tagged w/ Mountain Gorillas
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Orphaned gorillas find a safe haven
From Jessica Ellis, CNN
December 17, 2010 5:19 a.m. EST
Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo (CNN) --
In a remote, rural area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund has opened the country's first rehabilitation center for Grauer's gorillas.
Called GRACE (Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education), the center's goal is to teach orphaned gorillas how to survive in the wild as a new, self-sufficient "family," with the longer-term goal to release them into a natural habitat in a neighboring forest in the Congo Basin.
These young gorillas are physically and emotionally fragile, most having suffered from extremely traumatic conditions and experiences. Many have been violently taken from the forest by poachers, intent on selling them either as bush meat or for the animal trafficking trade.
CNN's Jessica Ellis and Ferre Dollar recently followed the first group of gorillas to be transported to the forested area from a temporary facility in Goma, in eastern DRC.
The pioneering young orphans were airlifted to GRACE by a helicopter donated by MONUC, the United Nations peacekeeping force in the DRC -- a first for a U.N. mission. Traveling by road would have been almost impossible due to poor infrastructure and potential trauma to the animals.
Mapendo, Amani, Kighoma and Ndjingala were all originally snatched from the forest and their families by poachers. They are all Grauer's gorillas, a subspecies related to the Mountain gorilla, but live exclusively in eastern DRC.
Sandy Jones is the confiscated gorilla rehabilitation manager for the Dian Fossey Fund and now the manager of GRACE. "All of the gorilla species are endangered because Congo is so unexplored they have not done a real census on how many Grauer's gorillas there are," she says.
"But at the rate at which we know they are being killed and the forest is being destroyed we are really concerned that if things aren't stopped and changed now they can be wiped out very soon."
This freshman class of GRACE gorillas range in age from between one and five years old. Mapendo, whose name means "love," was rescued in December 2007. She was confiscated along with a male gorilla but he only survived for two days.
When Amani -- which means "peace" -- was rescued a year ago she had a large wound on her leg. "It seemed obvious that her mother was shot and she was caught in the crossfire," Jones explains. "It took many weeks to heal but now she is walking perfectly normal."
Kighoma -- "drums" -- is the only male in the group. He arrived in May 2009, and Ndjingala was rescued earlier this year. She is only a year old and was named after the place from which she was taken.
"A lot of primates, when they are taken by poachers, they have ropes around their hips and it digs in and so they have bad wounds and Ndjingala suffered from that," Jones says.
The Dian Fossey gorilla fund and the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project have been caring for rescued gorillas in temporary quarters in Kinigi, in Rwanda, and in Goma.
Now they (the gorillas) are in the real forest and they are climbing and getting some forest food, so they are happy.
"What I know is that many of them have died," says Dr. Eddie Kambale of the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project. "We may have, I can say, about 20% that have been taken from the forest."
The GRACE center is the first facility of its kind in east Central Africa. It has room for up to 30 young gorillas to live in species-typical groups and roam through 350 acres of natural habitat.
Kambale helped bring the four orphans from Goma to GRACE. "The gorillas are enjoying this place compared to where they were," he says.
"In Goma there was too much noise and dust from the road; here is less pollution so this will be good for their health. Now they are in the real forest and they are climbing and getting some forest food, so they are happy."
The remaining rescued Grauer's gorillas currently cared for by the Dian Fossey Fund and Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project will leave Kinigi on a second airlift scheduled for early next year.
"Having the gorillas here will help give the people a glimpse of the world of gorillas," says Debby Cox, of the Pan African Sanctuary Alliance.
Cox worked with the local community to build the infrastructure for GRACE. "When the local people see gorillas as so much like us -- they live in families, the infants need their mothers, they hug each other -- you immediately get an empathy coming," she says.
"So we need to work with the people in this area, and that helps create stability and that creates confidence too."
While for decades the world has only heard bad news from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, conservation is striking an increasingly important chord of awareness among the people.Orphaned gorillas find a safe haven
From Jessica Ellis, CNN
December 17, 2010 5:19... more
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Gorillas fight for survival
By VBS.TV staff
July 22, 2010 2:57 p.m. EDT
Editor's note: The staff at CNN.com has recently been intrigued by the journalism of VICE, an independent media company and website based in Brooklyn, New York. VBS.TV is Vice's broadband television network. The reports, which are produced solely by VICE, reflect a transparent approach to journalism, where viewers are taken along on every step of the reporting process. We believe this unique reporting approach is worthy of sharing with our CNN.com readers.
__________
Bwindi Impenetrable Forest, Uganda (VBS.TV) --
Uganda has crept back into our consciousness lately with synchronized bomb attacks that took the lives of 76 people in the nation's capital Kampala during the World Cup festivities.
When we were last in Kampala, we set out to learn more about the desperate fight for the survival of mountain gorillas.
With a dwindling population of 700, they have been victims of poaching, disease, war, civil unrest, slaughter and displacement.
Under pressure from rebel factions in Uganda and the DRC who massacred gorillas because the conservationists were "getting on their nerves," our guide tracks the remaining apes -- by armpit stench and dung -- to keep tabs on their health.
We traveled to the remote jungle area known as Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in the southwestern part of Uganda, bordering with Rwanda and the DRC, areas plagued with dictatorships, genocide and decades of civil and national wars.
Ten years earlier, eight park visitors had been abducted and then murdered by a group of Rwandan armed rebels in an effort to destabilize the region.
The drive from Kampala was harrowing. Our driver sped and swerved obsessively, overtaking anyone in his path despite on-coming traffic.
We witnessed three traffic accidents, two fatalities and an adventurous couple having sex in the middle of a dark mountain road after midnight.
With four guards armed with machetes and rifles, two advance gorilla trackers, and our guide Levi we ventured into the dense tropical rainforest that is home to roughly half of the 700 remaining mountain gorillas in the world.
