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Protecting the Mountain Gorillas of Virunga
Gorillas with a Bad Habit: Raiding Crops
Since the morning of the gorilla massacre in July 2007, the wanderings of the Rugendo family has continued to worry us. Unfortunately, even though the family has a new leader, after Senkekwe was killed, they still move very close to the edge of the park, often moving into people’s fields and eating their crops.
Kongomani eating stalks of maize
This is a real problem, because it creates a lot of tension with local farmers, who lose their valued crops, and puts the Rugendo family at risk. The Lulengo family also have a bad habit of leaving the park, and the Humba gorillas were found in a field in mid-February.
The threat of human/animal conflict is real. Back in 2003, a juvenile in the Rugendo group called Bahati (whose mother Neza was subsequently killed in the unrelated 2007 attack) was stoned to death by locals in a field in Bikenge
Pili-Pili caught red-handed
We are fighting to find a solution. In the past, IGCP helped to set up a local association called HUGO (HUmans + GOrillas), who guard the crops by pushing the gorillas back into the forest using drums. It seems the technique doesn’t work anymore- the gorillas are no longer scared of the drums. In fact, I’m told they enjoy the sound and allegedly start dancing when the drums appear (I think I’d like to see that).
We have arranged to continue working with the HUGOs, and we’re looking into other solutions, like a cycle path around the gorilla sector to help the rangers reach the trouble spots very quickly to resolve any problems. In any case, we’re worried as the Rugendo group are at risk, and we need to find a solution. Putting powdered pili-pili (hot chilly) on the crops close to the park might be a solution, as you can buy it by the sack-load in Rwanda.
Mukunda
For now, the Rugendo group has gone back into the park, since at the moment bamboo shoots are available, which they prefer. We have a few months to find a viable solution to a serious problem. Thoughts on this are most welcome…
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22 Responses to “Gorillas with a Bad Habit: Raiding Crops”
Would it be feasible for farmers and/or park rangers to plant wide banks of stinging nettles http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stinging_ne…) along the park’s borders, as a natural “buffer zone” of skin-irritating flora? They would have to be maybe 3 to 4 meters deep to present any real barrier, of course.
I suppose the larger question is whether gorillas are as susceptible to the irritant effect as humans are, given differing hair and skin density. The idea, of course, would be that if the gorillas had to wade through stinging nettles every time they went to raid the fields, they might decide it’s not worth the trouble. Humans have the luck of being able to keep their faces out of nettle patches, but knuckle-walking gorillas would be getting swatted in the nose with stinging hairs the entire time; not terribly comfortable I’d imagine.
Nettles are extremely irritating, but don’t cause any permanent damage — and are actually edible, if you’re brave enough to try. I suspect nettles could be an effective discouraging tactic against unwanted casual human incursions into the park as well.
It’s not much of a suggestion, but it’s the best I can think of that’s not only sustainable but also fairly low-maintenance - nettles are pretty much just weeds.
If you ever get video footage of the gorillas dancing to drums, I’ll buy you many beers.
I guess this is one of the pitfalls of habituating gorillas to human presence - they feel right at home around human habitations. I think you might end up having to construct some kind of physical barrier because, eventually, they’ll get used to the pili-pili powder or find a way around stinging nettles, etc. I sure don’t want to hear about any more gorillas being stoned to death.
s.
Is it not possible to build a fence, even a low voltage electric one that doesn’t harm the gorillas?
How much would it cost to buy the crops each year from the farmers? or for the park to buy the land from them and employ the farmers to grow the crops for the gorillras if the farmers are making money from the gorrilia’s it is not in there interest to harm them,
Hot pepper is a good idea, but it washes off and decomposes quickly if it gets wet, and needs to be reapplied. I have used it quite effectively to keep cats and squirrels out of places they are not supposed to be. If an animal gets in it once, they do not return. I had heard there was a company that was trying to stabilize the active ingredient, capsicum, for use as a non-toxic termite repellant, but a web search has turned up nothing. Good luck - your pictures remind me again that gorillas are such magnificent creatures!
Hi guys,
The idea of an irritant (such as chili, etc) is a good one that is being investigated in other areas of Arfrica at the moment. However, they are looking into that as a possible replacement for crops that raiding animals enjoy (such as maize, cassava, etc)…the idea being that the farmers can grow chili plants which are not as pallatable to the animals. It has been shown to work on farms that participated in the study.
Likewise, an irritant to be used as a barrier may work as well; however, one would need to plan to use a species that is common to Africa. I am not if stinging nettles are - I know that they grow in England and parts of the UK…but to try and grow a species that is introduced can cause many other problems as well, such as it invading other plants, or being a waste of money because it does not grow.
The crops are the villagers’ livelihoods, and many times they are growing for sustinence. To give them money, or buy their crops does not always work because, even though there is great money turnover from the bushmeat trade, they are not interested in buying food. They grow their own. They do buy and sell, yes, but sustinence farming tends to be the majority I think. Additionally, one can’t just go around buying all the farmers’ land… it wouldn’t end and conservation organizations do not have the money for that.
