Missing DR Congo gorillas ‘dead’
Category: Mountain Gorillas, Press | Date: Aug 18 2007 | By: admin
This came out yesterday on the BBC. The Rangers found the remains of the missing adult female from the Rugendo family, as you can see on Paulin’s blog.
Video of Rugendo Gorillas
Category: Mountain Gorillas | Date: Jul 12 2007 | By: admin
Here is a video of the Rugendo family of Mountain Gorillas that was shot recently at Bukima.
Enjoy!
Focus Magazine publishes story on Mountain Gorillas and Rangers
Category: Mountain Gorillas, Press, Rangers | Date: Jul 11 2007 | By: admin
Yesterday Focus Magazine in Germany published a long story about Virunga National Park, Congo Rangers and Mountain Gorillas. The story was written by Sebastian who visited me in early May with my boss Christophe from FZS. I wrote a post about it back then. Go to the link below and you will see the full story.
http://www.focus.de/wissen/wissenschaft/natur/tid-6786/berggorillas_aid_65963.html
Daily Mail coverage of gorilla killing
Category: Mountain Gorillas, Press | Date: Jun 19 2007 | By: admin
There has been a lot of press coverage of the killing of Rubiga 10 days ago. Here is an article in the Daily Mail that generated a lot of comment. Click on the picture below and you will access it. To find out more about what is going on please go to Paulin’s blog.
Augustin, Kabirizi and BBC
Category: Crises, Mountain Gorillas, Press, Rangers | Date: Jun 13 2007 | By: admin
I was sent the link below last week by friends of mine. This was done by a photographer, Georgina, who came to Congo a couple of months ago. We spent time with her up at Camp Karema with Augustin., right when we were just starting up there. Augustin as you know is the head of the patrol post at Bukima, and has been leading the patrols today and yesterday to identify the individuals of the Kabirizi family. I am sure you have all been following the atrocious events on Paulin’s blog - of the killing of Rubiga and the orphan Ndakasi.
It has been a really hectic few days and I am reeling somewhat. I know Paulin will be updating his blog later on today, but I just wanted to say thank you for all the support I have received over recent days in relation to this brutal slaying. Thank you also for the donations.
Donations, gorillas and the boss visit in Congo
Category: Active Service, Mountain Gorillas, Rangers, Your Donations | Date: May 17 2007 | By: admin
Christof Schenck, Frankfurt Zoological Society’s Executive Director, arrived in DRC a week ago to see how we were getting along. Christof has been wanting to come and visit the Congo for three years now, but every time he planned to come over, renewed fighting would break out between different rebels factions, or between rebels and the Congolese military, thousands of people would evacuate across the border to Rwanda or Uganda, and the park in which we work would become impossible to visit. Furthermore, all Embassies would advise against all travel to the region, and although that advice may well still stand today, Christof did at last manage to find his window of opportunity. He made it to the Congo! He also brought with him three journalists - Michael, Sebastian and Norbert, who will be covering the story when they get back to Germany. For us it was a very special occasion and a huge honor to have the ‘Grande Fromage’ come and visit our project and different activities. The ICCN even sent over the Head of International Cooperation from Kinshasa to welcome him to Congo!
First up, of course, were the gorillas, but not before a quick trip to the HQ of the gorilla sector to hand over two vehicles (one of which was purchased with funds raised through Paulin’s blog - thanks again Chris!!), 5 desk tops, 5 lap-tops, three printers, a projector and screen, 11 office tables, 36 chairs, a conference table, 2 solar systems, and a large stock of drugs for the medical dispensary (which was also purchased through the blog). See photo below.
We spent two days in the company of gorillas… the first day with the Kabarizi family who has just had another newborn - just two days old - and we had the great luck to be joined by Anne Hammil from the IISD and Ellen Brown from WCS (who has a blog on her work up in Epulu).
This is Anne with the photographers behind her!
The following day we went to see Rugendo - very different family of 12 individuals - and a very different family dynamic. Rugendo means wanderer, and he wanders much further than any other family. In fact he wanders right out of the forest and into the community land where food is plentiful. This however causes problems with local communities, and so it is important to involve them in conservation activities.
Before leaving, we met with some Pygmies who live around the edge of the park. They have been marginalized from society, having left their traditional way of life in the forest but without having found acceptance by the Bantu, they have no access to education or health care, and although getting more ’street-wise’ they originally had no real concept of ownership over land or plants - it just didn’t figure in pygmy logic - so if they saw a banana plant growing somewhere they would simply help themselves. This got them a really bad reputation for thieves… despite the fact that this land that the bananas are now growing on, did once in fact ‘belong’ to them… Christof gave all the women skirts and tops, and for the men, two pairs of jeans… it is important for us conservationists to work with the pygmies as well as other local communities living around the park if we are to have a chance of saving the gorillas in the long term, and getting to know them over a song and a dance is a first step…
Next up was a flight to Ishango and then a hike up the active volcano to spend the night on the crater rim… to be continued…
Technorati : congo, drc, fzs, gorilla, virunga, wildlifedirect
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
Video of Mountain Gorillas from the Humba family
Category: Mountain Gorillas | Date: Apr 26 2007 | By: admin
I know that recent videos of Mountain Gorillas are always fun. Here is one taken about 10 days ago of the Humba family, which as you know from Paulin’s blog was thought to be heading to Rwanda and then stuck around for some more Congo fun! Here are three of his 9-member family eating the trees they are actually sitting in!
Technorati : congo, drc, fzs, mikeno, mountain gorilla, virunga, wildlifedirect
Dr Richard Leakey to address RGS in London on climate change and great apes
Category: Mountain Gorillas | Date: Apr 25 2007 | By: admin
Dr Richard Leakey will make a rare visit to the UK to address the Royal Geographical Society on “Climate change and the future of Great Apes.” Ape Alliance in the UK has just forwarded me the news:
World renowned paleo-anthropologist and conservationist Richard Leakey will be visiting the UK in May to address the implications placed upon Great Apes as a result of climate change.
Professor Leakey will speak at the Royal Geographical Society on 31st May to discuss what can be done to alleviate the pressure placed upon these threatened species and whether we can predict probably consequences far enough ahead to enable the conservation authorities to take steps now to avert disasters.
Professor Leakey will be available for interviews. Please contact the Orangutan Foundation - 0207 724 2912 - for further information. Tickets are 15 pounds and doors open at 6.30.
If you are in London I would not miss this for the world. Richard Leakey is the Chairman of WildlifeDirect and widely credited with putting an end to the elephant slaughter in Kenya in the 1980s. Recently he has taken on the cause of Congo’s Rangers and their dedication and bravery in protecting the parks of Congo, especially Virunga National Park, the oldest park in Africa. He featured on the cover of Time in 1977 - see below!
Technorati : apes, congo, drc, rgs, richard leakey, virunga, wildlifedirect
Rwandan Mountain Gorillas - video on US News
Category: Mountain Gorillas | Date: Apr 18 2007 | By: admin
Kevin Whitelaw, a journalist with US News, just sent me this great link on Mountain Gorillas in Rwanda. Check it out. It is from this month.
Technorati : congo, drc, mountain gorilla, rwanda, usnews, wildlifedirect
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