gorilla.cd

I have just completed the profiles of the mountain gorillas we lost back in July 2007, with Diddy and Samantha. I also wrote the profile for Nsekuye, the adult female killed in June 2007 of the Kabirizi family. It stirs up many memories writing the profiles and looking through the photographs.

Please just click on any of the photos above and it will link to the profile.

Of course we need to make sure this kind of atrocity does not happen again and we have been working hard on the briquette project - the alternative to charcoal. Balemba and Bosco will be posting on the progress made in coming days… as will Virginia who is coming back to work with us on developing a feasible alternative to the illegal charcoal that is destroying the forests of Virunga.

Watch this space…

Last night the patrol post at Bukima was visited by a herd of elephants. It was very dark and we could not see them, but the sounds of them trumpeting and crashing through the forest was impressive. We see a lot of signs left behind by elephants in the Mikeno Sector, but we almost never see them.

Unlike the elephants further north in Kabaraza and Rwindi (see map) these forest elephants have not been heavily poached for ivory. There are less than 200 elephants now left in the park, so the Mikeno Sector is an important haven for them and the Rangers will do their best to keep it that way.

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An elephant path

Elephant dung

Rangers Sebanya and Bazimenyera hold an elephant bone

A tree knocked over by the elephants that passed through Bukima

The destruction of the tree left a gap in the forest canopy

Last week when we found the Munyaga family group and saw that Bilali had a new baby, it was obvious that we had to name the baby after Safari Kakule, the Ranger who was killed in the line of duty earlier this month.

Below is a video I filmed of Kakule the baby gorilla with a very tired Bilali:

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In the late afternoons I often see groups of children passing our camp in Bukima carrying big plastic containers. It is their job to fetch the water for their families to cook, wash, and drink. I was confused as to where they were getting the water, so I followed them.

I was was horrified to find that this was their source of water- a stagnant pond/mudhole which they share with cattle:
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This was just another reminder of the conditions in which most people live in the Congo. This “water source” was less than 100 meters from the park boundaries. If we are to expect the people who live around Virunga to respect the park and avoid poaching or destroying the forest, their standard of life must get better.

There are already plans afoot to build schools on the outskirts of the Mikeno Sector, but clearly we also need to look into getting the locals access to cleaner drinking water.
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Even with their heavy loads, the children managed to smile

Following the re-discovery of the Munyaga family last week, we have today published the results of the gorilla population survey that the Rangers have undertaken over the past couple months. The news are very good- the population of habituated mountain gorillas has increased 12.5% from 72 to 81. That is quite amazing, considering what the Gorilla Sector has been through over the past year. Read the full story »

Since 25 October 2008 we have raised $60,455 in online donations for the Virunga Appeal, from a total of 751 donors. That is an average of $80.50 per donation.  I posted on 4 January about donations and uploaded receipts to show you how monies have been spent. Read the full story »