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Protecting the Mountain Gorillas of Virunga
Rebels Vandalize & Retain Control of Rumangabo; Rangers Trapped In Forest With No Food or Water
It is 8.30am. Rumangabo Park HQ is still held by Nkunda’s rebels - they spent the night in the main building and destroyed large parts of it by busting down doors and vandalizing. Our 50+ Rangers who fled yesterday have spent the night in the forest with no food, water, or shelter. The situation for them is becoming desperate as the area of rebel control has grown since the fighting broke out yesterday and we fear they are now sitting in an isolated pocket of forest with no hope of getting to the road.
I managed to speak to my assistant Barake, who is one of the fleeing Rangers, early this morning. He said fortunately no one is injured, but that the forest is thick with militia groups and it is very dangerous to move through the forest. They spent the night on top of a hill.
Emmanuel has been in touch with some representatives of the armed groups to request that they do not attack our Rangers.
Rumangabo Park HQ at the beginning of September in quieter times. Now this building has been vandalized and the rebels are camped out there claiming they are going to expand their area of control far and wide.
Crucially the rebels now control the Mwaro Corridor, which is the section of forest near Gatovu that connects the Gorilla Sector to the rest of Virunga National Park, as you can see in this map. It is also a key supply route for the city of Goma and it is where we often catch people making charcoal. There is heavy fighting going on there right now between the rebels and the Congolese army.
I have to go now and try and get more news about the fighting to get my Rangers to safety. I cannot remember such a desperate situation in a very long time.
Please help us and let your representatives and governments know what is going on in my country.
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8 Responses to “Rebels Vandalize & Retain Control of Rumangabo; Rangers Trapped In Forest With No Food or Water”
Thanks for the update, Innocent. I hope the rangers trapped in the forest can hold on long enough for a rescue or a cease fire.
It’s clear what Nkunda’s intentions are at this point - he stole all the ranger’s equipment and intends to use Rumangabo as one of his bases. If it’s true that he’s making a big play to take over Virunga, then he’ll have plenty of money from burning down the forest for charcoal. So much for his earlier claims about being a conservationist, eh? Not that anyone with a functioning brain believed him but with the world watching you’d think he’d try to present a more sympathetic image.
As for us here in the States, it’s time to start writing and expressing our deep concern - again - to our Congressional representatives and to the presidential candidates about the situation in Virunga. You can use congress.org as an easy-to-use portal for writing to your reps. Get busy.
s.
Sheryl,
I plan to write in………I am so sorry to hear this awful news! This mess really needs to end somehow
Thanks Innocent. I hope your men are able to make it to safety soon. This is a horrible situation. I will write all my representatives far and wide. Take care. Lisa
[...] yesterday still haven’t reached safety and appear to be isolated and surrounded. No good. See Rebels Vandalize & Retain Control of Rumangabo; Rangers Trapped In Forest With No Food or Water for more complete [...]
You rangers have fought with more compassion and bravery than most people can imagine. I pray for your lives and hope my small donation contributes to your safe escape as you have contributed to the gorillas’ safety. I pray for the gorillas as humans are allowed so close as to infect and kill them. I pray for the forest that is the only hope for the region and the gorillas. You have fought the good fight. Greed and violence is prevailing in spite of your heroism. Thanks to this blog for making us aware and giving us some way to help in a some way. Go with God.
We hold you and the gorillas in our hearts and will contact representatives and senators. People are sending donations to help.
My god, is there an end to that awful war in Congo? For the sake of the country, its people and its wonderful treasure, the forest and all its fauna. As Carol said, greed and violence are prevailing in spite of your heroism, but hundreds of people support the Rangers, their mission and whenever the goal is achieved we’ll celebrate the victory of the good people against those who can sell their mother for a few cents. Meanwhile, at the distance, though I don’t carry a machine gun or a milk-filled bottle for an orphan baby gorilla, I feel I’m a Ranger, and I wonder how to do to fight at your side.
Questions to who may concern: ¿Is there ANY way to bring the presence of UN’s blue helmets to the region?
¿Are you planning to recruit more and more rangers with the donations received? The more the rangers, the closer the goal should be.
And the saddest part is that our beloved mountain gorillas seem to be on their last days. I hope they don’t touch them. I’d like to enter and read that the Rangers counterattacked and won, but that’ll put in a high risk not only the rangers but the gorillas. I think the attackers are trying to reach the gorilla area to use them as hostages and, unfortunately, kill them when they don’t need them anymore. I hope, if there’s a Mother Nature above all us human beings, that she’ll make justice for what’s hers, and not let my sad but realist thoughts come true.
HOLD ON, RANGERS!