Virunga national park in Congo closes to tourists until 2019

Security review to take place after 12 rangers are killed and two Britons are abducted

Jason BurkeAfrica correspondent

Mon 4 Jun 2018 15.29 BSTLast modified on Tue 5 Jun 2018 07.58 BST

Africa’s oldest national park will close its gates to visitors until 2019 following the death of a ranger and the abduction of two British tourists by local rebels this year.

Virunga national park in the Democratic Republic of Congo is home to a world-famous population of mountain gorillas but has been hit by rising instability and violence in the country.

At least 12 rangers have been killed in clashes with militia and smugglers in Virunga in the last 10 months, one of the bloodiest periods in the park’s history.

In May, one of the many local militia – known as Mai Mai – attacked a vehicle that had been carrying tourists from the city of Goma, about 30 miles from the park headquarters, to their accommodation. A park ranger, Rachel Makissa Baraka, 25, was shot dead, a Congolese driver was wounded and the two British tourists, Robert Jesty and Bethan Davies, were held by militia overnight.

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Cell phones are endangering gorillas and chipanzees

by Brian Galloway

Chimpanzees and gorillas are both critically endangered species, and believe it or not, one of the contributing factors to these primates’ ongoing struggle is the smartphone that you use every day, one conversation expert told National Geographic during a recent interview.

In the interview, author and conservationist Nancy Merrick explained that the capacitors used in cell phones typically contain Columbite-tantalite or Coltan, a black tar-like material that is found in the Congo and can be refined into a powder than holds an electric charge.

Coltan, which is also used in laptops and some other types of electronic devices, has reportedly caused a considerable amount of illegal militia activity related to its mining and seeing, Merrick explained. This activity has also helped spur on deforestation in the Congo basin, one of the main reasons why the chimp and gorilla populations are on the decline.

“We’re already seeing that where chimps and gorillas live near human habitats their forests are being rapidly converted to agriculture,” Merrick, who was being interviewed to promote her new book ChimpSaver.org, told Nat Geo on Wednesday.

Read more at

Church of England may sell £3m stake in mining firm over fears for gorilla haven

Move follows film backed by Leonardo DiCaprio and pleas by environmentalists to protect Congo’s Virunga park

Jamie Doward

Saturday 7 February 2015 20.05 GMT

The Church of England is considering withdrawing its investment in a controversial British mining firm whose operations in a war-torn region of Africahave alarmed both human rights groups and environmentalists.

The church – led by archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, a former oil executive – has said that it may sell its near £3m stake in Soco International unless it receives a number of reassurances from the company, whose decision to carry out a seismic survey in Virunga national park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo features in an acclaimed documentary backed by Leonardo DiCaprio.

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United Nations launches emergency appeal for elephants of the Congo

Kevin Heath / 16 hours ago

The United Nations Rapid Response Facility has launched an emergency appeal to raise funds to fight elephant poachers in the Garamba National Park in the DR Congo. The launch comes just days after Mr. Martin Kobler, who heads the UN Organisation Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) said more international help is needed to stop the poachers.

Kobler visited the Garamba National Park last week and said, “Armed group activity is eastern DRC is largely funded by the proceeds from illegal trade and trafficking of the country’s rich natural resources. Our efforts to track down these negative forces must also address the drivers of the conflict,”

Despite increase action by rangers of the Garamba National Park the toll of elephant deaths keep mounting. Between April and July this year 78 elephants were killed which represented 4% of the parks elephant population. An unsustainable level of losses.

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Police officer shoots tortoise

8 July 2014, 11:25

A Ugandan police officer has reportedly shot a tortoise dead after being attacked by the "aggressive" creature.

The incident happened in the Nebbi district in the north of the country near the Congolese border, reports the BBC.

Charles Onegiu told the New Vision newspaper that the animal entered his home and attacked him while he was enjoying a post-work cup of tea.

