Rhino release: Endangered animals despatched to Rwanda

By Victoria Gill Science reporter, BBC News

25 June 2019

"It's just fantastic.

"These animals were taken from Africa decades ago to display to the public [in European zoos] and now have a real conservation role in Rwanda," Mark Pilgrim, Chester Zoo's chief executive says proudly.

He is summing up the significance of the largest transportation of rhinos from Europe to Africa to ever happen.

It culminated on Monday as five zoo-born eastern black rhinos were released in the vast Akagera National Park.

The three females and two male rhinos, aged between two and nine years old, came from Flamingo Land in Yorkshire, the Czech Republic's Dvur Kralove safari park and Ree Park Safari in Denmark.

The 6,000km (3,700 miles) journey began at Dvur Kralove - where the animals have been gathered to be prepared for the trip since late last year - and concluded as each animal stepped out of its custom-made transport crate and into a large, temporary enclosure in the 1,000 sq km park.

They will remain in the enclosure, known as a boma, for several months until vets and wildlife experts, who stay in a nearby camp, are happy that they have settled and are ready for life in the wild.

Rhino dating game

The animals' journey to Akagera, via a flight from Prague to the Rwandan capital of Kigali, took around 30 hours. But the project to bring these animals back to Africa began years ago.

The European Association of Zoos and Aquaria has co-ordinated what Dr Pilgrim described as a huge "rhino dating game" and it is something he has been running.

"All the members signed up to move animals around, so we can match the most compatible pairs for breeding," he said.

Continued

Five rhinos resettled in Rwanda from Czech zoo

JUNE 24, 2019

There are about 5,000 black rhinos remaining across their range in the wild, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, making them one of the most critically endangered species in the world.

Five critically endangered eastern black rhinos were on Monday successfully relocated to Rwanda's Akagera National Park after a long journey from the Czech Republic, park officials said.

The arrival of the rhinos marks the second translocation to Rwanda after South Africa donated 17 rhinos in 2017, reintroducing the species after it had disappeared for over a decade due to intense poaching.

That initial population has now grown to 20 in the park, which is considered an excellent habitat for the rhinos.

"This unique achievement represents the culmination of an unprecedented international effort to improve the survival prospects of a critically endangered rhino subspecies in the wild," said Jes Gruner, manager of Akagera National Park.

"Their arrival also marks an important step in Akagera's ongoing revitalization and one that underscores the country's commitment to conservation."

The rhinos began their journey on Sunday after months of preparation at Safari Park Dvůr Králové in the Czech Republic, according to the Rwanda Development Board.

Continued

Black rhinos return to Rwanda 10 years after disappearance

Around 20 eastern black rhinos are being moved to Akagera national park from South Africa

Agence France-Presse

Wednesday 3 May 2017 02.27 BST

Around 20 endangered eastern black rhinos are returning in an “extraordinary homecoming” to Rwanda after the species disappeared from the country 10 years ago, the African Parks organisation has said.

The rhinos are being moved from South Africa to the Akagera national park in eastern Rwanda, according to the non-profit group that manages protected areas for African governments.

“This extraordinary homecoming will take place over the first two weeks of May,” it said in a statement.

The eastern black rhino, one of the sub-species of the rhinoceros, is in critical danger of extinction, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Back in the 1970s, more than 50 black rhinos thrived in the savannah habitat of the Akagera park, but their numbers declined due to wide-scale poaching and the last confirmed sighting was in 2007.

“Rhinos are one of the great symbols of Africa yet they are severely threatened and are on the decline in many places across the continent due to the extremely lucrative and illegal rhino horn trade,” said African Parks boss Peter Fearnhead.

According to the conservationists, there are fewer than 5,000 black rhino in the wild worldwide, with only about 1,000 of the eastern sub-species.

Since 2010 African Parks has boosted security at Akagera and has prepared to accept the rhinos with financial help from the Howard Buffett Foundation, headed by the son of US billionaire Warren Buffett.

Continued

Gorilla mobs attacking single individuals suggests new type of behavior for them

November 28, 2016 by Bob Yirka report

(Phys.org)—A trio of researchers studying gorillas in Karisoke Research Center in Rwanda has reported on a developing trend observed in mountain gorillas—mobs attacking single individuals for unknown reasons. In their paper published in Scientific Reports, Stacy Rosenbaum, Veronica Vecellio and Tara Stoinski describe three mob attacks that have been observed by several human witnesses over the past decade and offer some possible explanations. 

