Search on for mountain gorillas
2007-09-07 13:15
Nairobi - Park rangers on Friday searched for endangered mountain gorillas in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after army and renegade troops agreed to halt hostilities, said an official.
Wildlife Direct spokesperson Samantha Newport said the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN) rangers were combing the Virunga National Park in search of 50 gorillas in four family groups.
Forces loyal to cashiered general Laurent Nkunda, a powerful local leader, on Monday attacked and stole equipment from Jomba and Bikenge patrol posts in Virunga National Park, forcing rangers to flee and exposing the gorillas to new dangers.
Newport said: "Rangers near Bukima (another patrol post) are currently searching for the four mountain gorilla families."
9 mountain gorillas killed
She explained that they were particularly concerned for one family called Rugendo, because some were killed in July, slashing its number to five members.
"The fighting has added more pressure on this family that has already suffered a lot," said Newport.
Rangers were yet to return to Jomba and Bikenge patrol posts even though the rebels were reported to have moved eastwards towards Rwanda, the spokesperson explained.
Nine mountain gorillas had been killed and two were still missing in Virunga National Park since January. The deaths, some blamed on Nkunda's men, had outraged conservationists.
After two were slaughtered and eaten in January, the renegade troops pledged to halt the killings in a meeting with Virunga Park officials mediated by the United Nations and Congolese army.
The mountain gorillas were a major tourist attraction in Virunga Park, but poaching remained endemic.
Only about 700 critically endangered mountain gorillas remained in the wild, all of them living in the mountains of Rwanda, Uganda and the eastern DRC.
Nkunda's rebels and other armed groups were accused of poaching there and encroaching on their habitats.
The UN mission in DR Congo on Thursday negotiated a ceasefire between the DRC army and renegade troops, according to the United Nations.