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The first student tries out the bicycle, working to get it up to the right speed to generate electricity.

By Martijn Meijer, Field Operations Manager

After the arrival and testing of our brand-new Pedal-Powered Cinema (PPC), it was time to put the cinema up for the real thing: the screening of a gorilla movie at Rumangabo School.

Together with Jean-Bosco, one of the park’s community liaison officers or CoCo’s as we call them, and LuAnne we headed out to meet the 672 (!) children of this school. After a warm welcome by the school’s headmaster we made the PPC ready for action under the very close scrutiny of the slightly astonished kids. We could hear them think: “why are these people setting up a bicycle in our class room?!”

The kids were fascinated by the movie, even though the room was so bright you could barely see it.

This astonishment soon gave way to excitement when Jean Bosco explained the purpose of our visit: watching a movie about the Mountain Gorillas of Virunga National Park. “Unfortunately for you,” we added with a smile, “you have to create the very sustainable energy that drives the cinema yourselves!”

I point to the digital red number on the speaker that indicates whether there is enough electricity for the projector to run.

Naturally, this only increased the levels of excitement and soon we had half of the class lining up before the bicycle while the other half of the class followed the adventurous search for the pride of the Virungas with glowing eyes.

All the students watched intensely from their seats at first, and then began to crowd around the bike to see if it was working.

The kids instantaneously understood the working of the PPC and my job wasn’t more than to support them, shouting, “Allez, allez!” (go, go!) or to prevent the system from overheating, “Pole, Pole!” (slow!). The smooth way in which the kids took the cycling job over from each other, revealed some true Congolese ‘relay’ talent and was wonderful to see.

The students loved the movie, watching intensely, often reacting to the animals they were seeing on the screen.

During and after the screening we talked with the kids about the life of the gorillas, living so close to them. The kids showed a great interest and love for these animals and it reminded us how important it is to have these youngsters involved in our work to protect the park. These boys and girls truly can become the future guardians of Virunga if only we can involve them properly.

The first room was too bright, so we moved into a larger room with twice the number of kids and pitch black. The screen could easily be seen then.

The next step therefore is to set up an outreach program where we will use the PPC at the schools that surround the park. We will set up this program in close cooperation with Linda Nunn, the chair of Gearing up 4 Gorillas (G4G), who so kindly provided the park with this cinema system.

The students seemed mesmerized watching a movie about animals of the forest.

In addition to this outreach program, we aim to open up an Environmental Education Centre by the start of the next school year in September 2012. The Centre will provide the kids a more in-depth curriculum on the link between the park and their own lives, and at the park headquarters, most of them will have a chance to see gorillas for the first time at our Senkwekwe Orphan Gorilla Sanctuary. If properly protected and managed, Virunga could be the engine driving the development of this part of Congo and that’s a message well-worth spreading.

At least 50 kids had crowded into the small dark room to watch the film.

As we walked back after this great morning, Jean Bosco asked me: “Martijn could we also organize a movie night for the people of Rumangabo? They too want to learn about the park and the Mountain Gorillas.” O, yes we can!

Jean Bosco is our community liaison officer and joined us at the school to explain to the kids what we were doing.

We recently made a request on our blog and Facebook page for gorilla photos from Virunga National Park to use for promoting the park and framing in the lodge. We received many contributions and I would like to show you some of these beautiful photos. Today’s Gorilla Gallery photos are by Imaire Depoli and Michael Valigore. Many thanks to all the photographers who contributed! There will be more Gorilla Galleries over the next few weeks.

Photos by Imaire Depoli

Photos by Michael Valigore

To see more of Michael’s photos, click HERE

Interview by Dr. Marlene Zähner

Please tell us about yourself and your work, Gracien.
Hello everyone. I am a member of the Virunga Canine Unit. I am the substitute head of the unit and in charge of security for this particular park resource. I have been with the Canine Unit since August 2011. The name of my bloodhound is Lily. Together, as a team, we track poachers and others who break the laws of the park. Unlike other breeds that are used to actually confront criminals, the bloodhounds are only used to locate the criminals. Apprehending the criminals is the job of the other rangers. Some people ask why we don’t have dogs that attack criminals. There are two reasons: first, the dogs would stand a high risk of being severely injured or killed in a confrontation, and second, because this would undoubtedly give the park a bad reputation among the local population. Virunga National Park depends on the support of the local population and must be seen as a good neighbor if it is to survive.

Gracien, why did you step up to be a part of the Canine Unit?
On a personal level, I have always loved dogs and other domestic animals. On a professional level, I wanted to be part of the canine unit because it will help us improve conservation in Virunga. Lily and I are a strong team and can make a major contribution to saving the park.

