Adopt a gorilla
2005-06-27 13:21
Kinigi - Rwanda has come up with a new adopt-a-baby scheme to preserve its population of highly endangered mountain gorillas, the cornerstone of the country's fledgling tourism industry ever since the genocide of 1994.
More than 20 000 visitors every year happily fork out $375 for the privilege of spending one hour slithering through bamboo thickets on a muddy mountainside with the animals.
An estimated 700 mountain gorillas are found in the wild, about one third of them in Rwanda, the remainder in a continuation of the same range of mountains in Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo.
It was US zoologist Dian Fossey who focused international attention on the mountain gorillas. She lived in close contact with the animals, waging a constant battle with poachers, until she was hacked to death in 1985.
At the weekend Rwanda's national parks authority raised 850,000 dollars for gorilla conservation by putting 29 animals up for "corporate adoption".
"The prices (for adoption) range from $5 000 to $50 000", the executive director of the Rwanda national parks and tourism office, Rica Rwigamba, told AFP.
The 29 animals were named in the northern town of Ruhengeri in an official ceremony of the sort that is traditionally carried out for human babies in Rwanda. Among the names they were given were "Happiness" and "Gift".
On Saturday night formal adoptions were solemnised in Gisenyi, another northern town, with each corporate sponsor, many Rwandan companies or businesspeople but also a smattering of NGOs and embassies, receiving a certificate.
"I think Saturday's events made the private sector realise just how important gorillas are (for Rwanda), said Mike Cranfield, project director with the mountain gorilla veterinary project.
A company that adopts a gorilla gets to use that animal's name and face in its advertising campaigns.
A $5 000 investment buys the right for one year, but other companies can share it for the same sum, while the $50 000 investment gives the right exclusively for five years.
A lot of money
The money raised will help finance conservation projects, among them supplying water to local people to avoid them having to seek it in the national park, building a wall around the park to prevent wildlife from spoiling crops, and campaigns to make villagers aware of the long-term importance of the gorillas for Rwanda's economy.
"One of our aims is certainly to raise money to improve the living conditions of the populations living around the park so that they can be made fully aware of the park's importance", Rwigamba said.
Charles, a peasant farmer approved.
"The gorillas bring in a lot of money, for the national parks office but also for the country as a whole", he said, indicating the bumpy dirt track that leads up to the park with his stick and adding: "We here in the surrounding villages could use some help too. Look at the awful condition of this road. We have to use it and so do the tourists."