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The job of ranger or officer at Virunga National Park is unlike any ranger position anywhere. When the statistics reflect the highest death-rate among rangers of any national park in the world, you can be assured this job is not for the weak or untrained. When militia or poachers would happily kill you over a piece of land or animal, as a ranger or officer you better know what to do.

This is why the park has required that every officer complete a two-month officer-training course in leadership and principles of command, conducted at the northern headquarters of Mutsora at the base of the Rwenzori mountains.

“I’ve been an officer for 6 years, and this is the first time I have gone through this kind of intense professional officer training,” said Bertin Tumonakiese, coordinator for security operations at headquarters and assistant to the director.

In the last seven months, 67 officers have completed the training, which officially concluded on October 21st. It included courses in leadership, tactics, shooting, close combat, radio procedures, and intensive physical training – all for the purpose of making them better equipped to lead rangers in difficult challenges to protect the park when threatened with danger. Many exercises took place around Lake Edward where militia attacks and poaching are common. It was an intense time for the officers, and most came away with high-level skills to lead others.

“It was fantastic,” Bertin said. “I used to send out patrols, but didn’t really know how to instruct them in good strategies, but now I do. I learned the best way to respond when you are confronted by militia or poachers and how best to protect the group. I am more confident now.”

Bertin plays the injured ranger in a training exercise.

Video by Katya

Here is a video of the health check for baby gorilla Shamavu. He will be going to GRACE gorilla sanctuary for lowland gorillas very soon, as long as he is healthy, and will do his 30-day required quarantine there. It is somethings hard to watch the vets from MGVP work, but they are all professionals and have saved many mountain and lowland gorillas over the years.

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Dr. Eddy gets a needle ready while caretaker Kakule, and baby gorilla Shamavu watch.

Every time a new baby gorilla is confiscated from poachers, there is a procedure that needs to be followed which includes a full examination to take blood samples, a TB test, stool sample, etc.  It’s not a pretty sight to watch this little guy get stuck with needles and examined, but it needs to be done because the baby’s exposure to humans during its captivity can seriously compromise its health and the health of the gorillas it will eventually be placed with.

Dr. Eddy from MGVP gives Shamavu a shot to anesthetize him.

So late last week, the gorilla doctors from MGVP came to check the baby gorilla Shamavu. They are professionals and know what they are doing, but watching it was like seeing a baby I’m quite fond of going through surgery. Seeing the worried look on my face, Dr. Jan kept reassuring me that everything was fine. And it was. And it appears that Shamavu is fairly healthy.

It has been decided that the 30-day quarantine period he must go through will be done at the GRACE facility west of Butembo where he will live with other Grauer’s gorillas.  Warden Emmanuel will fly the baby gorilla there at the end of this week if all goes as planned. It will be hard to see this sweet little baby go.

We would like to thank everyone who contributed toward the expenses for the rescue and care of baby Shamavu. We reached about half the goal. The park cannot survive without the support of individuals like you.

One of our readers wrote in to say that Virunga National Park was named one of the 20 must-see places for 2012 in the November/December 2011 edition of “National Geographic Traveler” magazine! It is the first entry in the article “Best of the World: 20 Great Places to Experience in 2012.” The half-page, called “Virunga Volcanoes: Africa’s Green and Fiery Heart” mentions both the neighboring Rwanda and Virunga parks, including a picture of a gorilla with the caption, “Gorillas find a haven in Congo’s Virunga National Park.”  At the end of the article they provide the www.visitvirunga.org website. We are thrilled to get this kind of publicity!

Here is a link to the Best Trips of 2012 online, which is a shorter version than the magazine.

If you would like to come visit this amazing location, and stand on the edge of the volcano staring into the center of the earth, go to our tourism website at www.visitvirunga.org.

Gorillas:

• The gorilla doctors from MGVP came by on Thursday to perform a full exam of baby gorilla Shamavu. This required partially anesthetizing him, which he handled pretty well. He only let out a small peep when they gave him a shot, far better than most human babies would react. More photos on that in tomorrow’s blog post.

Tourism

• Mikeno Lodge accepted its first 20 guests this past weekend, even though it was not fully completed.  Everyone who could move and breathe last week and over the weekend worked to pull everything together for the welcome and it appears to have been a success. The experience gave the management a good idea of what works and doesn’t work in the handling of guests and their needs.  The staff is exhausted but feeling good about the results.

Security

• We got word of a possible Mai Mai attack on the Muramba position on Lake Edward again – the same location as a previous attack. We deployed two sections of rangers to reinforce the position. So far the rumoured attack hasn’t happened.

