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May 17, 2005

Mountain Gorilla Habitat Under Attack

Shane and I are planning to go gorilla trekking as part of our honeymoon. I am always looking for more information on the region, especially considering the fact that you go with an armed escort - and it's not to protect you from the animals, but the human element - poachers and the like.

It seems like the area where Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo meet is a hot-spot for trouble. It's also the only place in the world where you'll find the mountain gorilla.

From all my research, it seems like Uganda is the safest place for us to seek out our primitive relatives. Although magazines like National Geographic have had articles recently regarding gorilla trekking in Rwanda reopening, you still need a fairly significant military escort, not to mention driving through a bit of a fire-zone on your way to and from the park.

While Africa is, in general, embracing a tourism economy, it is still not particularly safe. You'll hear stories about armed escort abandoning the very people they're hired to protect and such - and really I think this is more a matter of understanding what you're paying for with your typical armed escort. An armed escort discourages human troubles, and has the possibility of helping a situation in an unpleasant animal encounter. The guides are not there to actively protect you when something goes pear-shaped. When it hits the fan, it's every man (or woman) for themselves.

And so, it's especially important to be well informed about the areas you plan to visit. This particular account of Rwandans mutilating a National Park in DR Congo was particularly disturbing, as are the park officials fatality statistics...

The illegal settlers, allegedly paid by Rwandan land speculators, clear-cut the forest and turned it into agricultural land. In less than a month, they destroyed more than 4,000 acres (1,600 hectares) of prime habitat for one of the world's most critically endangered species, the mountain gorilla.

...

The illegal settlers in Virunga, estimated at 6,000, were seen being trucked in from Rwanda and ordered by Rwandan military commanders to cut down the forest in the Mikeno sector of the park. Cattle were later introduced. Each person was allegedly paid the equivalent of one U.S. dollar a day for the work.

...

The most famous resident of Virunga is the mountain gorilla. More than half of the species' population, estimated at 700 to 750, is found there. The rest live in Rwanda and Uganda.

...

"Loss of habitat is the worst threat to this species," said Marc Languy, coordinator of World Wildlife Fund's program in the Albertine Rift, where Virunga is located.

...

Conservation has come at a high cost. Ninety-two Congolese park officials have been killed since 1996. At least two rangers have been killed in recent weeks. On the night of June 25 one park station was looted and burned by 300 militias.

More at: "Gorillas in the Mist" Park Slashed by Squatters

Posted by sorsha at May 17, 2005 7:41 PM