Do you find the work rewarding?
I am truly following my heart when doing this work and that makes me feel very lucky. I am also very lucky to have a family that supports and encourages me in this work. I think they are very proud of what I am doing.

Gracien and Lily on a scent (notice all the onlookers in the background)

Tell us about the process of learning to work with Lily.
At first, it was very difficult. Bloodhounds have an incredible drive and a very strong will. If one doesn’t follow the rules of working with them, things become very difficult. Thankfully, I was taught well and after multiple training sessions I learned to work effectively with my dog. Trust me, the beginning was a struggle, but now we work together as a team and with ease. It’s truly amazing how far we’ve come. And, Lily has certainly found a place in my heart – as have the other bloodhounds. Honestly, now I cannot imagine my life without them. No, life just wouldn’t be as good.

Gracien (seated) relaxing with the dogs in his spare time

Gracien at work with Lily in the Lulimbi area of Virunga

What is your most memorable experience with the canine unit?
Clearly, this was our first official deployment with the hounds. We were sent to Lulimbi to try to find the poachers who killed an elephant. I was amazed by how quickly we settled into the task at hand. Training exercises are one thing, but to see it all come together in the field was really impressive and confidence building.

Gracien shows journalist Ethan Baron how to reward Lily

Besides the other ranger handlers, who else plays a role in this project?
Director de Merode is, of course, a big supporter of the project. On the training side, the main contributors are Veterinary surgeon Marlene Zahner, Swen Busch and Marcel Maierhofer – both members of the German Police. We have a great team of people on this project!

Two weeks ago, Virunga National Park received a Pedal-Powered Cinema (PPC) – a brilliantly-designed contraption that generators power to a speaker and projector system via a bicycle. This PPC will offer a facility for screening conservation films to schools and local communities without power, helping to educate both children and adults on the value of the park’s mountain gorillas and other animals. We are very excited about this and can’t wait to start using it.

Getting this awesome machine was a joint effort by several people and organizations. The Pedal-Powered Cinema was the ‘brainchild’ of the Great Apes Film Initiative. The first one is currently in use in Uganda with great success. This is the second to make its way to Africa.

Two of our rangers, Bertin and Jean Bosco, test the pedal-powered cinema at Virunga National Park.

Linda Nunn from Gearing Up 4 Gorillas (G4G) has been wanting to provide a PPC for Virunga for some time. The opportunity arose with a generous sponsor, Animal Friends Insurance of the UK, who offered to buy the Pedal-Powered Cinema for G4G to bring out for the children of Virunga. At the end of March, Linda was finally able deliver the PPC to us. Everything but the bike can pack into a suitcase.

The pedal-powered cinema at work in Uganda.

Although it will take us some time to get organized for regular use, we know from Uganda’s experience that it will be a massive hit. Many children and their teachers have never seen a film before, so it will be quite a novelty and a perfect vehicle for talking about conservation.

We would like to thank Linda Nunn, G4G, Animal Friends Insurance, and the Great Apes Film Initiative for their generous support for this environmental education project.

Linda Nunn tests out the PPC before bringing it out to Congo.

Children are delighted by the cinema. Some have never seen a film before.

Baby gorilla Ihirwe has been well taken care of in Rwanda by MGVP Vets and caretakers.

Many of you will remember the incident last August where Rwandan police intercepted poachers crossing the border from Congo with a baby gorilla, later named Ihirwe by the gorilla doctors at MGVP. Based on interrogation of the poachers, it was believed the baby was a mountain gorilla from Virunga, but without DNA testing, it could not be proven. If Ihirwe was a mountain gorilla, she would have been brought to Virunga’s Senkwekwe Orphan Gorilla Center, the only sanctuary for critically endangered mountain gorillas in the world.

Baby gorilla Ihirwe on the day she was rescued from poachers in August 2011.

The DNA test results confirmed this week that she is NOT a mountain gorilla as originally believed, but an eastern lowland Grauer’s gorilla. Although we looked forward to receiving her at Senkwekwe Center, we are very happy to know that none of the mountain gorillas died or were poached in this incident.

Ihirwe will be transferred to the GRACE sanctuary west of Butembo in Congo to join a large family of other Grauer’s orphan gorillas. We wish her a long happy life.

Magnificent Silverback Kabirizi, photo taken in 2007 by Paul Taggart

If you could hear the way we talk about our silverback Kabirizi, you might think we were discussing a hot movie star. He’s our big, beautiful stud, the baby-maker of the habituated silverbacks, the one with the biggest female gorilla following, averaging about 34 family members he’s responsible for protecting. Until recently, it was hard to imagine him as anything more than the biggest and best.