• An FDLR commander, his wife, and guard who have been operating inside the park turned themselves in to authorities in the military. They will now go through the process of disarmament and returning to Rwanda.

Rangers

• The officer training that began seven months ago officially came to an end over the weekend. In total, 67 officers completed the course in command and leadership.

Officer training in Mutsora.

Misc.

• On the web-news front, we have set up a new page here called “Projects” that will list programs in need of funding. Each will have its own website or web-page and we would like to encourage you to take a look and join a team of people to support a project. It is vital to our survival that we have individuals like you to help. Check out this projects page on our website. Click on a project and read more.

• We topped 100,000 visits to our website this month. This is big for us, but what we would really like is to hear from you, our readers, on how we can improve and make better use of the website.

I visited baby Shamavu with one of his caretakers last week, and was once again amazed by how human-like this baby is in its reactions and manners. He clearly is feeling secure in the arms of Kakule, and wanted to be held most of the time. When Kakule picked up the milk bottle to clean it, Shamavu got excited and watched his every move, crawling between his legs, keeping his eye on that bottle. When it was finally ready, he drank the whole thing down without pausing, yawned several times and went to sleep.

Through the gracious support of individuals, the Dian Fossey organization, and the MGVP vets, he is getting good care, but we still need to raise more to cover the costs of the rescue operation and other expenses. Please consider helping by using the barometer on this page to donate. Thank you!

Caretaker Kakule.

Shamavu and Kakule.

Shamavu loves carrots.

Almost jumping with excitement, Shamavu tries to get closer to the bottle of milk that Kakule is cleaning.

He watches intently.

Shamavu loves his milk.

Without a single pause, Shamavu drank the entire bottle of milk.

Shamavu lets out several big yawns before falling to sleep after drinking his bottle of milk.

Each year in Kinshasa, the Abraham Foundation gives out awards to individuals who have dedicated their lives to the protection and preservation of their environment. The ceremony was held the end of September and eight Virunga National Park rangers were honored for giving their lives to protect the park. Three of the widows came to represent the group.

It was a full house at the ceremony that included the American Ambassador, Antonia Abraham, the Minister of Plan, and the Director General of the Parks Service, ICCN.

Terese Hart who planned the awards wrote, “Preparing the Abraham Ceremony this year was often too sad to bear. Last year we gave awards to the widows of eight park guards who died defending Congo’s parks; this year there were 10 deaths and it didn’t stop there. Rebels killed three more guards as we prepared the ceremony. Why in Virunga, the most exquisite and varied park in Africa? Why are there still gangs of rebels? When will this war end?”

The line-up of honorable men who either gave their lives, made serious sacrifices, or contributed significantly toward conservation is impressive and moving. Although their stories cannot all be told here, their names deserve to be mentioned and those who died remembered.

Rangers honored in memoriam:

• Augustin Kirikiyehigha, Patrice Bateterana and Vincent Kimbumbu — 24 January 2011 in Virunga National Park;
• Muhindo Mburungani, Mastaki Rumama – 31 January 2011 in Virunga National Park;
• Katchupa Changwi – 20 February 2011 in Virunga National Park;
• Paluku Mayani – 6 March 2011 in Virunga National Park;
• Magayane Bazirushaka – 8 April 2011 in Virunga National Park;
• James Biangbale and Kambale Bemu – 23 December 2010 in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve, ambushed and killed when they questioned elephant poachers.

The American Ambassador gives Chief Ramazani his award.

Chiefs and Village Leaders:

• It is not only park rangers who stand up against armed men. Chief Kpilimbalo who lives on the border of the Bili Uele Reserve refused to cooperate with elephant poachers and instead reported them to authorities. Following some death threats, he fled with his entire village into the forest.
• Two other traditional leaders who rallied their divided population toward the cause of conservation were also honored: Mwami Saambili worked with his people and Virunga Park staff in an area of high insecurity to clarify park borders; Ramazani Okota convinced all the village chiefs in a critical zone to support the future of Lomami National Park.

Major Guy is unequivocal about right and wrong. He talks to the rebels and instructs the cartel and tax collectors

Congolese Armed Forces Major Guy Kolongo arrested poachers and disciplined troops and other rogue individuals who tried to illegally profit from the environment.

Congolese Minister of Agriculture, Norbert Kantitima, and the Nindja chief near Kahuzi Biega National Park accepted an award together for their commitment to protect the park boundaries during the war in 2000, that in one incident alone cost the lives of 10 people.