For most of the modern study of gorillas in their native environment, the consensus has been that they are generally docile with one another—there have been observations of males fighting, sometimes to the death, but for the most part, the life of the gorilla was thought to be one of mostly peaceful. But now, it appears that the peace can be disturbed by the occasional mob attack on a single individual or, as the researchers note, two individuals.

In the first witnessed attack, back in 2004, Rosenbaum was actually one of the witnesses. She describes the incident as arising seemingly out of nowhere. A single male the team had named Inshuti approached a group of gorillas the researchers had named the Beetsme. After some initial rebuffs, the lone male continued to seek acceptance. Then one of the gorillas screamed—the witnesses could not say if it was Inshuti or a member of the group. That was followed by three adult males chasing Inshuti until they caught him and pinned him to the ground. Soon thereafter, the rest of the Beetsme group arrived and all of them (including females and youngsters) participated in causing harm to Inshuti—from pulling hair to scratching and kicking. The leader of the Beetsme sunk his teeth into the gorilla's flesh and shook it like a fighting dog. The mob attack continued for just a few minutes, but then stopped just as quickly as it had started. The attackers walked away and Inshuti slunk into the underbrush to attend to his wounds.

The researchers report on two other similar incidents, one of which included an attack on Inshuti and another male. They note that mob attacks by other apes, including chimps, is common, as in humans, but until these recent incidents, it was thought gorillas were gentle giants, unlikely to engage in such violence. The team admits they do not know why the gorillas have begun acting like mobs at times but note that it has occurred during a time when the mountain gorilla population has grown due to conservation efforts.

Read more at:

What mountain gorillas reveal with their teeth

Date: May 11, 2016

Source: Plataforma SINC

Mountain gorillas from Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda eat up to 30 kilos of plants a day and their diet is highly varied in a habitat that is becoming increasingly fragmented as a result of illegal hunting and deforestation. For the first time, a study shows how dental morphology adapts to the food that is available. The information from the wear on their teeth is used to identify specimens that disappear.

Mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei) populations only remain in the southern part of the Virunga Mountains, between Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Bwindi National Park in Uganda. These large apes, considered endangered by the Red List of Threatened Species, are threatened by poaching, diseases carried by tourists who explore the brush to search for them and by deforestation caused by a high population density.

In order to protect these gorillas, the conservation of their habitat -where the bulk of their diet can be found, consisting of wild celery or bamboo, elmleaf blackberry and roots- is key. For this reason and for the first time, a team of scientists, led by primatologist Jordi Garbany, has analysed how age and feeding habits affect these primates that dedicate a great deal of their time to eating up to 30 kilos of plants per day.

Continued ...

First praying mantis survey of Rwanda uncovers rich diversity

Study documents increased species numbers, outlines need for biological surveys

Date: December 17, 2015

Source: Cleveland Museum of Natural History

A college student working at The Cleveland Museum of Natural History was lead author on the first formal survey of praying mantises in Rwanda, which revealed a 155 percent increase in praying mantis species diversity for the African country. Riley Tedrow, a Case Western Reserve University graduate student pursuing field research for the Museum, participated in two surveys across four locations in Rwanda, including three national parks. The survey was published Oct. 1, 2015 in the journal Zootaxa.

Tedrow helped conduct fieldwork in 2013 and 2014 with collaborators at Rwanda's Kitabi College of Conservation and Environmental Management. The team collected 739 insects representing 41 species from Akagera National Park, Nyungwe National Park, Volcanoes National Park and the Arboretum de Ruhande at the National University of Rwanda. Collection methods included sweep netting and light trapping to gather grass, bark, flower and lichen mantises.

The survey added 28 new praying mantis species records to Rwanda. These add to the 18 previously recorded praying mantis species for the country. In addition, 20 new praying mantis species were recorded for the region, including neighboring Uganda and Burundi. The study has increased scientists' knowledge of the praying mantis species present in Rwanda by 155 percent. Tedrow discovered and described one new species of praying mantis, Dystacta tigrifrutex (meaning "bush tiger mantis"), in 2014 from the insects collected. Research continues on the specimens already inventoried.

Continued ...

Lions released into the wild in Rwanda

While the news for lions in Zimbabwe this week was not good, in another part of Africa there was a good news story.

African Parks, in partnership with the Rwanda Development Board, has released seven translocated lions into Akagera National Park.

The five females, from &Beyond Phinda Private Game Reserve, and two males, from Tembe Elephant Park, both in the South African province of KwaZulu Natal, were brought to Rwanda at the end of June in a ground-breaking conservation effort for the country, reported by Wildlife Extra.