Sadly, this is changing. Kabirizi is getting old and although the rangers don’t know his age because he was a wild gorilla before becoming habituated, they estimate around 35 years. This has left him open for challenges from younger silverbacks.

Photo taken in January where Kabirizi had lost his upper and lower canines in fights with Bageni.

Bageni, another silverback in the family who is believed to be Kabirizi’s son, has challenged him repeatedly over the last month. Kabirizi has taken a beating, losing teeth, getting injured, losing weight and hair. The interactions began in March:

March 11: Following a fight, the family split up with Kabirizi taking 24 members and Bageni taking nine.

March 18: They got back together.

March 20: Another fight and split. Kabirizi went with 14 members, Bageni with 19.

March 21: The group came back together, but with an obvious division among them.

On March 29, Dr. Eddy from MGVP observed the family and noted that although the group seemed to be together, Bageni was separated from Kabirizi, moving ahead with his group.

“The silverback Bageni was seen crossing in the bush away from Kabirizi and moving with another group of gorillas,” said Dr. Eddy in his report. “During the visit we didn’t see Bageni very well as he was moving fast ahead leaving Kabirizi behind. All the observed gorillas (25 in total) appeared normal as well as Kabirizi despite his health condition, which looks to be deteriorating progressively but slowly.”

Kabirizi, photo taken by Dr. Eddy on March 29th. There’s one visible cut on his neck.

Today, the rangers reported that the group is still together, but once a silverback begins to lose control, it’s likely that other solitary silverbacks might step in to challenge him as well as Bageni. Females may choose to stay with him for a while, but ultimately, he will not be able to stand up to the challenges.

We’ll keep you posted as this story progresses.

Marcel Maierhofer, the Congohound Teams and I traveled to Lulimbi to conduct trainings that will simulate eventual deployments in the area. Lulimbi is in the middle sector of the park and sits along the Ishasha river, amidst a vast savannah. In my opinion, this area is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Wildlife is still plentiful even though poaching here is still a problem. We stayed at a ranger camp near the Uganda Border and were lucky to be visited a herd of elephants with babies in tow. Incredibly, they approached within 20 meters of our tents! The river’s resident hippos also went about their business seemingly unaware of our presence. At night, the darkness was punctuated with the sounds of lions hunting and the eery cackling of hyenas. Thanks to a leopard prowling around camp, the normally mischievous monkeys were forced to lay low (me too, for that matter…). This didn’t faze the buffalo whose rhythmic munching of grass helped lull us all to sleep.  Add to all this large bats cutting through the night air echo-locating their next meal and you pretty much have the picture.

Photo: Stella contemplating her campsite, which was pretty spartan compared to the chalet that Zurich Animal Protection Association has provided them back at HQ in Rumangabo.

We spent our days working the dogs, but because we were lucky enough to have Marcel along, we focused on Crime Scene Investigative (CSI) work. This part of the training will help the  rangers establish or “work up” a poaching case, including identifying the right scent articles for the dogs to follow and avoiding contaminating the crime scene.  We also made sure to simulate the possible tracking scenarios in the jungle, savannah, villages, and even took the dogs on boat patrols. Special focus was placed on testing the protective equipment for both dogs and rangers. At night, the rangers also got a chance to practice using their night vision goggles, which give them a serious advantage over poachers.

Photo: Lulimbi training exercise where jungle meets the savannah

Photo: Protective head gear being tested by rangers. Because of the focus required when man-trailing, it’s easy for rangers to get punctured by nasty thorns or hit in the face by branches. Meanwhile, Dodie field tests her treats…

Photo: Lucky Dodie about to escape the heat. These cooling vests can be used to prevent overheating or to cool a dog quickly.

No training would be complete without a little classroom time. There, rangers worked on patrol reports and CSI sketches, and before heading back to Rumangabo, they took both their practical and written exams. I’m proud to say that all the rangers passed!

Photo: The Congohound teams upon completion of their training

Recently, there have been some inspiring efforts by the younger generation to help Virunga National Park and I’d like to share their stories:

Elephant Crisis: News of slaughter motivated Savanah, Siarah, and James Hall in Louisiana to spring into action to secure 24/7 ranger protection for the Mabenga herd. In a few short weeks, they mobilized an effort at their local school and have enlisted help from friends as far away as Denmark. To date, they have raised over $800 and are still going strong. Talk about taking initiative! They show us all that anyone can make a difference - one just needs to get into action.