Two ICCN park rangers and one park director (Radar Nishuli) were also honored for their ongoing commitment to conservation in Kahuzi Biega, Garamba, and Salonga National Parks. One ranger, Baketshi Bunda, spent several months in jail, wrongfully accused by poachers, while another managed to rescue a small girl kidnapped by the ruthless Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) during one of many successful patrols.

“The Abraham ceremony gathered…these heroes together in Kinshasa, together with diplomats, politicians, and conservationists,” Terese Hart wrote. “Thus their determination was honored and we, the audience, were reminded of what our priorities must be.”

Christian Shamavu’s story of the under-cover operation

Christian Shamavu holds the baby gorilla following the rescue. The gorilla is named Shamavu after his rescuer.

There was a moment during the undercover operation when ranger Christian Shamavu suddenly realized that he was in danger, that one false move could cost him everything. Surprisingly, prior to this, he wasn’t afraid. He was simply moving along with the plan, doing his job.

The plan was 1) to pose as the middleman for a foreigner who wanted to buy a baby gorilla, 2) get the baby gorilla, 3) arrest the poachers. Simple? A lot could go wrong. The most important part to the success required getting everyone – rangers, gorilla, poachers – into the car at the same time.

The whole story began with a phone call from a contact in Goma who told Christian there were two baby gorillas for sale in Lubero territory west of Virunga National Park. The word had passed through several people before reaching the Goma contact and Christian. A plan was made…an 8-hour road-trip in a rented car…a long wait…but the poachers didn’t show up. Christian decided to abort the operation.

Two weeks later, the poachers again got in contact, saying they had one gorilla. No one knows if there were originally two or if it was a misunderstanding, but this one had to be rescued. Once again, a car was rented, four rangers dressed in civilian clothes drove 8 hours to Kayna, and this time the poachers showed up, but without the baby. They were being cautious.

Christian is a calm, even-tempered man with a big warm smile. He finds it easy and fun to act. He’s a natural. This part of the plan was no problem for him. They discussed the deal, talked about the “muzungu” (white foreigner) who wanted to buy the gorilla, and he convinced the poachers he had money. They all got in the car and drove north 10 km to the next town where the baby gorilla was being kept in a house. Two poachers and two rangers went together to the house while the others remained at the car.

When Christian reached the house, that was the moment of fear. Four men were stationed outside and four inside to protect the poachers. He didn’t see guns, but this was clearly a military-like tactical move and he was seriously outnumbered now with no weapon. He couldn’t afford to make a single mistake now.

The men brought out a small backpack and opened it. Inside sat a small baby gorilla, arms tightly wrapped around his body. The poachers then led Christian over to the nearby church to make the deal. They started high, Christian low, and after some haggling, they agreed upon a price and insisted they get paid before turning over the gorilla. Christian refused, arguing that he couldn’t pay for something he didn’t have, and that they should be smart and not make the transaction in the open. It would be safest inside the car.

The poachers hold the small backpack that they kept the baby gorilla in.

Christian and the other rangers knew exactly what they would do once they got everyone in the car, plus the baby gorilla. Once inside the car, the poachers looked inside a bag where Christian had stacks of money – but only the top and bottom of the stacks had real US dollars. Everything in between was Congolese francs, but the poachers were nervous and in a hurry, so they called over their third man holding the bag with the gorilla and motioned him to get in the car.

As soon as he was in the car, the clearly planned operation went into effect. The ranger at the wheel locked the doors, rolled up the windows, cranked the radio music up high, and took off down the road. Two rangers in the back pulled out their guns. Almost immediately, friends of the poachers took chase on motorcycles. The car flew down the bumpy dirt road at 90 kph, very fast for these roads, leaving the motorcycles behind in their dust.

Christian and his three companions brought the poachers and baby gorilla back to Rumangabo park headquarters where the poachers were detained for questioning and then taken to the jail in Goma where they will be tried in court. The punishment can range from one to ten years.

The baby is now living at the Senkwekwe Center with two experienced and loving caretakers. Hopefully he will be sent to live at GRACE sanctuary with other orphaned Grauer’s gorillas of all ages and feel part of a family again.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the financial support of this little baby gorilla. We’re deeply grateful.

Each day, Shamavu seems more comfortable with his surroundings at Senkwekwe Center, and more secure with his caretakers. He’s become quite fond of the milk bottle the caretakers give him.

Javier Kakule holds onto baby Shamavu who loves his milk and drank the entire bottle without pausing once.

