August 2012. Twenty park rangers and 15 local trackers that are searching for the missing mountain gorilla families in Congo's Virunga National Park have so far found four of the seven gorilla groups. Over two months of violent fighting between M23 rebels and Congolese armed forces in and around the park's Gorilla Sector has prevented rangers from monitoring the critically endangered mountain gorillas in Africa's oldest national park, causing concern for their health and safety.
Not seen for 3 months
Eight teams spread out through the forests from their base at Bukima Patrol Post searching for signs of the gorillas, some which have not been seen in over three months. Rangers were able to locate the Humba, Rugendo, and Munyaga families, and part of the Kabirizi family, which appears to have split. All seem healthy, but a more detailed assessment and individual counting will take place in the coming week.
Eight teams spread out through the forests from their base at Bukima Patrol Post searching for signs of the gorillas, some which have not been seen in over three months. Rangers were able to locate the Humba, Rugendo, and Munyaga families, and part of the Kabirizi family, which appears to have split. All seem healthy, but a more detailed assessment and individual counting will take place in the coming week.
Virunga National Park's Chief Warden Emmanuel de Merode reported, "While the security conditions remain precarious for our staff, the fact that we've been able to locate a significant number of the missing mountain gorillas is a strong sign of hope that we will be able to secure this critically important population through the current period of armed conflict".
The gorilla monitoring operation, which was scheduled to begin following authorization by government authorities and M23 rebel commanders, was postponed when the conflict escalated on 24 July, and intense combat in and around the park headquarters prevented the park's rangers from beginning the planned search.
"It was truly amazing to see the gorillas again after so long and so much fighting," said Innocent Mburanumwe, warden of the park's Gorilla Sector. "The gorillas circled us and several reached out to touch and smell us. They had not seen us for a very long time and seemed calm and curious."
Local trackers have been working with park rangers to locate the gorillas. These same trackers have been providing critical information on the welfare of the mountain gorillas throughout the ongoing conflict.
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