Image: Sticker students in Louisiana made to help raise funds for the elephant crisis (with a little help from artist, Sean Johnson)

Photo: Virunga’s Elephant Protection Team in Louisiana

Orphan Mountain Gorillas: Help for the Senkwekwe Center has come all the way from Little Bear pre-school in the the tiny mountain town of Nederland, Colorado. I went there to do a little “show and tell” about the mountain gorillas of Virunga. The kids had all sorts of great questions about gorillas, but were a little disappointed when I told them silverbacks weren’t 10 feet tall. Thankfully, they were still impressed by the fact that males can weigh in excess of 400 lbs. Not surprisingly, the orphan mountain gorillas stole their hearts - so much so that they all went home and asked their parents to give them their spare change for the Senkwekwe Center. One boy, Dean Howell (age 5), went the extra mile and sent out the letter below to his extended family asking for help. Thanks to Dean, his family, and the other kids at Little Bear, the Senkwekwe Center just received a $200.00 donation!

Image: The fundraising letter Dean Howell wrote to his family seeking support for the mountain gorilla orphans living at the Senkwekwe Center in Rumangabo.

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Video: Kids at Little Bear rally for Virunga’s mountain gorillas!

Attention Kids and Parents!

You can do this, too! If you’d like help getting started, please email me at  robertw at gorilla.cd. Virunga needs YOU!

What’s “wrong” with this picture?

Did you know that gorillas rarely drink water?

In the wild, a gorilla’s vegetarian diet is almost half water so they rarely have a need to drink.

A female adult gorilla can consume more than 18 kg (40 lbs) of vegetation per day and a male more than 34 kg (75 lbs). For mountain gorillas, this food is made up of at least 142 plant species (primarily leaves, stems, and shoots) and only a few fruits. Bamboo and wild celery are a favorite. Often when they find wild celery, they eat it with much grunting and humming, as if they are taking real pleasure in the taste.

There isn’t much competition for food in the Virunga forests. The mountain gorilla home ranges average 3–15 km2 (1.16–5.79 mi2), but their movements on average per day are only about 500 m (0.311 mi) or less.

Dian Fossey wrote in her observations of mountain gorillas that they had an obvious dislike of rain, and gorillas seem to dislike water in general, usually trying to cross streams without getting wet.  With that said…these are unusual pictures our rangers caught recently of the Kabirizi family drinking water and even sitting in a stream.

Gorillas from the Kabirizi family drink water from a small stream.

Sources:
Our Virunga National Park rangers
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorilla
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_go…

One of three elephants poached in February and March of this year in the Mabenga / Rutshuru Hunting Domain.

As you know, we’ve been trying to stop the rapid increase in elephant poaching among our Mabenga elephant group, and solving this problem will involve committed cooperation with the local community. Last week I participated in a meeting with the Union of Peasant Alliance (SAP). This was a joint meeting of several parties to try to solve an issue related to an area called the Rutshuru Hunting Domain established in 1946. It’s a little complicated, but if you stay with me, you’ll understand a bit of what the park must deal with when it comes to community relations and protecting the animals.

The large Rutshuru Hunting Domain circled in orange is mostly now cultivated land.

The Rutshuru Hunting Domain was a large section of land adjacent to the park and eventually came under the management of the park. As poaching increased, and the animal population began an alarming decline, hunting was banned, but the domain remained in the park’s jurisdiction. Between 1959 and 2004, aerial photos show the major increase in agricultural encroachment into the area. 95% of the Hunting Domain is now taken over by agriculture.

The orange area on these three maps shows the increasing level of encroachment into the Rutshuru Hunting Domain.

Only one small area remains with little cultivation, and because of our Mabenga elephants, it’s crucial for both the park and the community to keep this small area free from agriculture, and available as a corridor for elephant movement.  If land encroachment takes over, the elephants will still try to come through, will destroy crops, will make the people angry, and the elephants will be attacked and killed – a lose-lose situation for everyone.

The area circled in orange has not yet been taken for cultivation and needs to be partially surrounded by an electric fence to protect both the elephants and crops. The red X shows where 3 elephants have been killed in Feb and March.

The current strategy of the park is to build an electric fence around the remaining area of this Rutshuru Hunting Domain for the protection of elephants on the one hand and the protection of the farmers’ fields on the other. The elephants need a safe passage. But the success of the electric fence requires the full cooperation of the population to protect the fence from destruction (from either cutting or stealing of the wires), to maintain it, and to work with the park to stop the poaching. The process will be long and sometimes difficult, but it is underway and we have hope that this will bring us one step closer to stopping the terrible killing of these magnificent animals.

If you would like to join the fight to end this poaching, consider helping to fund a team of full-time rangers to patrol the Mabenga area and protect the elephants. On the barometer to the right of this post you can choose an amount to give. Click HERE to read more.