Musanze, Rwanda –
Gorilla Doctors and the Congolese Wildlife Authority (ICCN) are increasingly
concerned about the survival of Grauer’s gorillas in the Democratic Republic of
Congo (DRC) following the rescue of two poached infant gorillas in separate
confiscations on September 13 and 20. Civil war and illegal resource extraction
by armed militias in the areas where Grauer’s gorillas live have made it
extremely difficult for Gorilla Doctors, ICCN, and other conservation groups to
monitor and protect this endangered species.
“In order to obtain an
infant gorilla to sell in the illegal pet trade, poachers typically kill the
infant’s mother and any other gorilla trying to protect it,” says Dr. Mike
Cranfield, Co-Director of Gorilla Doctors, a veterinary team dedicated to
saving Grauer’s and mountain gorillas through life-saving health care. “The
confiscation of two infant gorillas from different groups indicates that
numerous wild Grauer’s gorillas may have been killed recently.” "VISIT GORILLAS AS WE SAVE"
In the last four years,
10 Grauer’s gorilla orphans have been confiscated from poachers, and
authorities investigated numerous other reports of illegally-held gorillas.
Closely related to the more famous mountain gorillas, Grauer’s gorillas, also
called eastern lowland gorillas, are one of four gorilla subspecies, and can
only be found in Eastern DRC in Kahuzi-Biega, Virunga, and Mikeo National Parks
and isolated forest reserves. The population size of the species is unknown but
most experts believe there may be fewer than 4,000 remaining.
The infant confiscated
on September 13 was brought to the Kahuzi-Biega National Park headquarters at Tchivanga,
South Kivu Province, by the community conservation group Jeunesse Pour le
Conservation de l’Environnement (JPE). The group claimed to have been given the
baby by the Raiya Mutomboki, a rebel group active in the region. Gorilla
Doctors veterinarians Dr. Dawn Zimmerman, Dr. Eddy Kambale, and Dr. Martin
Kabuyaya, who were in park that day working to release two human-habituated
Grauer’s gorillas of the Chimanuka tourist group from poachers’ snares,
examined the approximately nine-month-old female infant and found her to be in
relatively good condition. The ensnared gorillas were later released by the
Gorilla Doctors, the first-ever successful interventions to treat ensnared
Grauer’s gorillas.
Gorilla Doctors
coordinated with the Tayna Center for Conservation Biology and ICCN
authorities to bring the poached infant to the Senkwekwe gorilla sanctuary at
Virunga National Park headquarters in Rumangabo, North Kivu Province. Despite
recent fighting between the M23 rebels and the Congo army around the park, the
headquarters has remained a safe haven. The gorilla was named “Isangi,” after the village where the rebels handed her
over to JPE.
On September 20,
Virunga National Park Gorilla Sector Warden Innocent Mburanumwe and other ICCN
and local officials successfully undertook the sting operation following a
tip-off by local community members, and confiscated a four-month-old female
Grauer’s gorilla orphan from men attempting to sell her in the city of Goma.
Her captors claimed to have taken the baby from the Walikale area, an insecure
region where numerous armed groups compete for control over mines. After the
men were arrested and transferred to the court authorities in Goma, the infant
was moved to the sanctuary in Virunga National Park where three trained careers
provide her with 24 hour care. Gorilla poaching is considered a serious crime
in Congo and can lead to a lifetime prison sentence.
