mission is to continue to provide protection to the small group of rangers at Ishango from any further Mai Mai attacks. I have just spoken with Elie Mundima, the Advance Force Commander, and he believes the situation is now stable and will be pulling his troop out on Wednesday to join his two other troops at Mutsora.
With voting now over, the Advance Force are starting to think about moving south to Rwindi in order to put pressure on the Mai Mai, but they are still unsure as to whether they will receive the support they are so desperate for from MONUC, the UN Peace Keeping Force for DRC. To help put pressure diplomatic pressure on MONUC, UNESCO has agreed to write an official letter to William Swing, the UN’s Special Representative for the DRC, requesting that he gives the operation to dislodge the Mai Mai from the park his highest priority.
Whether or not the UN is forthcoming, the Advance Force is keen to get stuck in. They know what is at stake if they do not act now, and for these brave men, the total extirpation of hippos form their park would be an unacceptable loss. I will travel up to Mutsora later this week to meet with Elie and the other members of the Advance Force to see how their preparations are coming along. In the meantime, I will meet with MONUC here on the ground and see whether I can muster any support from the new UN General. He must appreciate that the rangers will be going in, but they need UN support.
Cave Dwelling Gorillas in Virunga National Park!
Category: Mountain Gorillas, Personal | Date: Oct 26 2006 | By: admin
We set out at six o’clock yesterday morning from an abandoned tourist lodge at Bukima in search of Kibirizi, DRC’s largest family of mountain gorillas consisting of no less than 32 individuals. This family had suffered a major loss back in 2002 when the adult male silverback was shot by poachers. Now a new wild silverback has taken up residence and is slowly getting accustomed to human presence. We wanted to go and see how he was getting on.
Cave dwellers?
The first sign that we had come across the group was with the sound of crashing branches from a young juvenile playing around in the top of a nearby tree. As we watched, a sub-adult appeared from the undergrowth, followed by a mother with the newest member to the Kibirizi family, a three month old baby gorilla, wide eyed and clinging to her back. Moving on slowly to find the other members of the group, we stumbled into the mouth of a cave, sunk into the ground and shrouded by vegetation.The cave was a new discovery, but what followed next was even more incredible. As we gathered round the entrance, we could here grunts and other strange noises coming from within the cave. We moved closer and started pulling aside the leaves and vines to get a better look. Suddenly a pair of eyes appeared from out of the darkeness, looking straight at us, and followed by another. We backed off ever so slowly as two sub-adult gorillas climbed their way out, followed by a third, blinking heavily as their eyes adjusted to the light. Then a fourth gorilla climbed out, looked at us, grunted and moved off after the others.
A young male pulls his way up out of the cave
Wanting to have a better look inside the cave, we lowered ourselves slowly down into it. The cave was around 1.5 to 2 meters high, and about 10 meters wide and 10 meters deep. Then, in the darker recesses of the cave we heard movement. As our eyes became adjusted to the light, three more gorillas started moving around in the darkness. We crouched down and moved away from the entrance as we watched two adult gorillas and a juvenile move their way towards the light. Grasping vines, roots and other hanging vegetation, they pulled themselves out of the cave to join the others in the world outside.
Two sub-adults taken with an infra-red camera
I have never seen anything like it! Could it be a strategy used by gorillas to hide from poachers? Or perhaps the cave is used as a shelter during bad weather? More likely perhaps is that the rock is full of vital minerals that help with their digestion? This is the fourth cave that has been found in the Gorilla Sector, but it is by far the largest and the only one known to be used by gorillas. We have taken the GPS coordinates and will go back to the cave from time to time to see if it is in regular use or whether this was just a chance happening. The rangers would also be keen to take future tourists there in the hope of catching a glimpse of these rare cave dwelling gorillas!
The seond species of ape to explore the cave!
The Kibirizi family is doing well but are still threaten by poachers who try and snatch infants from their mothers for sale on the black market. Often the mother will be shot in the process along with any other gorillas that stand between the poachers and their bounty. Sometimes whole families are killed. Poachers may view this collateral damage, but when you consider there are only around 800 individuals left on earth, every individual is vital if the species is to survive.
