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Protecting the Mountain Gorillas of Virunga

The Rangers’ Journey Through The Forest

31 Oct 2008 Filed under (Rangers, Threats) by Diddy @ 6:29 pm

I have been assigned the task of locating the missing Rangers.  We maintain a list so that can try to get news and inform their worried families.  We are down to 23 who are completely missing.  We get very broken information from the Rangers who survived the journey, and an occasional call from the Rangers who stayed behind in Rumangabo.  They are able to charge their phones on the generator of the cell phone tower, but that will probably run out of fuel some time, and the phones will stop working.

This is the journey that the rangers make through the forest.  As you can see, the conflict zone (in red) has spread across much of the southern half of the province and most of the park has been engulfed.  Laurent Nkunda’s troops have moved north, beyond the station at Kabaraza, which was badly bombed two days ago.  The Rangers have to walk through the forests and lava fields for over 40km to get to where we are.  Some of them managed to go north to Rutshuru and Kiwanja, but those areas are now occupied by CNDP rebels, and they have taken down the cellphone network, so we are unable to make regular contact with them.

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4 Responses to “The Rangers’ Journey Through The Forest”

  1. Divon Divon Says: 31 Oct 2008

    Guys, please contact me asap - let’s figure out together how Google can help - we have experience in helping with similar situations elsewhere in the world. divon@google.com

  2. emmanuelmfbconnected Emmanuel Says: 31 Oct 2008

    Divon, we’ve had our fingers crossed for a message like your’s. I’ll write immediately. Many thanks

  3. …My heart’s in Accra » The Congo War, take three? …My heart’s in Accra » The Congo War, take three? Says: 1 Nov 2008

    [...] war zone. Nkunda’s rebels have now seized the headquarters of the park - the team is now trying to find 50 rangers who’ve fled into the jungle, and are looking for places to make phonecalls and let their families know they’re [...]

  4. Gorilla Protection » 23 rangers still missing, one dead Gorilla Protection » 23 rangers still missing, one dead Says: 1 Nov 2008

    [...] the Virunga National Park  and ICCN staff are not faring as well. It was very saddening to read Diddy post on the OfficialVirunga website, describing the impossible situation that some rangers are in. [...]

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