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The results of the census that was conducted in the spring of 2010 show that the number of Mountain Gorillas living in the tri-national forested area of which Virunga forms a part, has increased by 26.3% over the last seven years - an average growth rate of 3.7% per annum. Of the 480 Mountain Gorillas living in greater Virunga, 14 are Solitary Silverbacks, and the remaining animals live in one or other of the population’s 36 family groups. If you add together the 306 gorillas that we know to have been living in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in 2006, with those living in greater Virunga, and throw in the four orphans living in the Senkwekwe Centre, you get 790 - the global population of a critically endangered species.

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If peace has changed Congolese society for the better, then much improved governance has made that change exponential. Nowhere is that change more visible than here in Virunga National Park.

One of the countless welcome measures taken by this government is the recent and radical shake-up of the structure and policies of the ICCN. The institution’s leaders have changed the way that they recruit, train, deploy, and retain staff, and improved the systems by which they manage their affairs. Now that the country is at peace and the organization charged with protecting the park functions more effectively, ideas for improving Virunga that have spent years on the drawing board or in the imagination, are materializing fast.

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Over the past fifteen years war has caused the death of many of Virunga’s animals and given still more of them reason to seek refuge deep in the interior of the park. Now that North Kivu is at peace, many of those animals are returning to Virunga’s periphery. One such animal – a bull elephant - made an appearance outside the Park Station at Kabaraza, literally stopping traffic.

The Crisis Years didn’t so much decimate the park’s populations of large mammals as take them to the edge of annihilation. War brought soldiers and rebels; guns and violence. It also brought chaos. And for Virunga chaos means poaching. The elephants fared better than the hippos, but that’s not saying much at all. So everyone at Kabaraza was delighted to see this magisterial animal come to test his renewed faith in people, by spending time at his nearest village. Read the full story »

Around 30, 000 more people will soon have easy access to primary health care, now that Virunga’s management have ordered work to begin on a health centre in Kabaya in Rutshuru Territory.

On 18 October the building’s cornerstone was laid at a ceremony that was attended by the President of the Provincial Assembly of North Kivu, and Chief Infra Williams.  The Head of Conservation for the Southern Sector Innocent Mburanumwe represented Virunga, as the Director - Emmanuel de Merode - was unavoidably detained by the affairs of the park.

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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 »

Since we last blogged about the elephants of Kabaraza gradually learning to trust the men in green, the rapprochement continues.

More and more, the Rangers are seeing elephants near the patrol post – we think the elephants feel safe around Kabaraza. It would appear also that the closer they are the safer they feel, as you can see by the photos! Read the full story »

The killing of elephants in Virunga over recent years, by both the green-clad soldiers and poachers, had led to a catastrophic decline in numbers throughout the park. You may remember in May last year Emmanuel blogged about the increase in the demand for ivory – which was menacing these majestic creatures.

Now you will be pleased to hear that a very large herd of about 130 elephants is at Kabaraza – in the central sector of the park just south of Lake Edward. Read the full story »

As you can tell from the content of the blog we have already trained Rangers throughout Virunga National Park in how to shoot video and take photos. It is very important to document this park’s wildlife – not just the gorillas but all the animals. Virunga is arguably the most biodiverse park in Africa, but it is also the most threatened and so its species have suffered enormously from poaching, war and deforestation. That is why we get so excited when we see an increase in animal populations – whether it be the gorillas of Mikeno, the hippos of Ishango, the elephants of Kabaraza or the chimps of Tongo (and I could go on and on!)

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Jeshi – meaning “soldier” in Swahili - is a blackback in the Kabirizi family who likes to cause trouble! Often when tourists visit the family he jumps out from the undergrowth to give the visitors a fright. It usually works too – although he does this entirely in jest.

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As we all know, mountain gorilla tourism brings much needed revenue to Virunga for the conservation effort - but it also brings the threat of disease. Humans and gorillas share so much DNA, that we can easily pass on our viruses and diseases to these animals that we are struggling to protect.

When a tourist, a ranger or anyone is visiting a family of gorillas, they should stay at least 7 meters away from the animals. But sometimes the gorillas themselves, out of sheer mischief or curiosity, come closer. Read the full story »