gorilla.cd
Protecting the Mountain Gorillas of Virunga
An Elephant Killing and the Hounds’ First Operation
On a routine flight over the park on Tuesday, we did a short aerial reconnaissance of the Ishasha Valley, that marks the border with Uganda.  As we flew over, one of my passengers saw a lion by the river.  Lions have sadly become quite rare and I circled to get a good view.  We quickly saw what the lion was after.  The large bloated carcass of an adult elephant lay in the bushes by the river. It was clearly an ivory poaching incident: the tusks had been hacked out of the elephant’s face.
We took some photos and headed back for headquarters. As we flew back, I worked on the next steps, instructing the standby section of rangers to prepare for an immediate operation, and briefing Rodrigue, the sector warden in Rwindi, the central sector of the park.  I decided to call Marlene in Switzerland. As I described the incident, she decided that the canine unit could handle such an operation.  This was a big step, their first anti-poaching operation, after a year of training.  We decided to use Shamavu and Dodi, together with Gratien and Lily as backup.  They’re a strong team, but it was an incredibly challenging crime scene – the killing had been done four, maybe five days before, and would have been heavily contaminated by scavengers. Still, we have to do everything we can.
The canine unit drove through the night, and early yesterday morning I flew the hounds in.  The team quickly found the carcass, and the canine unit got to work.  It was a horrific, brutal scene. The investigation was harder than we expected. The poachers had left nothing, just a few broken branches. We decided to use carcass itself as a scent item that the hounds could use to track the poachers, but the tracks were blended in with the passage of every hyena and every lion in the neighbourhood. On top of that, Dodi and Lily took one look at the carcass and bolted. It’s not surprising as the carcass looked terrifying and had a horrific stench. Shamavu spent a good half hour talking to Dodi and reassuring her. He was able to convince her, and she came in. He used a bone as the scent item, and after twenty minutes searching for a trail, they took off.
They crossed the river and headed west at considerable speed, with a defence unit of six rangers on their heels.  The trail headed straight towards the fishing village at Nyakakoma. Dodi kept focussed despite the large herds of cob, topi and other animals. We kept on the trail for about seven kilometres, until it was clear that the trail was going to Nyakakoma.  There wasn’t much more useful information to be gained at that stage, and Dodi was getting quite tired, so I instructed Shamavu to cease the trail and we flew the dogs back to headquarters.
Last night, Rodrigue moved in with his unit. They patrolled the area through the night, and in the very early hours of the morning saw torches in the savanna.  They intercepted the suspects, who immediately opened fire. After a short exchange of fire, the suspects fled, leaving four rifles on the scene.  The suspects were poaching, and may well have been the elephant poachers. Rodrigue is continuing the investigation.
Leave a Reply
-
RECENT DONATIONS
-
21 May 2013Protecting Park Area 75
Katy A 25 $ - 21 May 2013Open donation
Unregistered Donor 25 $ - 21 May 2013Open donation
Unregistered Donor 25 $ -
20 May 2013Protecting Park Area 76
Kevin 25 $ - 20 May 2013 Multiple items
Unregistered Donor 40 $ - 20 May 2013 Guarding a Gorilla
Unregistered Donor 10 $ - 20 May 2013Monthly Support
Unregistered Donor 35 $ -
20 May 2013Protecting Park Area 169
25 $ -
20 May 2013Open donation
Tatjana D 10 $ - 20 May 2013 Multiple items
Unregistered Donor 40 $ - 20 May 2013Protecting Park Area 216
Unregistered Donor 25 $ - 20 May 2013Open donation
Unregistered Donor 25 $ -
20 May 2013Supporting Jomba School
Eugene Martin F 30 $ - 20 May 2013Supporting Gatovu School
Eugene Martin F 30 $ - 20 May 2013Supporting Bikenge School
Eugene Martin F 35 $ - 19 May 2013Open donation
100 $ -
19 May 2013Protecting Park Area 117
Anna L 25 $ -
19 May 2013Protecting Park Area 39
Bill W 25 $ - 19 May 201320 x Virunga's Surveillance Aircraft
