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Protecting the Mountain Gorillas of Virunga
Three Elephants Killed by Soldiers
Shocking pictures have come in from our friends at IDPE, a local organisation that monitors wildlife crimes in North Kivu. The images show an elephant killed by government FARDC soldiers in Kapopi, which is in the Southern sector of the park near Mabenga (see map).
The pictures were taken during a 2 week operation by IDPE collaborators to monitor the poaching of wildlife in VIrunga National Park. During the first half of May alone, they observed 11 separate poaching incidents in which soldiers killed 3 elephants, 3 wart hogs, 3 hippos, 2 baboons, and several antelope.
The soldiers are killing these animals for the meat, although with the elephants the ivory is clearly also an incentive. The elephant in these pictures was quickly butchered and the meat prepared for distribution.
With so many armed groups in the park, including government soldiers who have not been paid in months, it is to be expected that they will use their guns to feed themselves.
The IDPE team members were very brave to take this picture of the soldiers sharing the meat.
YOU CAN STOP THE POACHING: PROTECT YOUR OWN PATCH OF FOREST
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22 Responses to “Three Elephants Killed by Soldiers”
This is shocking and disturbing. I wonder if there is any hope left for the elephants and hippos in Virunga. I understand that people have to eat, but there are more abundant and less controversial species that they could choose.
Will ICCN be able to react forcefully? Will they be able to get a commitment from FARDC to cooperate in protection of the park and its fauna? Will the responsible officers be punished? Our congratulations to IDPE. It took courage to take these pictures and courage to publish them.
THIS HAVE TO STOP. POOR ELEFANTS. BECAUSE IF NOT. THE NEXT. WILL BE THE GORILLAS. I HOPE NOO
How can we help to stop this
i KNOW PEOPLE HAVE TO EAT, but eat Elefants.?? no other food?? other animals?? Elefants are so inteligents. please take acctions
VERGOGNA .ASSASSINI ;
PNV is not the only site where FARDC is implicated in killing elephants. Elephant poachers with links to the military operate in the Lomami region of Oriental Province (TL2) and hunters sent by military bosses attempted to kill the last elephants in eastern Sankuru Province in January. There are other cases as well.
I suggest that each case be documented as well as possible, including date, location, etc, and when possible the names of the hunters, where they came from, etc.
Taken together this would be an impressive dossier clear indication that these are not isolated incidents. With enough documented cases there would be a chance to move this in front of the president, minister of defense. Possible there could be disciplinary actions that might curb the slaughter. Certainly publicity.
WHO CAN ORGANIZE THIS COLLABORATION?
OMG! The moment I read the headline of this news I felt Panic! MY heart weeps…I’m so far away with a life so far removed from these types of atrocities. This is absurd and unbelievable. Everyone MUST get together and make this STOP now!! When does the insanity stop in Africa, when? Poor Africa, it’s the saddest thing to watch its soul be desecrated and so many people become corrupt and kill each other and their most precious beauties, the animals. A travesty that needs attention, I hope we can stop this murder before it’s too late.
This People are inhumane, soulless and idiotic Scum, what they sow here will be repaid to them 100dreds Fold by Nature, one WAY OR THE OTHER-there is ONLY ONE WAY to STOP THIS! ABOLISH Animal Killing just as YOU abolish Killing Humans-GO VEGAN!!! O
omg i was crying wen i saw dat very very very disturbing pic
it skin was peeled off
the inside was almost all gone
:’(
I can’t believe that there wouldn’t be something else for them to eat, rather than the beautiful and Intelligent elephant.
Horrible…
This is a disgrace, every animal has much of a right to live as everyone else. I can understand it is in a humans nature to hunt for food but i used to live in africa as a much younger child and the government was atrocious and they still are. I dont understand how they can let such things happen. If they cared about the environment, their people, and their animals and population then maybe this wouldnt happen. They need to sort out their financial dealings and help their country.
hello
As soon as i saw those pictures sadness went through my body. I know people need to eat but there are other animals its not like elephants are the only animals you can eat.
so people need to eat but elephants? the poor poor creatures if we keep on killing elephants what’s going to happen to our earth other animals rely on the elephant to live . and if we keep killing elephants other animals might die out including the elephant. 8(
I join David in his thought… but the respoonsables of this massacre are not inevitably those which did it…. It is certainly condemnable… and inadmissible, chocant even, when one knows all that is made to defend these animals. Learn how to fish with a man, do not give him to eat and you will have succeeded in making it live ….. Pay your soldiers and you will save the forest. But I’m very troubled by this story.
[...] a follow-up of the IDPE report on the killing of elephants in Virunga, this news report came out this morning on Agence France [...]
MY HEART BLEEDS,IT MAKES ME SICK TO MY STOMACH.
[...] Soldiers Shoot and Eat Elephants [...]
Africans only eat elephants because the western world frowns on cannibalism.if they were allowed to eat each other,in 10 years there would not be a population problem ,and there would lots of elephants and elephant poo, which the Africans can use as fertilizer, grow crops and thus stop eating each other.Then everyone could own an elephant to go to work thus cutting down on fuel emissions,
to add on, Alrfedo libertini and his vegan thing, whilst commendable ,that you dont eat meat its so important that our african brothers do.dont forget they were happilly munching on each other till we came along and stopped them.efilumps are a sackred beast and should be treat as one
See the trouble with yer African man is that you can take him out of the jungle but you can’t take the the jungle out of him. Give him a hospital and he will burn it to keep warm - after he has sold the contents of course. Killing elephants is not right at all - how would they like it if an elephant came into their mud hut and killed their wifes and daughters and sisters (who are probably also the same person) just for a tasty snack. I stopped giving money to Oxfam when I found out that they buy guns for elephant-killing, Africans. Hanibal - some interesting comments there - are you from Papua New Guinea by any chance?