Please help the Congo-Rangers to protect Virunga’s exceptional wildlife from shot and killed by local poachers. The rangers desperately need basic supplies such as rations, medical and field equipment, and transportation. Financial support can be brought to bear within a matter of days through this blog, and 100% of any support goes straight to the rangers in Virunga.
New FZS census finds a 98% decline in the Hippopotamus population of the Virunga National Park, DRC
Category: Crises, Hippos, Personal | Date: Oct 23 2006 | By: admin
A census carried out this morning revealed that there are only 629 hippos left in the Virunga National Park, DRC. In the late 60’s and early 70’s there were around 30,000 hippos living in the park. The aerial census carried out by the Frankfurt Zoological Society with funding from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, shows that this population has now declined by 98%.Â
With the second round of presidential elections in Congo less than one week away, the Mai Mai and other non integrated local militia groups are poaching at an unprecedented rate because they believe their days in the park are numbered. The Congolese army who operate in the park without sufficient rations or salary, have also been accused of poaching the hippos, often in collusion with the militia troops.
The problem has now become so serious that the Ugandan military have deployed troops along the banks of the River Ishasha, which separates Congo from Uganda, to help deter the Mai Mai from killing the park’s largest remaining group of hippos consisting of only 134 individuals. The Mai Mai and other poachers have been targeting hippos and elephants for their ivory, which is collected regularly from the militia camps and is thought to leave Congo through Uganda and Sudan to be traded illegally on the international black market.
The Mai Mai have refused to engage in dialogue with the rangers and have recently begun launching attacks on their patrol posts. Despite that fact that over 100 rangers have been killed over the last few years trying to protect Virunga’s wildlife populations, and that they have not received a proper salary for more than a decade, the rangers continue to show remarkable commitment, determination and fortitude. After years of hardship, some support from the European Union and other donors is enabling the Congolese rangers to take control of the situation, but this positive development may be too late for the hippos.
Poaching has now become so prolific and the threat to rangers so serious, that a combined operation between the park rangers and the UN peace keeping troops is needed. The Mai Mai camps are well known to both the rangers and the UN, and an operation needs to be mounted quickly. However, the UN is preoccupied with the lead up to the second round of elections and the militia forces have taken advantage of the situation. Over the last few weeks the park has seen unprecedented levels of poaching, ambushes, violence, and violations of human rights.
The Virunga National Park’s best chance now lies in the hands of its elite ranger force, trained by Frankfurt Zoological Society and deployed to help protect the last few hippos from extinction. The Congo Rangers are massively under resourced and are outnumbered five-to-one by poachers armed with machine guns and rocket launchers. UNESCO and the EU are engaging at the highest political levels in Kinshasa, but support in terms of patrol equipment, rations and salary supplements are desperately needed on the ground if the rangers are to halt the precipitous decline in hippos and wildlife.
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Congolese military open fire on park rangers
Category: Active Service, Crises | Date: Oct 15 2006 | By: admin
The ICCN deployed 30 park rangers to help the military secure a small fishing village in the Virunga National Park following last Saturday’s clashes with the Mai Mai. Two rangers were sent ahead to inform the local commander that re-enforcements were on their way, but instead of welcoming the news, the military commander had them disarmed and arrested. Prisoners in their own park.
The ICCN was unable to negotiate their release, and when dialogue broke down, the ICCN sent in their Advance Force to go in and get them out…
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Ranger Bisimwa died a few months after a viscious attack on ranger station thought to involve the local military
As the Advance Force drew near, the military opened fire. Despite the considerable risk to their own lives, the rangers continued moving forward, as they had recently been trained to do, without returning fire. Then, upon surrounding the military, the rangers demanded the immediate release of their colleagues. Out maneuvered and out numbered, the military had little choice but to hand over the rangers. The rescue was completed successfully, amazingly without injury.
The rescue operation undertaken by the rangers demonstrated to the Congolese military how force should be used – measured and controlled and appropriate to the situation. It does beg the question however that if the rangers cannot count on the support of their own military to help secure the park from rebels and bandits, who can they count on? Perhaps only themselves.