Unregistered Donor 20 $ - 19 May 2013OPEN DONATIONS
Unregistered Donor 50 $ - 18 May 2013Open donation
Unregistered Donor 20 $ - 18 May 2013Widows and Rangers Fund
Unregistered Donor 30 $ - 18 May 20132 x Gorilla and Wildlife Protection
Unregistered Donor 40 $ - 18 May 2013Open donation
Unregistered Donor 25 $ -
18 May 2013Protecting Park Area 133
Janice T 25 $ - 18 May 2013Protecting Park Area 131
Unregistered Donor 25 $ - 18 May 2013Support Andre and the Gorilla Orphans
Unregistered Donor 10 $ - 18 May 2013 Multiple items
Unregistered Donor 20 $ -
17 May 2013Protecting Park Area 218
Thierry 25 $ - 17 May 2013Monthly Support
Unregistered Donor 15 $ -
17 May 2013Widows and Rangers Fund
stefanie r 30 $ - 17 May 2013Open donation
Unregistered Donor 40 $ - 17 May 2013Open donation
Unregistered Donor 50 $ - 16 May 2013 Guarding a Gorilla
stefanie r 10 $ - 16 May 2013Open donation
Unregistered Donor 10 $ - 16 May 2013Open donation
Unregistered Donor 10 $ - 16 May 2013 Multiple items
Selina S 200 $ - 15 May 2013 Guarding a Gorilla
Unregistered Donor 10 $ -
15 May 2013 Multiple items
Bob V 50 $ -
15 May 20133 x Widows and Rangers Fund
Marlene Z 45 $ - 15 May 2013Open donation
Unregistered Donor 10 $ - 15 May 2013Protecting Park Area 215
Bob V 25 $ - 15 May 2013Protecting Park Area 137
Unregistered Donor 25 $ - 15 May 2013Open donation
Unregistered Donor 25 $ - 15 May 2013Open donation
Eugene Martin F 100 $ -
15 May 2013Open donation
Lisa T 10 $ - 15 May 2013Open donation
Unregistered Donor 25 $ - 15 May 2013Open donation
Brenton 10 $ - 15 May 2013Open donation
Unregistered Donor 10 $ - 15 May 2013Open donation
Unregistered Donor 15 $
-
-
-
News from Congo- Fighting for 2nd Day Between Army, Rebels in Congo - ABC News
- DR Congo waits on funding for world's largest hydropower project - The Guardian
- Congo Central Bank Governor Seen Extending Bank Services - Bloomberg
- Paul Kagame denies Rwanda proxies in DR Congo - BBC News
- DR Congo: UN voices concern as fighting resumes between Government and ... - UN News Centre
- Can REDD+ Drive Change In The DR Congo? - Ecosystem Marketplace
- M23 rebels clash with soldiers in eastern Congo, forcing thousands to flee ... - Washington Post
- M23 rebels, Congo army trade fire near Goma - BDlive
- DR Congo fighting leaves 19 dead ahead of UN chief visit - FRANCE 24
- Rebels, army clash in eastern Congo - Deutsche Welle
This website was funded by the European Union and the Prince Bernard Nature Fund.
14 Responses to “An Elephant Killing and the Hounds’ First Operation”
Super work! I could not be more proud
Great job! I believe the hounds will do well for you!
Que cela est très triste !!
De plus cette animal, juste amputé de sa tête pour ses défences, c’est horrible !!!
Bravo à vos 2 chiens pour leur 1er travail sur le terrain !!
Espérons que vous retrouverez les braconniers et qu’ils seront punis !!
Wow. The account was riveting. Good job. Wishing you all the best!
Congratulations to the whole team. We’re on the right way.
Be careful the whole time. Now the poachers know that the team will be behind them…
Gosh, I hope you catch these guys. Be safe, all of you.
Hope the poachers will be catched soon before they can do even more harm
US NPR (National Public Radio) covered the increasing trade in elephant ivory among the Chinese this morning: http://www.npr.org/2012/03/02/147756651/looking-for-elephant-ivory-try-china
I don’t know if that link will work for those of you outside the United States, but it’s worth a listen if it does.
Great! Hope your fast approach will discourage and scare off..
Anti-poaching operations with planes and bloodhounds- the poachers stand less of a chance of getting away with it now! Great work. P
Well done to everyone concerned! With this kind of dedication there is hope for the future! Take care of yourselves.
I pray they catch them. Great job. BE SAFE!
Great work. It’s very impressive to see how fast the dogs are getting the hang of it. I guess it should come as no surprise given the individuals on the teams and the trainers involved. Stay safe!
Great job. I tell myself all the time, how can people be so sick…what money makes people do…catch these sick people. Thank you!