Low voltage electric fences are a new idea that has been shown to work against elephants in some area - and they are the hardest to deter from trampling crops because of their size. The fences I think do cost quite a bit of money though, so that is something that could maybe be accomplished through fundraising and beginning to provide these fences to farms that are closest to the forest which get raided the most. Of course, this initiative needs to be accompanied with GREAT planning, safety measures, etc so that everyone in the community understands the risks and repsonsibilities (for instance, so that no young children are injured).
Hope this helps! I am an M.Sc student at Oxford Brookes Uni in Primate Conservation if anyone has any questions! Feel free to email me at my (unofficial!) email.
Thanks Diana- well answered. I would also point out that the forest of the Gorilla Sector naturally has some pretty mean stinging plants, something I know from (painful) experience while tracking gorillas. So I think they probably are quite used to circumventing nettles…
Also- there is a stone wall (finished in 2003) that goes right around the Congolese side of the Gorilla Sector. It might stop buffaloes but it isn’t much of a barrier to gorillas.
Local groups help to maintain the wall, as you can see from Jean-Bosco’s video:
http://gorillacd.org/2008/06/25/video-villagers-building-park-boundary-wall/
Aaaaahhhhh, the dilemma of habituating these wonderful animals. We have the privilege of getting up close to them, and yet as a result they no longer fear humans and have little concern about raiding the local crop fields. The situation will escalate quickly if the villagers are going to use their own, sometimes unkind, methods of scaring off the crops, which are their livelihood. I am strongly in favor of experimenting with low level electric fencing. Nothing that will actually harm these gentle giants, but something to make them think twice about crossing the wall. The other option would be to purchase just a small portion of the farmers’ fields so the and surround that with electrified fencing so the farmers are making money and have incentive to protect the gorillas while not taking away their entire trade livelihood.
[...] My Virunga « Gorillas with a Bad Habit: Raiding Crops [...]
I dont know much about the situation but I cant help but think, the idea of building a fence around a national park makes it more like kruger and thus ultimately turns it into a zoo like area rather than a protected wild area. I agree with the farmers fencing off there crops if it would help but any other suggestion I would prefer. I jus dont like the idea of fencing in a wild park
I seem to remember from the visit to Bwindi that planting pretty big swathes of tea around the Park boundary deterred the gorillas simply due to the physical problems of walking through it, before getting to anything edible. I’ll check with J Makombo.
I can’t stop thinking about Bahati. That is such an awful tragedy and it sickens my stomach. I know it’s probably impossible given the manner in which he was killed, but I pray that the little guy didn’t suffer. In saying that, I understand the urgency of fixing this problem because that cannot happen again!
I have been brainstorming to think of suggestions and I will continue to, but so far I haven’t come up with anything new. I love the idea of using something produced locally, like the hot chili or even a skin irritating plant that would deter the gorillas, so that it helps boost the local economy.
Great ideas everyone!
I don’t like the idea of fencing in a wild park either. I wonder if planting hot peppers around the regular crops would deter the gorillas. When they come to field and eat the hot peppers they may stop there and not bother with the other crops. I know there has to be a viable solution out there somewhere. I can’t stand the idea of another gorilla being killed but I also respect the fact that the growers must have their livelihood and feed their families. What about some pepper spray for them to use when the gorillas get too close?
[...] gorillacd.org] « 75 Years of Light Pollution [...]
RUGENDO.. always in problems. oh my god…. have to look for a solution, because. whe dont whant to lost them again.be monitoring them please…..
What about dogs, that hopefully would bark? We saw a few dogs in Rwanda, but not many. Seems like the dogs could bark and chase the gorillas, but wouldn’t be a real threat???
I think the best way is farmers could see gorillas, and tourists and money gorillas atract, as a benefit for them. I’m planning a trip this year to Rwanda and Uganda and track gorillas costs an awful amount of money!!
The best solution is that farmers could obtain gains because of gorillas presence into their lands: lodges, touristic infrastructure, gorillas care, special crops, etc. Until that will be possible, Parks Administration and Goverment ought to assume the price of dammages gorillas could bring about or buy the lands and employ farmers in gorillas caring tasks.
The real county wealth is not in crops but in gorillas, and local administration has to understand tourism brings a lot of money!
What about dogs? The flock guardians? Have no idea if that would work–if people would care for them since life is not exactly easy for humans there but could something be arranged to make certain the dogs are cared for properly. They could act as a deterrent.
[...] There is a tricky situation at the moment caused by the gorillas of the Rugendo Group who are continuing their bad habit of entering fields on the outskirts of the park to eat crops. As Emmanuel wrote on this blog in March, we are looking into solutions to this problem. [...]
[...] to make forays into neighbouring crops to eat maize and sorghum wheat. Thankfully members of the HuGo association are present keep an eye on [...]
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