A Tame Hippo in Lake Edward!
Category: Active Service, Hippos | Date: Feb 26 2007 | By: admin
This picture was just sent to me that I think is really great… the Hippo, a male, lives near Kasindi Port on the shores of Lake Edward. The Hippo is habituated to humans and likes playing with the fishermen on the boats. Apparently I am told he also likes having his neck scratched which you can see here.. A wonderful sight if you consider what they hippos have been through lately.
Will the hippos recover from the recent massacre?
Category: Hippos, Thoughts | Date: Feb 22 2007 | By: admin
Trish and Chris have asked an interesting question about the recovery of the hippos in and around Lake Edward. As I mentioned earlier, this used to be the most important hippo population in the world. In 1959 there were over 27 thousand hippos. When Emmanuel did the aerial survey of the hippos last December, there were only 315 left. This is a catastrophic decline, that led to hippos being listed on the IUCN redlist as an endangered species.
Hippos wallowing on the southern shores of Lake
Edward back in the 1980s (photo from Languy and de Merode 2006)
Hippos increase at 9% a year when they’re undisturbed. So, if we can stop the poaching, it would take them 53 years to build up to their earlier numbers. That’s assuming there’s no poaching or disease epidemic. That said, there’s a healthy population in the Ugandan part of the lake, many of which will probably migrate over to Congo with time, so it will certainly take less time. Whatever happens, there’s a lifetime’s work in store for us!
Mai Mai rebels - who killed 100s of hippos last year - are attacked and have surrendered
Category: General, Hippos, Rangers | Date: Feb 22 2007 | By: admin
We have just learned that the Mai Mai rebels, who were responsible for the slaughter of hundreds of hippos last year in Virunga National Park, were attacked by troops loyal to former dissident General Laurent Nkunda. The main Mai Mai camps - Cyondo and Birwa - both on the southern shores of Lake Edward, were disbanded and the Mai Mai surrendered to government troops.
Just to provide you with some background, Nkunda and his men are currently being integrated into the Congolese army as part of a huge effort to bring all rebel factions into the Congo fold and bring stability to the east of the country. This process was recently initiated and is still very much ongoing.
The Mai Mai have been around for a long time and were initially formed to resist invasion from Rwanda, or simply out of a desire for money from loot or cattle rustling. The Mai Mai - who number about 300 - have recently been known for their crude poaching methods and the hippo massacre that I have talked about on this blog. They have been another stumbling block in Congo’s long, arduous and complex peace process in the east that creates additional challenges for the Rangers.
The situation in Congo, and especially in the east, is enormously complicated… so i shan’t go into too much detail. In essence though, the disbandment of the Mai Mai is very positive for the protection of the last remaining hippos in the north of Lake Edward… but watch this space. As you know situations change very quickly here and we have yet to see if the Mai Mai surrender and disbandment last.
Success in protecting the Hippos at Lake Edward in Virunga National Park!
Category: General, Hippos | Date: Feb 17 2007 | By: admin
After 6 days stationed at Ishango I am very happy to report that Congo’s Rangers have been successful in deterring an attack from the Mai Mai rebels. The Mai Mais are responsible for the hippo massacre last year in the south of Lake Edward and we were concerned that they wanted to kill the remaining hippos in the North.
Hippo lolling in the water at Ishango, northern shores of Lake Edward, last week
Congo’s Advance Force group of Rangers are led by Elie, seen below in the beige shirt. They are well trained and have proven an effective force at defending the park from poachers and other threats, such as the Mai Mai.
The Mai Mai were originally formed to resist the invasion of Rwandese forces, or out of a simple desire for money from loot or cattle rustling. Their lack of cooperation with Congo’s peace process has been very problematic.
And more happy Hippos in Ishango!
Congo Rangers Elite Force moves in to protect the hippos…
Category: Crises, Elephants, General, Hippos | Date: Feb 11 2007 | By: admin
Today a group of 43 elite Congo Rangers have gone to Ishango, on the northern shores of Lake Edward. This is about 15-20km east from Muramba, and home to hippos, elephants and buffalo. The Rangers are going to protect the area from a potential Mai Mai attack.
At present the situation is still unclear and we are trying to obtain additional details regarding the Mai Mai’s intentions. But based on precedent and last year’s hippo massacre we fear the worst. The elite Rangers will be doing their utmost to protect the wildlife of Virunga… More to come later but I just wanted to let you all know this. Â
Mai Mai rebels threaten to massacre more hippos - this time on the northern shores of Lake Edward
Category: Crises, General, Hippos, Rangers | Date: Feb 09 2007 | By: admin
We have just learned that the rebel Mai Mai group have set up camp in Muramba. This lies in the north west corner of Lake Edward, very close to the last remaining hippos in this area. We fear that these rebels are planning to slaughter more hippos, after the November/December massacre at the south of the lake that saw thousands of hippos dead.
We are still trying to obtain more information as to how many Mai Mai are in Muramba, and what can be done about it. The Mai Mai only want to kill the hippos for money - the meat fetches about $300 per hippo and then they also sell their long canine teeth which contain ivory. They kill the hippos with AK 47s… the animals simply do not stand a chance.
Two decades ago there were 22,875 hippos in Virunga National Park… Today we are lucky if there are 300. This brazen and systematic slaughter of hippos should not be happening. It is an outrage.
Remnants of the Hippo Slaughter in November last year
Scenes of the Hippo Slaughter last November
On another note, following the Mai Mai attack on the Lulimbi patrol post last week (virtually on the opposite side of the lake to Mutwanga), the two rangers who were taken hostage were released and rangers have started to return to the post.
Will keep you all posted…
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