On the day of release the gates of the quarantine boma were opened to allow the lions to exit their temporary enclosure. A waterbuck carcass was placed outside the gates to encourage them to step out into their new home.

The first female poked her nose out of the gates within a few minutes, closely followed by three other females, who looked around curiously for a while, unconvinced about their new found freedom, before the lure of the carcass proved too great.

Continued ...

Lions to be reintroduced to Akagera NP in Rwanda

Seven lions in top breeding condition will be translocated in the next few days from South Africa to Akagera National Park in Rwanda in a ground-breaking conservation initiative.

Lions became extinct in Akagera 15 years ago when the species was poisoned by cattle herders in the years following the 1994 genocide when the park was unmanaged.

The lions destined for Akagera include five females donated by &Beyond Phinda Private Game Reserve, and two males that have been donated by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife from Tembe Elephant Park.

Both are relatively small, confined reserves in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal, where good management dictates that it is necessary to remove surplus lions for the future wellbeing of the reserves' prides.

The Rwanda-bound lions have been selected based on future reproductive potential and their ability to contribute to social cohesion. They are sub-adult females and young adult males from different genetic stock.

Continued .

How female mountain gorillas in Rwanda avoid inbreeding with their fathers

Mountain gorillas in Rwanda could run the risk of inbreeding, as females often stay in their natal group well into adulthood, which means living closely with their fathers, usually the dominant male in the group.

However, in these circumstances they appear tactically to avoid mating with their fathers, according to Linda Vigilant and her research group from the Max Planck Institute for Anthropology in Germany, published in Springer’s journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.

This strategy works so well that the chances of alpha gorilla males siring the offspring of their own daughters are extremely remote. 

To clearly establish the paternity of 97 mountain gorillas, Vigilant’s group did genetic tests on fecal samples collected since 1999. These included 79 gorillas born into four of the mountain gorilla groups monitored since 1967 by Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund researchers.

The researchers found that on average seven out of every 10 offspring (72 per cent) in a group with more than one male present, are sired by the dominant male.

Continued ...

Sir David Attenborough facing new battle to save the gorillas

It is more than 35 years since Sir David Attenborough was memorably prodded, poked and groomed by rare African mountain gorillas in front of television cameras. Now the 88-year-old naturalist is again fighting to save the endangered primates.

Yesterday, he launched a scathing attack on a British firm with a history of oil exploration in the gorillas' fragile habitat. Sir David, whose now famous scene from the Life on Earth series featured a family of mountain gorillas, called for Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, one of the last bastions of the mountain gorilla, to be protected from oil exploration by SOCO International. The firm, which is registered on the London Stock Exchange, had been conducting studies on whether it is feasible to drill for oil at Lake Edward, on the border of the park and neighbouring Rwanda.

Continued ...

'Vicious' New Praying Mantis Discovered in Rwanda

By Elizabeth Howell, Live Science Contributor | May 20, 2014 11:00am ET

On a cool and rainy night in a dense, mountainous forest in Rwanda, insect-surveying scientists discovered a new species of praying mantis, one whose wingless females are "vicious hunters" that prowl for prey as if they were marauding tigers.

The researchers have named the newfound praying mantis species— which was discovered in Nyungwe National Park —Dystacta tigrifrutex, or "bush tiger mantis."

"The new species is amazing, because the fairly small female prowls through the underbrush searching for prey, while the male flies appear to live higher in the vegetation," stated Riley Tedrow, a Case Western Reserve University evolutionary biology student who led the research. 

Continued

Rwanda's mountain gorillas star in new documentary - watch it here

April 2014: Mountain gorillas at the Volcanoes National Park are the subject of a new 15 minute documentary entitled Hope which you can watch below. The short film revisits the mountain gorillas at the park, nearly 47 years after Dian Fossey began her work in the region, and explores the extreme, intensive and sometimes dangerous methods employed to protect the great apes. 

The film, narrated by Sir David Attenborough, takes a historical look back to 1967 when Dian Fossey began her work. Fewer than 300 mountain gorillas remained at the time, their population ravaged by poachers, who for years targeted the gorillas to make money, selling infant gorillas to zoos or the hands and heads of the adults as trophies to wealthy tourists. 

Dian Fossey was murdered in 1985, her original research centre destroyed, rebuilt and then destroyed again during the civil war in Rwanda in the 1990s. However, despite adversity, the work never stopped. Today the Karisoke Research Center has a new home where 120 people continue Dian's work, as the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International. 

