CONCERN MOUNTS FOR GRAUER’S GORILLAS IN DRC FOLLOWING THE RESCUE OF TWO POACHED INFANTS

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.