Gorillas:

• We received a great deal of press this past week on the rescue of the baby gorilla and the problem that poaching seems to be on the rise. MSNBC, National Geographic, The Times London, and many more wrote stories and linked to or site. We are always grateful for the publicity and it’s our hope that more and more people around the world will become aware of the hard work and commitment of the rangers and staff here.
• The baby gorilla, Shamavu is doing well, and has already bonded with his caretakers, Foster and Javier Kakule, who seem to truly care for him as well. I’ve watched this baby wrap his arms around Foster’s neck and kiss him, just like a human child. It brings home the fact of how special these animals are, how like humans, and why we connect with them. If you would like to help support the care of this baby, you can do so to the right of this blog post using the barometer donate button. We do need your support.

Dirk-Jan Vermeij (far right), envoy for the Dutch Embassy Kinshasa, watches the Tongo chimps in the trees.

Tourism

• Dirk-Jan Vermeij, envoy for the Dutch Embassy in Kinshasa, visited Rumangabo to see some of the work they support which includes Tongo and the chimpanzee habituation project run by Frankfurt Zoological Society. Several of our staff joined Dirk-Jan Vermeij to see the chimps for the first time. I went on a chimp trek recently in Tongo and thoroughly enjoyed it. The village of Tongo itself sits on a hillside overlooking a valley of lava flow, the hills where the chimps live, and the Virunga Massif in the background (when it’s clear). It’s beautiful.

View of the Tongo hills sitting on top of an old lava flow where the chimpanzees live. The L-shaped building in the foreground is a school built by the park for the community.

Security

• As we reported last week in a blog post, elephant and hippo continue to come out of the forest and river to raid the cultivated fields in the northern sector near Masambo and the Ugandan border. Significant cassava, maize and banana crops were destroyed, and the owners have filed complaints with the park. Park rangers are working hard to stop the raids.
• The operation in Muramba to clear the area of Mai Mai militia was very successful.  There were armed contacts with militias, but several camps were destroyed, and quite a lot of ammunition was seized from their camps.

Rangers

• The officer training is completed in Mutsora. In all, 26 of our officers were trained to command a platoon, that’s up to about 40 men.  This completes a very important phase in our training.  There is one training session left this year which is for high level officers (a company command, that’s up to about 120 men).

Jean Bosco works with the community to set up dialogue committees.

Community

• Our community liaison, Jean Bosco, held an important meeting in Kiwanja on Friday (a community north of Rumangabo park headquarters) to create some dialogue committees in villages surrounding the park. The goal is to give people a place to discuss problems related to the park, and give the park an opportunity to address issues as well as identify the community’s greatest need. We are committed to establishing better relationships with the local community and believe this is a good place to start.

Misc.

• I was invited to give a presentation at a TEDx gathering in Geneva organised by WWF.  I’m incredibly glad I went, as it was an opportunity to meet some very good people, and an amazingly talented bunch of speakers, all deeply committed to the environment. There was a venture capitalist / physicist committed to resolving the energy crisis, a key member of the London Symphony Orchestra using music to inspire people about the value of nature, and a Sherpa who had twice climbed Everest and a good dozen other Himalayan peaks and was campaigning on global warming.  Puts things in proportion, in our little world.

And…one last photo of baby gorilla Shamavu…

The story of climbing the unclimbable Mt Mikeno

Mt. Mikeno - one of the Virunga Massif volcanoes that had not been climbed in 28 years…until August 2011.

Shivering from cold, exhaustion, adrenaline and fear I climbed the last meters to summit the toughest of the Virunga volcanoes:  Mikeno Mountain.  Panting on hands and knees I looked next to me to see my two adventurous companions, Lewis and Pierre, coming over the edge on either side of me, both looking a little scared, but mostly hopeful that after 5 fake summits this was the real deal. Pierre was breathing heavily with yellow moss hanging from his chin as a result of Lewis’ mountaineering tip: “when the climbing gets steep kiss the moss and don’t look down.” Pierre had clearly taken this quite literally.

Mikeno’s steep mossy slope with Nyiragongo Volcano in the distance.

Two days earlier we had started our trek filled with the courage of young men, and expectations (and preparations) of 5-years-old boys. The fact that the mountain had not been summitted for almost 30 years did nothing to diminish our fierce conviction that we would pretty much walk up that thing and plant the figurative flag. One hour later when I felt the cold rain creeping down my back I started to get the sinking feeling that perhaps this venture would not be the jog in the park that I had envisioned it to be.

