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This is the most recent video of Ndeze and Ndaksi - the 2 orphan baby mountain gorillas - in their new home, the Senkwekwe Centre. It is now 2 months since they moved to their forest abode, away from the grime and noise of the city of Goma. The transfer went smoothly, as you all know, and the first 2 months have also gone without any major incident. In short, Ndeze and Ndakasi’s adaptation to their new surroundings has been easy.

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Andre and the other carers always have a camera that shoots video and stills, so there is ample documentation of Ndeze and Ndakasi’s new life. You can also see the climbing structure within the enclosure (that Andre has not quite finished but will have soon!). It is remarkable how the gorilla orphans have already destroyed a lot of the vegetation in the enclosure. We look forward to extending the enclosure… starting in March!

More coming soon on the Senkwekwe Centre…

Mount Visoke is an extinct volcano in the Virunga mountains that straddles DR Congo and Rwanda. It lies at the heart of mountain gorilla habitat – and so naturally our Rangers often venture onto the flanks of this mountain for anti-poaching patrols or to rid the area of the snares that threaten the mountain gorillas and other animals.

Mount Visoke, at 3,711 meters (just over 12,000 feet). Mount Mikeno rises up behind Visoke.

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I took these photos of Nyamulagira – the volcano that started erupting on 2 January – from Bukima, on the edge of the Gorilla Sector.

Bukima is higher than Goma and Rumangabo and so we have a great view of not only Nyamulagira, but also Nyiragongo, Mikeno and Visoke. Read the full story »

I just got a call from the Rangers at Bikenge patrol post in the Gorilla Sector and there has been a birth in the Mapuwa family!

This brings the total number of gorillas in this family to 16 - and the total number of habituated mountain gorillas in Congo to 86!

I don’t have any photos yet - but as soon as I do I will post them. The mother, I am told, is Kanepo - and the father is Mapuwa himself! There is another Silverback in the family - Nvuyekure - but Mapuwa is more dominant and so almost certainly the father.

This is Mapuwa - he now has nearly 10 offspring!

Kanepo is 10 years old and already has 2 children - Bikenge and Dunia. In fact for a long time - until the birth of Bikenge - we thought Kanepo was a male! It just goes to show we cannot be right all the time!

I just wanted to bring you this positive news hot off the press!

This is a video of the Humba family of mountain gorillas - one of the 6 habituated families in Congo’s Gorilla Sector. Humba now has 12 individuals in his family. You may recall he is the brother of Senkwekwe, the Silverback who was murdered in July 2007 (and after whom we named Ndeze and Ndakasi’s new forest home).

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Solar eclipse

We just had a solar eclipse. I actually missed it (I have no idea how) – but Temoris, a visiting journalist, took these pictures from our office. Read the full story »

Rangers need rations. The 650 + Rangers in Virunga all need to eat and drink to protect the flora and fauna of the park during their anti-poaching, anti-charcoal and routine patrols.

Rangers get ready to take rations from Goma to Lulimbi

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It is over 1 year since we launched the briquette program, and I would like to share some of our achievements:

600 briquette pressing machines on the ground
3,500 jobs created in rural areas
4,000 sacks of fuel briquettes produced each month
A carpentry workshop producing 20 briquette pressing machines per day

A group of press machine beneficiaries in Rumangabo

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Today, thanks to the Monuc, I was able to overfly the Nyamulagira volcano, that began erupting in the early hours of 2 Jan. I was absolutely astounded at the lava and rocks shooting out of the crater.

The volcano - the most active in Africa - is still erupting, 4 days on. The lava flow has traveled 21 kilometers (13.5 miles), and is only 7 kilometers (4.5 miles) from the Goma-Sake road. The devastation is widespread.

These photos were taken during my flight which was in a small helicopter. We were 3 passengers and 2 pilots. The other passengers were from the Goma Volcano Observatory, so they are volcanologists who are monitoring the eruption. The crater you see above is about 20 meters in diameter.

Now when the eruption started 4 days ago there were 4 craters erupting. Today, 3 of those have stopped erupting and look like this one in the photo above. But the 4th is still going - and that is the one we are now worried about. The lava is now flowing much faster as the hill is steeper. Should the lava reach the road it will cause chaos. At the moment all the lava is still within the boundaries of Virunga National Park.

This is where one of the lava flows has already stopped. It really gives you an idea of the destruction.

And this is the lava flow that is still going. The volcanologists told me that it could reach the Goma-Sake road within 2 to 3 days.

What also struck me during this flight, that is perhaps not as impressive as a volcanic eruption in a photo, is the deforestation in this whole area due to the illegal charcoal trade. We could even spot people walking out of the park with charcoal from Virunga. This has really shocked me.

We continue to monitor the wildlife situation. Fortunately the chimpanzees of Tongo are still out of harm’s way. Some antelope and other smaller animals have been spotted moving away from the flanks of the Nyamulagira, but so far we have no casualties to report on that front. It is of course hard to tell as we cannot get too close. We will be able to evaluate properly once all this has stopped.

I shall keep you posted on Mount Nyamulagira’s activity - and the consequences that we shall all have to bear. The next 2 or 3 days are crucial.