"I tried to scare it but the tortoise became very aggressive. I took a stick to chase it but it instead became more violent," he said.

After attempting to fend off the tortoise with a plastic chair, he said he "instinctively" drew his firearm and shot it dead.

A local Christian group later prayed for Onegiu, "before burning the dead reptile to ashes".

Nebbi district police commander Onesmus Mwesigwa said that his officer's extreme reaction to the attack may have been down to local superstitions.

After consulting local elders and colleagues, Mwesigwa appealed for calm "from residents and police officers, maintaining that lives are not in danger as they may have assumed".

http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quirkies/Police_officer_shoots_tortoise

Croc panic: Runaway crocodile may be behind deadly Congo plane crash

Published time: July 12, 2014 16:34

A 2010 plane crash in the Congo that killed 20 people may have been caused by passengers surging towards the flight deck to get away from an escaped crocodile, causing the plane to stall, a UK coroner's court heard.

The doomed plane was piloted by 62 year-old Danny Philemotte, who also owned the airline, and co-piloted by 39-year old Chris Wilson from Cheltenham, England.

It was en route from Kinshasa to Bandundu, when it crashed one kilometer short of the runway, killing all three crew members and 17 passengers. There was one survivor who became a crucial witness.

An inquest into the crash is taking place in Gloucester, England, near where the co-pilot came from. It found that an escaped crocodile, which managed to gnash its way out of a bag, may have caused a stampede in the cabin, causing the plane to nose dive.

First officer Chris Wilson ditched his job as a cabin crew member with a British airline and moved to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to follow his dream of becoming a pilot.

He joined the Congolese company Filair in order to clock up the 1,000 hours needed to get a commercial pilot's license.

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Colossal peat bog discovered in Congo

By Rebecca Morelle

Science correspondent, BBC News

Footage shows the team trekking to find the bog, as Dr Simon Lewis explains

A vast peatland has been discovered in a remote part of Congo-Brazzaville.

The bog covers an area the size of England and is thought to contain billions of tonnes of peat.

Scientists say investigating the carbon-rich material could shed light on 10,000 years of environmental change in this little-studied region.

Dr Simon Lewis, from the University of Leeds, said: "It's remarkable that there are parts of the planet that are still uncharted territory."

He added: "Few people venture into these swamps as they are quite difficult places to move around in and work in."

Satellite images initially hinted at the presence of the enormous tropical peatland, but an expedition, starting from Itanga village in April, confirmed it was there.

The discovery team, from the University of Leeds, the Wildlife Conservation Society-Congo and Congo-Brazzaville's Marien Ngouabi University, had to contend with dwarf crocodiles, gorillas and elephants as they explored the area. But they said the biggest challenge was soggy feet.

Video and more

Nature Studies: Animals are also victims of war - and in Congo, that means the beautiful okapi

MICHAEL MCCARTHY

Tuesday 26 November 2013

For ages, it was just a myth; soon, it may be just a memory. The okapi, the "forest giraffe" from the Congo - that gentle, fascinating beast known to Western science only since 1901 - is now threatened with extinction. War, illegal hunting and habitat destruction are going to do for it.

How quickly it all seems to be going, does it not? This mammal and that bird, this turtle and that frog…so many of them sliding down the slope to oblivion, all around the world, as revealed today in the latest annual update of the Red List of threatened species, compiled by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Read on

Gorillas reintroduced into Congo & Gabon are thriving

The reintroduction of western lowland gorillas by The Aspinall Foundation to areas of Africa where they have been hunted to extinction appears to be working, according to a scientific study.

October 2013. The Aspinall Foundation's reintroduction of western lowland gorillas to areas of Africa where they have been hunted to extinction appears to be working, according to a new scientific study. 

Critically Endangered

Western lowland gorillas are classified by the World Conservation Union as Critically Endangered, based on a projected 80% decline in the wild over just three generations, ranking them alongside the most threatened species on the planet. Reintroduction of gorillas to protected areas from where they have previously been exterminated is still considered controversial, but a pioneering, long-term programme to do just that is starting to show it may be possible after all.

