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116 elephant tusks have been seized by authorities in Congo, near the town of Kisangani – the third largest city in the country that sits right on the edge of the vast Congo forests and is a major commercial hub. This seizure – that you can read a bit more about in the AP article below – is a sign of the times. The illegal hunting of elephants for their tusks is, by all accounts, very much on the rise.

About 250 elephants have just crossed the Ishasha river (in the east of the park) and entered Virunga from Uganda.  This, of course, is good news, but only to the extent that we can protect them.

Elephants in Virunga – a wonderful sight

These elephants come from Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda where elephant populations have thrived because the wildlife authorities have managed to control the poaching for almost two decades.  Curiously, back in the ‘70s and ‘80s, the situation was reversed.  Congo (then Zaïre) was stable, and Uganda, under Idi Amin and Obote, was experiencing the kind of civil war that we have been living through recently. Their wildlife was decimated during that time. The old Rangers in Virunga explain how Ugandan elephants used to cross into Congo to escape the killing. The fact that we have parks next to each other across the borders makes it easier for us to re-establish the incredible herds of elephants, buffalo, antelopes and hippos that once lived in the plains.

Adults and babies come back en masse to grace our park

In the 1980s Virunga used to have about 3,000 elephants, but now we estimate that there are fewer than 400.  There are a few success stories, like Ishango, where the elephant number has estimated to have increased from 21 to about 150 over the past eight years, but on the whole, Virunga has suffered from very high levels of poaching, especially for elephants, whose meat and ivory fetch such a high price on the local and international markets.

That’s the main reason why we placed the training camp at Lulimbi, and one of the reasons why we’ve been running these operations on the lake: to secure a passage for the wildlife to re-establish itself in the Ishasha Valley and in the Rwindi plains.  We need to establish very effective wildlife protection by maintaining good surveillance through regular patrolling, establishing good observation posts and providing aerial support.  We also need to deploy well trained rangers very quickly to areas where the wildlife is at risk.

At the moment there is ongoing Ranger Training taking place at Lulimbi, on the Ishasha River to the south of Lake Edward (see map). Sixty Rangers per month go through the training program, to then be redeployed throughout the park. Training is obviously a critical component of wildlife conservation - with educated, energized and competent Rangers, Virunga’s flora and fauna stands a much better chance of being preserved.

Last month Katya shot this video at Lulimbi, which shows some of the many elephants, hippos and antelope that live in the park. This is just a taste of what the Rangers fight to protect on a daily basis.

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In the early hours of this morning a villager near the Gorilla Sector (near Bukima) was killed by a forest elephant. The elephant was trying to steal potatoes from the fields, and the villager was trying to scare him away. Innocent tells me that the man was hit with the trunk of the elephant and fell to the ground and died.

The villager was with 2 other men who were sitting in their field next to the Gorilla Sector at about 4am in case elephants came to steal the crops. We know - and we have talked about this many times - that elephants, buffaloes and gorillas all leave the confines of Virunga National Park to crop raid.

We have trained community members in crop protection and that it is important have a fire. Unfortunately these men did not have a fire - and so the elephant was not scared off at all, but startled by the presence of the men.

We do not have any photos of the forest elephants. You never see them during the day when you walk in the forest. What you do see very very clearly is their tracks.

The community is understandably upset and angry. ICCN will cover all funeral costs and will make a cash payment to the family. This is the least we can do for the time being, and at a later date we will have to see how we can alleviate the family’s suffering. I have sent this money to Innocent this morning from donations that you have made on our website. This money is usually for the Ranger’s widows, and other emergencies. This is an emergency.

Michel, the head of Bukima patrol post, is still in the community trying to help.

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!

Rangers even say that when the elephants sense danger, they immediately come towards the patrol post and the areas where the Rangers live. Bararua Evariste is one of the lead Rangers in Kabaraza and he told me when I visited last week that the Rangers are monitoring the elephants there daily, just like the Rangers do in the Gorilla Sector. The Rangers count the elephants and check that they all appear in good health. But Rangers are actually doing more than that. Because elephants have been the victims of poaching for so many years, the Rangers are determined not to let this happen. So they actually set up watch on a regular basis, to ensure that poachers (or soldiers) do not lay deadly traps, or shoot the elephants.

Kabaraza (south of Lake Edward and north of Rutshuru) is not far from where people live – and people pose the greatest threat to all the wildlife in Virunga.

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.

There are another 2 smaller herds there too. They are being followed daily by our Rangers – also of course dressed in green. We think the elephants are coming to realize that Rangers, despite wearing a similar outfit to the military, are not the enemy and are there to ensure their protection.

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!)

So now a camera or Flip video camera form part of the essential field gear of many Rangers. And now we have gone one step further – the Rangers now have better Video equipment and are being trained by Katya in how to shoot the best images of the gorillas. This will then be expanded to other parts of the park.

Every additional step we take toward improving the content of this blog and transmitting better images is very important to us. It is part of the critical step of getting our message to the outside world.

Thanks again for all your support.

This time of year is a period of friction between the gorilla families in Mikeno.  Bamboo shoots start sprouting because it’s the beginning of the rain season.  The shoots are in short supply and there is a bit of a scramble, which opens the scene for the occasional fight between silverbacks.

The Munyaga group usually avoids a fight, but has now drifted towards the Kabirizi and Humba group in search of bamboo shoots.

Infact, the gorillas are not alone.  Elephants, Antelopes and Buffalos as well as the gorillas move up into the forest looking for bamboo shoots

Kadogo the bald silverback from the Munyaga group, was spotted at higher altitude enjoying the bamboo.

The Munyaga family is now lead by a silverback called mawazo has only limited experience in leading a group.

This is Mawazo who dominates Kadogo and Kasole, the other two silver backs in the group.

Kasole

Injured but happy because the goup has beaten the fight and entered a new wild female gorilla.

Kagogo again

A furtive shot of Bilali, the only one female in the group, with her baby.

We have received a report from our colleagues at IDPE detailing an alarming rise in poaching by FARDC government soldiers in the central sector of the park (see map). In the month of August alone soldiers killed 8 hippos and 6 elephants, as well as the female lion recently shot in Rwindi.

One of the killed elephants- its tusks had been removed and trunk cut off.

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There is a spot just below the cliffs on the northern face of the Mikeno volcano which is known to attract animals in the search of salt. Elephants, buffalo, antelope, and mountain gorillas go there to scrape, crunch, lick, and eat the rock which is rich in salt and other minerals.

A couple days ago the Kabirizi group went there and Ranger Martin Kazerezi took these fascinating pictures:

The whole group was lined up at this great salt buffet

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