Continued

Fossey Fund anti-poaching camp attacked - Ranger killed

Ranger was killed while on anti-poaching patrol

December 2012. A ranger employed by the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund has been killed during an attack on one of its anti-poaching camps in Rwanda, near Volcanoes National Park. A member of the anti-poaching team - Esdras Nsengiyumva - was killed by gunfire. The other rangers escaped and one suffered injuries due to a fall while getting away. The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International is deeply saddened by this death.

Various equipment, such as food, radios and camping gear, were stolen, and larger items were damaged or destroyed, such as solar panels and a water tank.

Second camp not attacked
Clare Richardson, president and CEO of the Fossey Fund, and Felix Ndagijimana, director of the Fossey Fund's Karisoke Research Center in Rwanda, report that the Fund's second anti-poaching camp in Rwanda was not harmed and that all other staff are safe and unharmed. Rwandan officials and military are on hand to assess the situation at the camp and elsewhere.

Although gorilla monitoring by Fossey Fund staff was halted, it is planned for the trackers to return to their daily monitoring soon.

The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund has worked in Rwanda for decades, carrying on the work started by its founder, Dr. Dian Fossey, more than 45 years ago, who was herself killed while protecting gorillas. Since then we have lost many other brave colleagues as well and faced many hard times. Today we grieve to add the name of our anti-poacher Esdras Nsengiyumva to this list. The Fossey Fund will be providing assistance to his family and is determined to rebuild the anti-poaching camp, so that this important work can continue on. Visit gorilla fund for updates.

The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International is dedicated to the conservation and protection of gorillas and their habitats in Africa. Founded by Dr. Dian Fossey as the Digit Fund and renamed after her death, the Fossey Fund operates the Karisoke Research Center in Rwanda, and maintains a staff of scientists, trackers and anti-poaching patrols in Volcanoes National Park. The Fossey Fund also monitors Grauer's gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and operates extensive education, health and other community outreach programs.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/fossey-ranger.html

CONGO’S ANTI RWANDA MILITIAS SUSPECTED IN RAID ON GORILLA MONITORING CAMP

The attack yesterday morning on the Kazi Camp, operated by the Diane Fossey Gorilla Fund International, which killed one staff and saw others injured, was swiftly denounced by several sources close to the powers that be in Rwanda. Fingers were also immediately pointed to perpetrators suspected to have come across the open wilderness border from Congo Dr as the most likely scenario, as the attackers mainly concentrated to loot communications equipment which with the set frequencies will let them listen into Rwandan park personnel talking among themselves and to security units deployed along the porous border. The camp itself, after being looted of everything mobile, was then destroyed, which included expensive solar panels and other equipment on the ground, leaving only a shell of what used to be one of two key camps for monitoring and research in the Volcanoes National Park.

Continued:  http://wolfganghthome.wordpress.com/2012/12/03/congo-militias-suspected-in-attack-on-rwandan-gorilla-monitoring-and-research-camp/

Mountain gorilla population grows

Some good news at last, but the threats are ever present and the huge conservation effort must continue

November 2012. The total world population of mountain gorillas has risen to 880, according to census data released by the Uganda Wildlife Authority. The number of mountain gorillas has increased from the 2010 estimate of 786 after a count in Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable National Park. The critically endangered animals live only in two locations, Bwindi and the Virunga Massif area, which spans parts of Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and Rwanda.

Growing population for 10 years

A total of 400 mountain gorillas have been confirmed to be living in Bwindi and 480 were counted in the Virunga Massif in 2010. Both populations have had positive trends in population growth over the last decade.

"Mountain gorillas are the only great ape experiencing a population increase. This is largely due to intensive conservation efforts and successful community engagement," said David Greer, WWF's African Great Ape Programme Manager.

Major tourist attraction
Many mountain gorilla groups have been habituated to human presence and are a major tourist draw. In addition to supporting the important surveillance activities of park staff, visitor revenue has been reinvested into community projects such as wells and schools.

Threats - Snares, disease and habitat loss
The greatest current threats to mountain gorillas are entanglement in hunting snares, disease transfer from humans, and habitat loss. The prospect of oil exploration in Democratic Republic of the Congo's Virunga National Park by petroleum companies is also cause for concern.

Continued:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/gorilla-population012.html

Young mountain gorillas observed destroying poachers’ snares for the first time!

Some gorillas have learned to recognise and remoce snares - Sadly not all
July 2012. Field staff of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund observed several young gorillas in Rwanda, from a family of gorillas known as Kuryama's group, destroying snares set by poachers!