The team: Pierre, Frederick, Lewis, Saymyhoney, Cai

It took us about 4 hours to get to the first campsite: Kabara, the burial site of Carl Akeley (18 Nov 1926). We searched for the actual grave and found it in pieces, apparently Congolese and/or Rwandese rebels had pillaged the grave for the enormous amounts of gold that were never buried with Mr. Akeley.  As it continued to rain we decided not to try and make it to the second camp site in one day, but set up camp and scout the area a little (read: set up tent and having a little snooze). That night we enjoyed Lewis’ recipe for mountaineering success: instant noodles with sardines (which is remarkably good) and went to bed early to get up fresh for the first summit attempt. It rained the entire night and when we woke up it still rained. However we were men of steel, not of sugar, so after cowering in our tent for 30 minutes waiting for the rain to stop we decided that it was time to leave.

African alpine vegetation on the higher slopes of Mt. Mikeno.

The trek up from Kabara is tough, a 60-degree hill completely covered in ankle (sometimes knee) deep mud, obviously carrying massive backpacks did not help to improve the situation. Unfortunately this was still the easy part of the mountain, so we decided not to complain about it and just get on with it. Or at least that was Lewis’ attitude. Pierre and I were near throwing up and complaining loudly to the trees around us. However we got through, and at the top of that stretch the world slowly started to evolve into the fairy-land of African alpine vegetation. Another 2 hours later (and still it rained), we made it to campsite two. Nameless as this location was, it must be one of the most amazing campsites in the world. Pitched on a little ridge just wide enough to put your tent, the panorama was astounding: In the west the smoking Nyiragongo volcano could be seen, in the south the majestic Karisimbi, in the west the smaller but very attractive Visoke and  to the north very close to us a wall, a massive wall of stone…. Our accompanying rangers looked at it, laughed in our faces and said, “you will never make it to the top. It’s impossible!” And I must say, I believed them.

The campsite with the spectacular view.

The next morning we rang Pierre’s lovely girlfriend who we desperately needed to look into a 50-year-old book describing the route to the summit. The book said something along the lines of, “Go up the first steep part, continue right along the ridge until you can go no further, turn back for a bit and then go up.” As far as useless advise goes, this was a winner. Since at this point I had absolutely no faith in us making it all the way to the top, I decided just to enjoy the trek and stop if it got too dangerous.

Yes, it was very steep. Too steep. Stupidly steep.

Clearly adrenaline screws with your mind because two hours later when I was balancing on a small ridge with a 100m drop on either side of me and the only thing stopping me from falling was my grip on some loose, wet, yellow moss…it didn’t seem like I stopped when it became dangerous at all. Since we were half way up, it obviously was no longer an option to turn back (I think they call it “summit fever”), so with fear in our eyes we continued to scramble up the mossy slopes. I vaguely remembered that during our preparations Pierre had suggested we bring a rope. For reasons unknown to me, our fearless lead climber Lewis had been of the opinion it wouldn’t be necessary; I decided I would make him eat those words (as well as the rope) if we made it down alive.

Two feet of moss.

After a harrowing 4-hour climb we made it to the top, and without being very emotional about it…it was very emotional. I felt a mix of elation, pride to be one of the very few ever to get up there (apparently less than 20 people), gratitude that I was still alive, anger that the bloody mountain top was completely covered in mist so I could hardly see my own feet let alone the incredible view, and lastly fear, fear for the way down…

Semi-delirious after reaching the summit.

A couple of quick summit snaps later, which were pretty crappy due to the mist, and a 2-minute search for Pierre’s lost lens cap, we decided that it was time to head on down. It was already past 11:00 am and we needed to get all the way down to Goma the same day. Strangely enough the way down went relatively smoothly and quicker than expected. It was sort of a very long, vertical, slippery-slide of moss mixed in with the infrequent but extremely unpleasant protruding rock that would abruptly eliminate any such pleasant thoughts (just imagine a rock being glued to the middle of a slippery-slide).

The rocky slippery slide down the mountain.

After making it down to the easier section of the mountain, we had a little party, many hugs, tears and jumping for joy.  Unfortunately we still had about 5 hours of descent to go. Anyway, to get to the end of the story: we made it all the way back safely, exhausted and in severe pain, but an experience and one achievement richer.

So for historic purposes I would just like to claim the following:

On August the 14th, 2011 Mikeno Mountain was summitted for the first time in 28 years by:
Lewis Mudge
Pierre Peron
Cai Tjeenk Willink

The historic team at the summit of Mt. Mikeno: