Congo Rangers

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.

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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!

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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.

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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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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.  

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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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Category: Crises, Hippos | Date: Jan 21 2007 | By: admin

Approximately 25 hippos and 3 elephants have been killed at Vitshumbi in the last few days. This is an area where we had estimated around 30 hippos to exist following our last aerial census of the park. The prognosis does not look good and by now it may well be too late to save the last few individuals.The problem is that the Mai Mai (many of whom have already gone through the demobilization processed but failed to reintegrate properly and have chosen once again to take up arms), have now teamed up with certain elements of the FDLR (Rwandan rebels better known as Interehamwe) and are illegally occupying this critical area of the park.

ICCN rangers are being prevented to carry out their legal mandate to patrol in the area and protect the wildlife due to the presence of these armed groups, and in the absence of respect for a recognized government authority, the result is near anarchy. We desperately need the UN Peacekeepers to help bring the situation back under proper control.

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Category: Active Service, Crises, General, Hippos | Date: Jan 10 2007 | By: admin

I have just spoken to Elie.  He tells me that the anti-poaching operations are going well, and that in the last three weeks only 3 hippos have been killed.  This is compared to 109 hippo bodies found butchered in the three weeks before they arrived. 

The rangers are really happy with how things are going and have now made a total of 17 arrests.  Many of the poachers have already been transported to Goma where they are awaiting prosecution.  The rest are still being questioned at Rwindi ranger station.  Once their statements have been taken, they will also be brought to Goma to face the local magistrate, and a long sentence if found guilty. 

Meanwhile it sounds like the Mai Mai, feeling the heat, have abandoned their camp at Cyndo.  Just to be sure, Elie sent in one of his rangers earlier today dressed as a local fisherman.  If the Mai Mai really have left, the rangers will go in and dismantle whatever remains of the camp.  If they are still there, I hope the ranger makes it back ok… 

 

 

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Category: Active Service, Crises, Hippos | Date: Dec 16 2006 | By: admin

I have just heard that the Mai Mai have started to move out of Cyondo following the deployment of the Advance Force into Vitshumbi on Friday and subsequent arrest of one of the Mai Mai poachers.  Information is still a little thin and I will need to follow it up over the next couple of days to get a clearer picture of what exactly is going on.  However I have managed to get a call through to a military intelligence officer based at Vitshumbi who confirmed that over the last 24 hours, the Mai Mai have moved most of their soldiers out of Cyondo and are heading for the military integration camp at Rumangabo.  When I asked the intelligence officer what sparked this off, he said that it was because the ICCN were starting to get serious and the Mai Mai didn’t want to hang around any longer. 

This is a huge success for the Advance Force and goes to really highlight the importance of a well trained law enforcement unit to deter illegal poaching actvities.  The Advance Force will continue to build on this success and increase its presence on the ground at Vitshumbi, until such time as all the Mai Mai have evacuated the area and the Advance Force can go in and dismantle whatever is left of their camp.

 

 

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Category: Active Service, Crises, Hippos | Date: Dec 15 2006 | By: admin

I have just come back from a patrol with the Advance Force which was deployed for the first time today at Vitshumbi. Within 3-4 hours of getting on the ground, they had arrested their first hippo poacher who they found hacking meat from a carcass and loading it onto a small fishing boat.  He has been transported back to the station and is currently undergoing questioning.  The Congolese Wildlife Authority has now decided to send down a second troop to support the intervention, and they should arrive within the next 48 hours.

Before deploying, we met briefly with the commander of the marines and the infantry based at Vitshumbi.  Neither seemed in a hurry to help the ranges, and the marine told of how he had called his commanding officer when he first saw the Mai Mai approaching, guns blazing, in four motorised speedboats.  The marine was told in no uncertain terms that as long as the Mai Mai did not start shooting at the local population, they were not to get involved.  The massacre continued relentlessly for three days and three nights, right in front of the fishing village, until they had shot every hippo in sight.   

After the meeting, the rangers wasted no time getting out on patrol and found illegal fishing boats hidden in the grass, and wooden wheel barrows used to transport hippo meat.  Bones lay everywhere and hippo skin had been rolled up like thick doormats and thrown under the bushes.  The stench was unbearable. As well as the poacher, they found and arrested several illegal fishermen, and when questioned they said that they were fishing for the marine commander we had spoken to earlier.  This is not going to be easy, but the Advance Force is determined and their efforts represent the park’s last real hope of saving Virunga’s hippos. 

 

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