So what are the military doing in the Virunga National Park? The official reason given for their presence here is to secure the area from banditry and possible invasion from neighbouring countries. But instead of dealing with the problem of rebels, and protecting the international border from possible invasion, the military operate a protection racket for illegal cultivators and poachers. Herein lies the problem and the reason for the conflict between the military and the park rangers.
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Military attack a lorry near the park Head Quarters leaving four dead
While the military remain unpaid and unfed, they continue to prey off the local population and provide protection to poachers in return for illegal trappings. They see the rangers as a threat to their unlawful activities and this manifests itself in violent attacks against the rangers and occasionally against their wives and their children, often with devastating consequences.
The military, who have been repeatedly accused of carrying out attacks, rapes and other violations against human rights in the Virunga National Park need to be removed, and full responsibility for law enforcement handed over to the park rangers, with support where necessary from MONUC and the military only for specific operations.
While UNESCO World Heritage Committee decides to retain the Virunga National Park on it’s list of World Heritage Sites in Danger, it is vital that immediate action is taken on the ground to improve the local security situation for the park staf, local communities and threatened wildlife. The UN need to carry out rapid sweeps of the park directly following the elections to remove all the rebel groups and the military should then be encouraged to leave. The future of this great African park is hanging in the balance… Â
ICCN condemns The Earth Organisation for their agreement with Ugandan Rebel Terrorist Group the LRA
Category: Thoughts | Date: Oct 12 2006 | By: admin
ICCN General Direction
Kinshasa
09 Oct 2006
Dear Mr. Lawrence Anthony,
We have read with great shock and surprise the communication by the Earth Org News stating ‘Ugandan Rebel army pledges to save highly endangered Rhinos’, also published on your website.
The UN to carry out anti-poaching patrols in the Virunga National Park
Category: Crises, Hippos | Date: Oct 11 2006 | By: admin
The UN have agreed to carry out anti-poaching patrols at Nyakakoma in the Virunga National Park to help stem the catastrophic hippo poaching. In a meeting with Colonel Shivrain this afternoon, he agreed to deploy a company of MONUC peacekeepers on a two day patrol to help put pressure on the Mai Mai to reduce the level of poaching. He has also agreed to try and encourage Mai Mai leader Col Mosubu back to the table for discussions after he boycotted a meeting to discuss the problem last Sunday.Â
While anti-poaching operations are not in the official UN mandate, the hippo poaching has now got so out of control that the UN have had to step in. The Mai Mai are poaching on average 150 hippos a week in what the UN commander believes is a last ditch effort to gather as much ivory as possible before the elections take place at the end of the month.Â
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Colonel Shivrain of MONUC’s Indian Batallion
Once the elections have passed, the Mai Mai will be forced to accept integration into the Congolese army or demobilisation into civil society. If they resist either, they will be removed from the equation. However it seems that the Mai Mai are heavily supported by the Interehamwe who are much stronger and better resourced, and MONUC are concerned that any punitive action taken right now against the Mai Mai could impact negatively on the upcoming elections, the countries first for over 40 years. In the mean time, sit tight! But for how long? Â
Interview with Mai Mai deserter at UN base
Category: Crises, Hippos | Date: Oct 11 2006 | By: admin
“They are shooting hippos as if they were cutting down trees†exclaimed the Mai Mai officer who was being held by MONUC Peacekeepers. The poaching of around 150 hippos a week, is organised by Lt. Col Kabila (I can only assume this is a code name) and his Second in Command Major Thomas. A section of 12 Mai Mai soldiers are sent out to recruit local poachers, providing them with all the rifles and ammunition they need. The ivory is then collected by the Mai Mai, and the hippo meat given to the poachers who sell it in illegal markets. Once every few weeks, one of Lt. Col Kabila’s associates makes his way down across the park to Cyondo where he collects all the ivory and takes it back to his home town of Butembo. Where it goes from there is anybodies guess…Â
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Kabale Bonane: Mai Mai Intelligence Officer
I found Second Lieutenant Kambale Bonane at the UN Peacekeeper’s camp at Rutshuru earlier on this morning. He was one of a handful of Mai Mai and Interehamwe detainees awaiting eventual integration into the Congolese military. He was young and bright, and willingly provided answers to my questions. I showed him some aerial photos I had taken of the Mai Mai camp and he was able to locate his old house, along with that of Lt. Col Kabila and Major Thomas. He told me that there were approximately 86 Mai Mai soldiers at Cyondo, but that more than 530 Mai Mai were currently under the Command of Colonel Mosubi, the Mai Mai Chief who boycotted Sunday’s meeting with the park rangers to try and resolve the poaching problem, and who instead sent 90 of his men to attack a group of rangers at Muramba. He went on to say that the Mai Mai would not come out of the bush until after the elections. He clarified this by saying that should Jean-Pierre Bemba win the elections the Mai Mai would probably stay in the bush and continue fighting. It seems there may be rather a lot resting on the outcome of the DRC elections…
Casualties of War
Category: Crises, Hippos | Date: Oct 09 2006 | By: admin
The Virunga National Park has become rampant with militia activity in the run-up to the elections putting both the wildlife and park rangers in grave danger.
