As an animal lover extrodinaire, and a conservationist I have long been interested in the future of African wildlife. Every year it seems you hear about another animal faced with extinction, usually at the hands of man. I have been to Africa twice, but have never had the experience of seeing a mountain gorilla in the wild. What a thrill that would be. I had a tentative trip planned in the 90's but it never materialized, and from what I read now I may never get to see them. Here's what's currently happening to the mountain gorilla of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Because of the violence of the civil war, and the deforestation of their habitat for illicit coal production, the critically endangered mountain gorillas of the Democratic Republic of Congo's Virunga National Park have been having a hard time of it lately. The rangers who try to protect them are not doing well either. 120 of them have been killed in the park since 1994.
With only 700 mountain gorillas life in the world and 81 of which inhabit the reserve, even the loss of one individual is an immeasurable tragedy. So when in 2007, suspected charcoal traffickers sneaked into Virunga, shot four gorillas execution style and left their bodies as a message about park officials' new campaign against coal production many groups fighting for the survival of the gorillas fought back.
The good news is that with international attention turned towards the perilous situation, the rebels and the government made a tenatitve truce over gorilla conservation and a recent population census claims that 10 new additions have been born to gorilla families. This is great news to me. Perhaps I will someday get to see these beautiful creatures up close and personal.
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