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Healthy elephant numbers but gorilla decline recorded in Congo's Odzala-Kokoua National Park

Increased anti-poaching efforts to combat greater encroachment

October 2013. An estimated 9,600 forest elephants still reside in Odzala-Kokoua National Park in Republic of Congo, according to the results of a wildlife census commissioned by African Parks in 2012, but just released. Whilst higher than expected, this healthy number is believed to be a result of compression, with elephants fleeing highly poached areas outside the park and moving into the safety of the centre of Odzala.

The Odzala census was conducted by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) on behalf of African Parks. A total of 83 transects covering 208 kilometres were walked during the survey, which was a follow up to censuses conducted in 2005 and 2008. WCS recalibrated its results from its previous surveys to ensure consistency of analysis over the three survey periods.

Dr Fiona Maisels, who supervised the census, said the results indicated that an estimated 9,600 elephants currently live in the Park (with 95% confidence limits between 7,500 and 12,400). Of these, 65% reside in the southern sector. "There has been no significant change in elephant density since the first comprehensive survey of 2005," she said.

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Another poaching gang broken up in Central Africa

Increasing co-operation between Gabon & Congo helping the fight against elephant poaching

June 2013. Jean Marie Mabamza, a Congolese man believed to be a ring-leader of an elephant poaching gang that targeted Gabon's Mwagna National Park has been arrested in a joint operation by Gabon and Congo authorities.

Jean Marie Mabamza, the ring-leader of a large network of poachers, was arrested on Congolese territory when he came to collect ivory and weapons from his fighters.

At the time of his arrest, Jean Marie Mabamza was in possession of 12 ivory tusks, two military weapons and a quantity of ammunition. During questioning by the authorities, the defendant admitted that his employees hunted in a nearby Gabon reserve.

The arrest of Jean Marie Mabamza is the result of some strong cooperation that is increasingly taking place between officials of Gabon and Congo. 

Mwagna National Park

The Mwagna National Park and bai (Forest clearing) is sacred to the pygmies a haven forest elephants, monkeys, forest hogs, bongo antelopes, sitatungas and duikers.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/gabon-poaching-arrest.html

Possibility of the existence of the Congolese giant spider

Spiders might exist that have crawled out of nightmares. They're called the "J'ba FoFi" (giant spider, pronounced ch-bah foo fee) in Central Africa. 

Many people might define a giant spider as one that's bigger than their hand. Some may think bigger and envision the horrifying Goliath 'bird eating spider' that dwells in the darker corners of the ancient Amazon rain forest. That eight-legged terror spans a whopping 14-inches.

Unfortunately, those people aren't thinking big enough.

The size of the Congolese Giant spider-when its legs are included-is said to be up to five feet across.

According to cryptozoologists (researchers that investigate unknown creatures that have not been recognized by orthodox science), most of the J'ba FoFi dwell in the Congo. Natives tell stories of the giant web-nests the spiders build, similar to a trap-door spider.

Continued:  http://www.helium.com/items/1824206-possibility-of-the-existence-of-the-congolese-giant-spider

INCREDIBLY HUMANLIKE NEW SPECIES OF BLOND MONKEY DISCOVERED IN CONGO

The constant news drumbeat of wildlife trafficking, habitat destruction, and extinctions can get pretty damn exhausting. And how bad was it when those new Caribbean lizards were announced with the caveat that they are likely already extinct? Well, here’s a ray of sunshine amidst the gloom: A new species of monkey has been described in the still-mysterious rainforests in the central of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Researchers said that it’s only the second new monkey species discovered in 28 years.

According to a paper published in PLoS One, the lesula (Cercopithecus lomamiensis) is a novel species of guenon monkeys, which are endemic to sub-Saharan Africa. Lesulas, named by local hunters, are medium-sized, slim monkeys with long arms and legs, and are notable for their surprisingly blond facial hair and incredibly human-like faces. I mean, come on. Look at that guy!

