Woman dies following Mai Mai attack on gorilla sector on Sunday
Category: General | Date: May 24 2007 | By: admin
I have just received reports from ICCN and those on the ground at Tshiaberimu that Madame Katabsi, the wife of a Congo Ranger, has died following the Sunday attack by the Mai Mai. Madame Katabsi was pregnant, and suffered a miscarriage as a result of the shock of the attack. She went into intensive care but sadly did not survive.
One wildlife officer who worked for World Wildlife Fund was killed during the attack, and three others remain critically injured at hospital in Kyondo, near where the attack took place.
Kambale Mulonda, a Congo Ranger, shot twice in the leg.
Alain Mali, a student injured by bullet during the attack on Sunday.
Jean de Dieu Vwosi, member of The Gorilla Organisation injured.
The Mai Mai only want the destruction of Virunga National Park and all that is in it. They want to poach, hunt, cultivate illegally, fish in spawning grounds, get rid of Congo Rangers - and obliterate Africa’s oldest national park. ICCN is currently attempting to negotiate with the Mai Mai group, headed by an individual called Jackson, with the assistance of the Congolese army and the United Nations Peace Keeping Force in Congo (MONUC).
I will keep you posted with more details during this difficult time.
Dr Richard Leakey says African wildlife is newly endangered, The Spectator
Category: General | Date: May 14 2007 | By: admin
Dr Richard Leakey, Chairman of WildlifeDirect, was interviewed for the UK Spectator Magazine. Click on the picture below to see the whole article. Richard is credited with putting an end to the elephant slaughter in the 1980s in Kenya and has a unique perspective of conservation in Africa. Many of us admire him deeply.
Apes may lead to origin of language
Category: General, Mountain Gorillas | Date: May 09 2007 | By: admin
Check out this article I just spotted… we already know we are not that different from apes but this makes interesting reading. Just click on the article below and you will get the full story.
Technorati : ape, bonobo, chimpanzee, yahoo
Chimpanzees rescued from illegal trafficking in Katanga, eastern Congo
Category: General | Date: May 08 2007 | By: admin
Last week I went to Lubumbashi, in the south eastern corner of Congo in the province of Katanga. I met Franck and his wife Roxanne, who run JACK, Jeunes Animaux Confisces au Katanga (Young Confiscated Animals in Katanga), a small NGO that operates out of Lubumbashi that has a chimpanzee sanctuary with about 7 chimps.
Franck and Roxeanne have been fighting to raise awareness over the illegal trade in chimpanzees in the area. Before these chimps were sold openly in the market, but thanks to JACK this is now more difficult. Franck and his team ultimately want to work with the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN) to re-introduce these confiscated chimps into the wild.
This is a chimp that was illegally being trafficked
Here is Franck at Likasi railway station where more chimpanzees are being trafficked
Zamba - a rescued chimp taking a bath
Franck and Zamba
Technorati : chimpanzee, fzs, iccn, katanga, lubumbashi, trafficking, wildlifedirect
Congolese army says it killed 22 Rwandan Hutu rebels
Category: Crises, General | Date: Apr 28 2007 | By: admin
This article came out yesterday on the BBC website. Click on the picture below and you will get the whole story. The Congolese army said that it has killed 22 Rwandan Hutu rebels during an operation to secure a road near the Ugandan border. 100,000 villagers have been forced to flee as a result of the chaos.
As you can see the peace process is still tenuous here in the east of the country. I now need to establish the situation of the Rangers in this area to see if they need any emergency support. Will keep you all posted.
Technorati : congo, drc, fzs, hutu, rebel, rwanda, wildlifedirect
Dr Richard Leakey says African initiatives key to conservation
Category: General, Rangers | Date: Apr 16 2007 | By: admin
Dr Richard Leakey, Chairman of WildifeDirect, discusses a new way to get help directly to conservationists in Africa working in isolated and often dangerous conditions.
Dr Leakey is credited with putting an end to the slaughter of elephants in Kenya in the 1980s and has taken on the cause of Congo’s Mountain Gorillas. Mountain Gorillas are critically endangered with only 700 individuals remaining in the world; about 380 of these are in the Virunga Volcanoes Conservation Area, shared by Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.
Technorati : congo, drc, richard leakey, wildlifedirect
Congo Caterpillar Takes Fancy To Congo Conservationist
Category: General, Personal | Date: Apr 13 2007 | By: admin
If anyone knows what this caterpillar is I would love to know… I came across it the other day at Camp Karema early in the morning and this seemed a good idea.
Technorati : caterpillar, congo, drc, karema
Conrad Aveling visits Gorillas 15 years on
Category: General, Logistics, Mountain Gorillas | Date: Mar 26 2007 | By: admin
Conrad Aveling spent the night at Camp Karema and set out with us early in the morning to see the Gorillas for the first time in more than 15 years. Conrad, who was the old FZS project manager, came to Congo in 1984 to habituate Mountain Gorillas and chimpanzees for tourism. Four years later he moved on to manage a large EU project, building patrol posts and toursit lodges throughout the entire park and developing critical conservation initiatives. This was the first time he has been back, and he was able to meet up with a few old buddies
This is Conrad, me and Urbain
Just after this photo was taken we came across two Gorillas mating! It happened to be a black back who was doing it on the sly while the Silverback, Kabirizi, was out of sight. The Rangers get to see this happen about once every six months, so we felt pretty privilaged. Photo censored!
Conrad and Gorilla of the Kabirizi family
Gorilla close up
Gorilla reaching out
I think this male black-back gorilla fancied his hand at a spot of photography. Shortly after I took this photo he made a grab for the camera.
Technorati : bukima, camp karema, congo, drc, mountain gorilla, virunga, wildlifedirect
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!
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