Mountain gorillas in danger as DRC rebels seize habitat: report

2 hours ago:

Mountain gorillas in danger as DRC rebels seize habitat: report

NAIROBI (AFP) — Highly endangered mountain gorillas in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo faced fresh dangers Monday after renegade troops overran their habitat, forcing rangers to flee, conservationists warned.

Forces loyal to cashiered general Laurent Nkunda, a powerful local leader, attacked Jomba and Bikenge patrol posts in Virunga National Park, Wildlife Direct said in a statement.

His troops looted weapons, ammunition and communication equipment.

A third patrol post in Bukima was being evacuated pending an imminent attack, leaving the rare primates exposed to massacres.

Read the full story HERE

Mountain gorillas in danger

2 hours ago:

Mountain Gorillas in Danger as DRC rebels seize habitat: report

NAIROBI (AFP) — Highly endangered mountain gorillas in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo faced fresh dangers Monday after renegade troops overran their habitat, forcing rangers to flee, conservationists warned.

Forces loyal to cashiered general Laurent Nkunda, a powerful local leader, attacked Jomba and Bikenge patrol posts in Virunga National Park, Wildlife Direct said in a statement.

His troops looted weapons, ammunition and communication equipment.

A third patrol post in Bukima was being evacuated pending an imminent attack, leaving the rare primates exposed to massacres.

Read the full story HERE

Your probably asking yourself "Why is Melissa blogging so much about Gorillas, this is a Bigfoot website?"

I am glad you asked that question.

Why care about documenting an animal, if we don't care about the ones that already exist? I know Gorillas are real. I can go to any zoo and see one, I can look up a picture of one on the internet. In fact a quick Google search gives me 4,000.000 topics to search for information on them.

I believe Gorillas exist.

Therefore, I think its important to be sure they continue to exist. Since I have become truly aware of this issue I have made it a point to ask people if they even know about this situation - and I am truly shocked to discover most don't, but ask them if they know about Paris Hilton's most recent escapade, and of course they do.

Humans are at the top of the chain.

We can grow anything. We can kill anything. We can create, we can understand what creating and destroying can mean to the world around us. But, do we truly care?

In the situation of the Gorilla, this animal is in jeopardy only because of mans need for a commodity - coal. These precious animals are being killed because they simply stand in the way of what humans want. Their right to live and be on this earth is not even being taken into consideration. They are simply in the way.

*Photo of Poached Gorilla Graveyard*

When even the smallest animal or insect goes extinct, it affects everything in the food chain,

Imagine what losing the Gorilla will mean to the food chain. I will keep blogging about the plight of the Gorilla, because it is very important. We as humans are capable of doing something to save this animal, but will we? Someone at one time felt the discovery and documentation of this animal was important, it is still important. Discovery doesn't release us from our responsibility to protect, should that animal be in need of our help - especially when its human involvement that is killing it.



Yesterday I posted an article about the death of a Ranger, this is one death too many. People are there risking their lives to help save this animal. Will we continue to just read about this in our papers - until the unfortunate headline "Last Gorilla Dead", or will you get involved? There are websites where you can donate to help with the medical needs of these awe inspiring animals, and a website where you can adopt a Gorilla. The Dian Fossey website is my personal favorite. Can you spare $50.00 a year? If you can please do so. If you cant afford to donate or adopt, then tell people you know about this situation, you might come across someone who can do something - and that is just as good as making the donation yourself.

Am I trying to make people feel guilty? No. But do you? If you do, why? Think about this situation. Yes, you may be thousands of miles away from this problem - but the consequences of inaction will affect us.

The photo of the Gorilla is that of "Digit"....

"Steadfast dedication to his family cost Digit his life in 1977, when the mountain gorilla held off six poachers and their dogs." - Dian Fossey

You can also donate by going to this website: M.G.V.P. Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project

The Killings Continue...

Gunmen kill ranger in east Congo gorilla park

Fri 31 Aug 2007, 10:24 GMT

By Joe Bavier

GOMA, Congo (Reuters) - Suspected Rwandan Hutu rebels killed a park ranger in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in the latest attack on guards who protect rare mountain gorillas in a national park, officials said on Friday.

The attack late on Thursday on the ranger station at Kabaraza, 95 km (60 miles) north of the North Kivu provincial capital Goma, followed the killings of five of the endangered gorillas in recent weeks in the Virunga National Park.

"Around 2300 hours, a ranger on night watch heard noises coming from some of the rangers' houses. He went there to find out what was going on and was shot in the belly," Robert Muir of the Frankfurt Zoological Society, which supports the protection programme for the Virunga gorillas, told Reuters.

The ranger died from his wounds, and a worker at the camp was injured by a bullet in the neck. Houses were looted. Other rangers who drove the attackers off said they spoke Rwandan and were believed to be members of the largely Hutu Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) rebel group which operates in eastern Congo.

Several rangers have been killed in Virunga, Africa's oldest national park located near the intersection of Congo, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. Conservationists are fighting to save the estimated 700 mountain gorillas who remain in central Africa.

Thursday's attack came in the same turbulent area of eastern Congo where government troops have been battling soldiers loyal to a renegade general, Laurent Nkunda.

On Thursday, thousands of civilians fled the fighting which has shattered a seven-month-old truce signed by Nkunda and dampened hopes of stabilising eastern Congo after landmark national elections held late last year.

The recent slayings of gorillas shocked conservationists, who suspect the killings are linked to a power struggle between local government agents trying to save Virunga and those engaged in the illicit trade in the charcoal made from its trees.

Under Congo's late dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, Virunga was a major tourist draw, but years of insecurity and the 1998-2003 war that killed an estimated 4 million people, mainly through hunger and disease, have led to a dwindling number of visitors.