The Mai Mai Camp of Cyondo (Google Earth : S 00 37’96’’ E 029 31’ 24’’)
A small group of Mai Mai have killed 407 hippos in the last two weeks alone, and there are talks of a coalition of rebel leaders who are apparently trying to acquire ivory to sell on the black market. Rumours suggest that between them they have already amassed over 200 points of ivory probably hidden somewhere in the park, and with this last slaughter they must be nearing their target which is said to be 1,000 points.Â
The Congolese Wildlife Authority called an urgent meeting on Sunday with the head of the Mai Mai and the head of the Interehamwe to demand that the rampant poaching of hippo and elephant cease. The head of the Mai Mai however decided to boycott the meeting and the opportunity for dialogue, and instead sent an advance party of 12 Mai Mai to attack the ranger post at Muramba on the north western shores of Lake Edward. After the Mai Mai had caught and disarmed the 4 rangers and 6 military who were based there, no less than 90 Mai Mai soldiers descended upon Muramba, seven of them carrying rocket launchers.
MONUC arrived at Muramba earlier today to assess the situation and I will try and get hold of their report tomorrow. What is clear though is that MONUC’s strategy not to engage in offensive operations against rebel troops in the lead up to the elections has resulted in total anarchy within the park. I have already approached MONUC asking them to deploy a company of UN soldiers in support of the Advance Force in an attempt to get a handle on the situation.  MONUC is currently in containment mode however, and will not provide the neccessary support until after the elections. The question is how long can the rangers and wildlife hold out?
UNESCO comes through for Virunga’s Advance Force!
Category: Logistics | Date: Oct 02 2006 | By: admin
UNESCO, who has been following with absolute horror the decimation of the park’s wildlife populations, has just agreed to fund the purchase of a new lorry for the Advance Force to help put a stop to the current poaching epidemic that is taking hold in the park like a virus.
A Scania SBA III ex-army 4×4
At the moment the Advance Force can’t move around the park fast enough or in sufficient numbers to be really effective as a rapid reaction anti-poaching unit. All this will change once the lorry arrives. It is being shipped over from Van Vliet Trucks in Holland and we expect it to arrive in the park within the next six weeks! Many thanks to UNESCO and please keep the support coming!!
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Inside the cabin which will provide protection against wind, rain and possible ambush when moving around the park
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Spotted!
Category: Logistics | Date: Oct 02 2006 | By: admin
Night vision goggles are used by the Advance Force to carry out night time anti-poaching operations or to negotiate their way safely through hostile areas without being seen. It is also possible to drive a vehicle in complete darkness to deploy rangers undetected close to a poaching camp, although this has not yet been tried by the Advance Force. The UN who are considerably more Hi-Tech fly around in helicopters during the night using night vision goggles to look for signs of rebel movement on the ground - both in the park and in nearby towns and villages.
This is me from 20 meters as seen through a pair of military spec night vision goggles.
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