Deactivated 2 snares
"We knew that gorillas do this but all of the reported cases in the past were carried out by adult gorillas, mostly silverbacks," said Veronica Vecellio, gorilla program coordinator at the Karisoke Research Center. "Today, two juveniles and one blackback from Kuryama's group worked together to deactivate two snares and how they did it demonstrated an impressive cognitive skill."

Gorilla killed by snare - Second this year
Snares set by poachers are one of the worst threats to the safety of the mountain gorillas. The timing of this is especially significant in light of the death just two days ago, on Sunday, of juvenile Ngwino, who was caught in a snare. The rope made severe cuts into her leg, resulting in gangrene, as well as a dislocated shoulder caused by trying to escape from the snare. Although Fossey Fund staff intervened and, with vets from the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project (MGVP), made every effort to save her, it was too late. Hers is the second death this year resulting from a gorilla being caught in a poacher's snare.

Young gorillas destroying snares
John Ndayambaje, Fossey Fund field data coordinator, reported that he saw one snare very close to the group; since the gorillas were moving in that direction, he decided to deactivate it. Silverback Vuba pig-grunted at him (a vocalization of warning) and at the same time juveniles Dukore and Rwema together with blackback Tetero ran toward the snare and together pulled the branch used to hold the rope. They saw another snare nearby and as quickly as before they destroyed the second branch and pulled the rope out of the ground.

Continued:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/gorilla-snares.html

Rare gorilla twins born in wild

Wednesday, 9 February 2011

Twin mountain gorillas have been born in Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda.

The babies born on 3 February 2011 are only the fifth set of twins ever recorded in the history of Rwanda's mountain gorillas.

The last reported birth of mountain gorilla twins was in 2004, according to conservation group The Gorilla Organization.

Fewer than 800 mountain gorillas are thought to remain in the wild, though numbers are thought to be increasing.

"It is very rare to hear of mountain gorilla twins, so we were all excited to hear the news from rangers yesterday," says Emmanuel Bugingo, Programme Manager in Rwanda for The Gorilla Organization, which has staff in London, UK and Africa.

Double gain

The twins are both boys.

"Gorilla mothers usually have only one baby every four years or so - which is one reason why they are so vulnerable - so twins give a rare double gain in one birth," adds Says Ian Redmond, Chairman of the Ape Alliance, an international coalition of organisations and individuals that works for the conservation and welfare of apes.

The mother, known fondly to rangers as Kabatwa, belongs to the Hirwa group of gorillas.

The last mountain gorilla twins, born in 2004, were named Byishimo and Impano by the President of the Republic of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, at a gorilla naming ceremony in 2005.

Mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) are a subspecies of the Eastern gorilla.

The Eastern Lowland Gorilla (G. b. graueri) is the other subspecies, and is the most populous, at about 5,000 individuals.

Last year a census revealed that the population of endangered mountain gorillas has increased significantly in the last 30 years.

A survey carried out in the Virunga Massif - where most of the world's mountain gorillas live - revealed 480 individuals living in 36 groups.

Conservationists say that, 30 years ago, only 250 gorillas survived in this same area.

Along with the 302 mountain gorillas from a census in Bwindi in 2006, the world population is now more than 780.

The Virunga Massif includes three contiguous national parks: Parc National des Virunga in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda.
The only other location where mountain gorillas exist is Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda, and scientists are considering elevating the few hundred remaining Bwindi gorillas to the rank of subspecies.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9391000/9391967.stm
(Submitted by Dawn Holloway)

See also: http://news.uk.msn.com/environment/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=156089219

Rwanda 'baptises' 18 endangered baby gorillas

Rwanda "baptised" 18 rare baby mountain gorillas at what has become an annual event to highlight the plight of the endangered species.

The baby gorillas, however, were not physically present at the colourful ceremony at the edge of a national park where the primates live.

Eighteen masked people represented the gorillas at the event, which included songs and dances, attended by senior government officials including Prime Minister Bernard Makuza.

Tourism Minister Monique Nsanzabaganwa said government was expanding the the size of the volcanic park by 10 percent by the end of the year in a bid to promote the conservation of the gorillas.

"This campaign is to encourage gorilla conservation initiatives and to promote the local tourism industry," she said.

"Tourism remains one of Rwanda's key sectors," she added.

The ceremony was the fifth of its kind in Rwanda in as many years. A total of 103 gorillas have been baptised and officially received a name so far, according to AFP count.

The world's last mountain gorillas are concentrated in the mountains straddling the border between the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.

They number around 700 in all, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20090620/tsc-rwanda-baptises-18-endangered-baby-g-b1f5339.html