Congo GORILLAs safety under threat.   by Bosco

Hakuna Matata Tours Director is worried over gorilla safety and very concerned about the increasing insecurity mountain gorillas face especially on the Congolese side of Virunga Park, in mikeno sector.

Since fighting erupted between dissident general Laurent Nkunda and the Congolese army in December 2006, about 370,000 people have been displaced from their homes in North Kivu province, resulting in alarming hikes in malnutrition rates. Rangers have also reportedly fled their Rumagambo park headquarters a few kilometres from the gorilla sector, with all valuable tracking equipment. for now all Congolese mountain gorillas are now unprotected, unmonitored and untracked and therefore there is nothing can be done to protect them. "Everybody know that the war does not affect people alone, but also the safety of gorillas in the park," Hakuna matata tours Director, said. Hakuna matata tours which operates in Rwanda and eastern DRC, told us that the situation of gorillas is now worse than it was when fighting started five weeks ago. Foreign militias as well as Congolese soldiers, poachers and illegal miners on regular basis are now crossing into the park to conduct illicit activities. and this is a major threat to safety of mountain gorillas he added. Since last January, ten mountain gorillas have been killed and two have gone missing in Virunga National Park. The killings have drawn outrage from conservationists. The endangered rare mountain gorillas in Virunga national park are a major tourist attraction, but poaching and other illegal activities over there have become a threat to them. Only about 700 critically endangered mountain gorillas remain in the wild habitat, bordering between Rwanda, Uganda and the eastern DRC. www.hakunamatatatours.com

Bosco

About the Author

I was in Born in Rwanda in 1963, i m maried and have 2 children. i work in rwanda as a tour operator offering safari in Congo Uganda, kenya to see animals and meet local people. i li ve in Kigali and i like traveling.