Read the rest at Motherboard


http://www.vice.com/read/incredibly-humanlike-new-species-of-blond-monkey-discovered-in-congo

Bioluminescence: lighting up the natural world

The forest floor is barely visible in the low light conditions when it suddenly bursts into life, becoming a neon green blanket of light.

The source of this eerie light is a bioluminescent fungus, known only by the name given to it by locals: "chimpanzee fire".

Filmmaker Verity White was able to catch this phenomenon on camera for the Congo episode of the BBC/Discovery series Africa using long-exposure time-lapse photography techniques.

This bizarre species was filmed in the Goualougo triangle, near the Dzanga river in Congo Brazzaville.

The existence of the fungus was so little-known that even experienced field scientists had never seen it.

It was only when Ms White asked local guides if they had ever heard of the glowing fungus that its whereabouts came to light.

"On the off-chance of seeing it, I took a time-lapse camera with me," Ms White tells BBC Nature.

Continued:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/21011428

Bonobos Will Share With Strangers Before Acquaintances

Jan. 2, 2013 — You're standing in line somewhere and you decide to open a pack of gum. Do you share a piece with the coworker standing to one side of you, or with the stranger on the other?

Most humans would choose the person they know first, if they shared at all.

But bonobos, those notoriously frisky, ardently social great apes of the Congo, prefer to share with a stranger before sharing with an animal they know. In fact, a bonobo will invite a stranger to share a snack while leaving an acquaintance watching helplessly from behind a barrier.

"It seems kind of crazy to us, but bonobos prefer to share with strangers," said Brian Hare, a professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke University. "They're trying to extend their social network." And they apparently value that more than maintaining the friendships they already have.

To measure this willingness to share, Hare and graduate student Jingzhi Tan ran a series of experiments with bonobos living in the Lola ya Bonobo sanctuary in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. The experiments involved piles of food and enclosures that the test subjects were able to unlock and open. Tan and Hare describe their work in a paper in the Jan. 2, 2013 edition of PLOS ONE.

Cotninued:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130102173312.htm

41 new species of moths discovered on Congo

Tiny leaf mining moths have very unusual habits

December 2012. In the rain forests of the Congo, where mammals and birds are hunted to near-extinction, an impenetrable sound of buzzing insects blankets the atmosphere.

Because it is a fairly inaccessible region with political unrest, much of the Congo's insect biodiversity remains largely unexplored. In a new book, researchers at the University of Florida and the Royal Museum of Central Africa in Belgium provide insect biodiversity information for this area in Central Africa that is increasingly under threat from habitat destruction.

41 new species
Focusing on a group of leaf-mining moths, researchers name 41 new species, nearly doubling the number previously known from the region. Leaf miners occur worldwide and the biodiversity research is important because some species are agricultural pests, while others help control unwanted invasive plant species. Some are also known to delay plant aging.

"When we began this project, we had no idea how many species would be out there," said co-author Akito Kawahara, assistant curator of Lepidoptera at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the UF campus. "In a two-week field trip, we discovered nearly 50 potentially new species, which is really surprising. There is still an enormous amount of life out there that we know very little of."

Tiny moths
Lead author Jurate DePrins has been working on leaf miners in the Congo for nearly 10 years and was joined by Kawahara about five years ago. As the name suggests, the small moths burrow within leaves as larvae, making them particularly difficult to find. Adult moths measure only about 2 to 5 millimetres in length, but they can be extraordinarily beautiful with colourful markings and metallic scales, Kawahara said.

Flat caterpillars
"The caterpillars are completely flat so they can live inside the thin leaf," Kawahara said. "If you think of a regular caterpillar and then you squished it and shrunk it, that's what they look like."

After collecting caterpillars in the wild, researchers raise the larvae to adulthood on-site, a process that takes less than a week for some species.

