Virtual Exhibitions > The Last Gorillas of the Congo • By Brent Stirton
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Evacuation of the bodies of 4 Mountain Gorillas
July 2007: Conservation Rangers from an Anti-Poaching unit work with locals to evacuate the bodies of 4 Mountain Gorillas killed in mysterious circumstances in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. CLICK ON THE IMAGE FOR THE GALLERY
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Virunga National Park
Scenes of part of the Southern sector of Virunga National Park, photographed at the CNDP (National Congress for the Defence of the People) rebel controlled Rumangabo, the ICCN (Institut Congolais pour la Conservacion de la Nature) Congolese Conservation authority headquarters of the Southern Sector of Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo, 24 November 2008.
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Mountian Gorilla
Just over 200 of the extremely rare mountain gorillas, of which there are only 680 in the world, live in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
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Murdered Gorillas
A Silver-Back Alpha male, the leader of the group was shot, three females were also killed.
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Conservation Rangers help remove bodies
Over 100 Rangers have been killed in their efforts to protect the Gorrillas of Virunga, one of the world's most endangered species. The Rangers receive a salary based on donations to Wildlife Direct and perform one of the most dangerous jobs in the world of wildlife conservation. Here Rangers from an Anti-Poaching unit work with locals to evacuate the bodies of four Mountain Gorrillas killed in mysterious circumstances in Virunga National Park July 24, 2007.
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Murder of Gorillas
Two of the females had babies and the other was pregnant. The two babies were not found and it is thought that they will have died of stress and dehydration.
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Murdered Gorillas
The motivation for the killing is not known but it is suspected that there are political motivations. The local illegal Charcoal industry clashes with conservation efforts in this very poor area and Rangers have been threatened, tortured and killed as a result of this clash of political and economic wills.
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Rebel Soldier Recruits
14 May 2008. CNDP rebel soldier recruits training in a CNDP camp in the Virunga National Park. Behind them is the Mikeno Volcano sector, home to the Mountain Gorillas of the DRC.
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Charcoal Production in a former Chimpanzee habitat
April 5th, 2008. ICCN Rangers conduct an anti-charcoal patrol in Virunga National Park. This area is a former chimpanzee habitat and can never be restored from this level of devastation. This area they are patrolling has been devastated by illegal charcoal producation and here they witness the largest production area they have encountered thus far--8 active charcoal kilns and a huge area of at least a kilometer square where the forest has been cut to the ground and trees burnt for charcoal production. Rwanda recently banned the production of charcoal which has led to increased prices and demand, and the charcoal industry is rumoured to be worth around $30 million a year.
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Rangers make arrests
ICCN Park rangers conduct a raid into an area of illegal charcoal production. They arrested a number of mules, poor people from displaced communities who are being used by the real powers behind charcoal production in the area. These players include members of the Congolese military, the FDLR Interhamwe rebels and big businessmen in Goma.
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The Rebel Leader
Rebel Congolese Tutsi General Leader Laurent Nkunda, photographed in April 2008. His irregular troops have occupied the Gorilla Sector of the park. His CNDP army extends its power in the region and has controled over 50% of the park and all of the Southern section. In January 2009 he was captured during a joint operation between the Congolese and Rwandese militaries. Rwandan officials have yet to say if he will be handed over to DR Congo, which has issued an international warrant for his arrest.
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Park ranger Innocent Mburas, Mountain Gorilla expert
Park ranger Innocent Mburas, 37, the acknowledged Mountain Gorilla expert, back in the Gorilla sector at Bukima for the first time in 15 months of fighting and uncertainty, 25 November 2008. Since September 2007 no ICCN Ranger has set foot in this sector, almost all had to flee the fighting and it has not been safe to return.
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Emmanuel De Merode, Director of Virunga National Park
November 24th 2008. Emmanuel De Merode, the Director of Virunga National Park, returns to the looted conservation authority after evacuating during renewed fighting. De Merode has performed some remarkable diplomacy and has succesfully negotiated with CNDP and General Nkunda to allow the return of the ICCN Rangers to the Park. Now they have begun working on a Gorilla census to determine the effects of the war on the mountain Gorilla population. It is a remarkable case of conservation winning out over politics.
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Paulin Ngobobo, Chief Warden
Paulin Ngobobo, Chief Warden of the Southern Sector of Virunga National Park. Ngobobo has been persecuted repeatedly for his conservation stance by both Congolese politicans and the Congolese military. Earlier in 2007 he was attempting to work against the illegal charcoal trade which is decimating the local forests. Ngobobo was grabbed by the military and in front of the villagers he was attempting to inform, his shirt was removed and he was given 80 lashes across his back. He was recently arrested and is under investigation by local authorities who are threatened by his conservation stance. It is speculated widely that Ngobobo's clashes with his senior last year are what prompted the killing of the six gorillas in July 2007.
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Sighting of Baby Gorillas
November 25th 2008. The first sighting of Mountain Gorilla by conservation authorities in over 15 months, and there appears to be at least 5 new births in the Kabirizi family.
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November 2008: The first sighting of new Mountain Gorilla babies in Virunga National Park in over 15 months.
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April 2008: An orphaned gorilla named Mapendo gets into bed with her caregiver and goes to sleep. Mapendo was rescued by members of the UN peacekeeping force from locals who were looking to sell the babies on the black market.
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Grave Markers
Feburary 5th. The grave markers of Gorillas from Virunga National Park laid out at a Ranger Station.
The DRC has the highest toll of human casualties of any country since the second world war, a figure in the region of 4.6 million dead as a result of war and resultant displacement, disease, starvation and ongoing militia violence. -
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