Micro-world
"It's so hard to tell what's actually happening because they're so small and they get overlooked, but if you look at what is happening inside a leaf under a microscope, it's just an incredible world," Kawahara said. "You'll see a tiny wasp larva living within a caterpillar, and another, even smaller wasp larva living inside that larger wasp larva that is inside the moth larva. It really opens your eyes to this incredible, unknown world and makes you think, ‘What is going on here?' It's truly amazing."

Continued:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/leaf-mining.html

Discovery of Africa Moth Species Important for Agriculture, Controlling Invasive Plants

Dec. 20, 2012 — In the rain forests of the Congo, where mammals and birds are hunted to near-extinction, an impenetrable sound of buzzing insects blankets the atmosphere.

Because it is a fairly inaccessible region with political unrest, much of the Congo's insect biodiversity remains largely undiscovered. In a new monographic book published this week in Zootaxa, researchers at the University of Florida and the Royal Museum of Central Africa in Belgium provide insect biodiversity information for this area in Central Africa that increasingly undergoes habitat destruction.

Focusing on a group of leaf-mining moths, researchers name 41 new species, nearly doubling the number previously known from the region. Leaf miners occur worldwide and the biodiversity research is important because some species are agricultural pests, while others help control unwanted invasive plant species. Some are also known to delay plant aging.

"When we began this project, we had no idea how many species would be out there," said co-author Akito Kawahara, assistant curator of Lepidoptera at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the UF campus. "In a two-week field trip, we discovered nearly 50 potentially new species, which is really surprising. There is still an enormous amount of life out there that we know very little of."

Continued:  http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121220144122.htm

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/

Rebel attack on Virunga National Park ranger patrol kills three in DR Congo

More than 130 rangers have been killed in the last 15 years protecting wildlife. Please help support their families.

More than 130 rangers have been killed by rebels - Please help their families

October 2012. Armed Mai Mai rebels have again attacked a ranger in Congo's Virunga National Park, killing two ICCN park staff and one soldier who was assisting the rangers. In addition, three soldiers were wounded, one critically. Five Mai Mai PARECO rebels were killed during the attack, as well as two wounded and captured. The wounded rebels are currently in custody at the hospital in Vitshumbi.

The attack took place at Mwiga Bay, an area just west of the fishing settlement of Vitshumbi on Lake Edward in the park's central sector, where a dramatic increase in the presence of armed militias has led to a growing number of attacks on park staff.

The park's Chief Warden, Emmanuel de Merode, said after the attack, "The civil war has brought an influx of militias into the park, intent on poaching and attacking the local population. This is bringing overwhelming pressures on our small team of rangers whose duty it is to protect the wildlife and the people living in and around the park. Once again, we are deeply shocked and saddened by the deaths of our colleagues."

Civil war has made the park's staff highly vulnerable
The outbreak of civil war in May this year has provoked the withdrawal of the military from many areas of Virunga National Park, leaving the park's staff vulnerable to the many illegal armed groups that frequent the area.

Continued:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/virunga-rangers012.html

Two baby orphan Grauer’s gorillas confiscated in DRC

Baby Gorilla Trafficking Escalates in Civil War-Affected Eastern Congo 
September 2012. The Congolese Wildlife Authorities (ICCN) are increasingly concerned about the survival of Grauer's gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) following the rescue of two poached infant gorillas in separate incidents in September. Civil war and illegal resource extraction by armed militias in the areas where Grauer's gorillas live has made it extremely difficult for ICCN and other conservation groups to monitor and protect this endangered species. 

Civil war
Emmanuel de Merode, the Director for Virunga National Park said, "Civil War represents a breakdown in the rule of law, and this appears to have provoked a surge in the illegal trade in endangered species across Congo's eastern forests. Baby gorilla trafficking is terribly damaging for endangered gorilla populations because many members of the gorilla's family will probably have been killed to obtain the infant." 

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