Here we encountered the gentle beasts and found out more about their plight.
See more of this fascinating story at VBS.TVGorillas fight for survival
By VBS.TV staff
July 22, 2010 2:57 p.m. EDT... more
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In this stunning video from the folks at Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a daring effort is made to transport the 375-pound silverback gorilla Mukunda back to the wildlife reserve after he strayed over three miles away.
Once wandering, Mukunda began destroying the crops of local villagers over the span of two months, threatening their livelihood and endangering his own life as a result.
After locating Mukunda and successfully anesthetizing him, he was driven back to his home in the forest, making the last stretch of steep hills on a bamboo stretcher, a process that took most of the day.
Virunga is the second oldest national park in the world (after Yellowstone), and is home to 200 critically endangered mountain gorillas, of which only 720 total remain.
Their daring attempt to relocate Mukunda back to the park shows their commitment to preserving him and his species
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/25/silverback-gorilla-reloca_n_625638.htmlIn this stunning video from the folks at Virunga National Park in the Democratic... more
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A mobile phone application has been launched to help protect the critically endangered mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The app, called iGorilla, allows users of iPhones and iPads to follow the lives of gorilla families in the remote forests of the Virunga National Park.
Each app costs $4 (£3), with most of the money going to the park.
The mountain gorilla population has been reduced by poaching, civil conflict, deforestation and disease.
But conservation work is helping to secure the remaining 720 animals, with an estimated 211 of the great apes living in the park.
The new app, launched by the Virunga National Park, allows users to choose a gorilla family, find out about individual members and follow their lives through reports, photographs and videos.
The park straddles the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda, covering 7,800 sq km (3,000 sq miles).
It was declared a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1979.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8687434.stmA mobile phone application has been launched to help protect the critically endangered... more
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Four highly endangered mountain gorillas have been found dead in Rwanda's Volcanoes National Park, likely because of extreme cold in their mountain habitat, experts said Thursday.
Some of the group were found still alive but dying earlier this week by trackers from the Karisoke Research Centre in the mountains of north-west Rwanda.
"While the cause of death has yet to be determined, the gorillas are thought to have died because of the extreme cold and rainy conditions," the World Wildlife Fund said in a statement.
"The gorillas? current range is high on Mount Karisimbi, and at high altitude it will be even colder," WWF said.
The wildlife group said there were no signs of foul play but that the dead gorillas, one female and three infants, have been sent for autopsy to determine the cause of death.
The four were part of a research group called Pablo.
"Unless the post mortem results show something contagious, it may be just a natural event ... likely to be down to the cold weather," said Ian Redmond, a gorilla expert who is chief consultant with the UN's Great Ape Survival Partnership.
"As in human populations, an extreme cold spell can be the cause of death for weak or ill individuals who might have otherwise recovered," Redmond told AFP.
Karisoke research centre was founded in 1967 by Dian Fossey, the US primatologist who brought mountain gorillas to the attention of the public and who was brutally murdered in the Virunga National Park in 1985.
"The sudden death of the four is not only a great shock but also a big loss for Rwanda and for the whole conservation team," said Rica Rwigamba, a tourism and conservation official at the Rwanda Development Board.
The Virunga volcanoes on the borders of Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo are home to about half of the world's 700 mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei). The other half live in Uganda's Bwindi Impenetrable Forest.
Gorilla tracking is a major draw for tourists in Rwanda, with visitors paying 500 dollars for a permit to spend an hour with the primates in their bamboo forest habitat.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gb2hOzVW2TGZ2etDI4r_ZxLlfhIAFour highly endangered mountain gorillas have been found dead in Rwanda's... more
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United Nations peacekeepers in Congo have used helicopters to airlift endangered baby gorillas to a sanctuary after they were rescued in a conflict zone where they faced being captured or eaten.
The animals ferried to safety are eastern lowland gorillas, a species that only lives in Democratic Republic of Congo and is classified as "endangered" on the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) red list.
The four gorillas, which had been rescued from traffickers in various parts of Congo's rebel-infested east, were flown by helicopter on Tuesday (April 27) from Goma to the Kasugho Sanctuary in North Kivu province.
"If you use vehicles, there is a great risk of losing the animals because they are traumatised. We used aircraft because we really wanted to reduce their stress level," Benoit Kisuki, Conservation International's country director, told Reuters.
Kisuki said the air transfer was part of a wider project to combat the illegal trade in baby gorillas, which has intensified in recent years with the proliferation of armed groups and constant insecurity in eastern Congo.
"The objective is to reintroduce them in their natural environment," he added.
The gorillas are often caught, trafficked and sold for thousands of dollars on the world market as exotic pets. Others are killed and sold locally as "bush meat".
The research centre in Kasugho has developed a two-hectare (4.9 acre) area where scientists can monitor young gorillas as they prepare to be released into the wild.
Six other individuals, currently under protection in Rwanda, are due to be flown in on June 10 to "socialise" with the first group and "form a family of 10", Kisuki said.
The gorillas could be a valuable asset for the future economic development of east Congo, after the animals became a major tourist attraction in Uganda and Rwanda, raising several million dollars in revenues.
There is no accurate data for eastern lowland gorilla populations. But Congo's gorillas have weathered years of warfare in the east and more than 150 rangers have been killed trying to protect the area's five national parks from poachers.
A U.N.-backed report last month said gorillas may become near-extinct in Africa's Greater Congo Basin by the mid-2020s unless action is taken to stop poaching and protect their habitat.United Nations peacekeepers in Congo have used helicopters to airlift endangered baby... more
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Few creatures in the wild captivate man as do gorillas. For those lucky enough to have seen them, it would be hard to imagine Africa's Congo without these gentle giants. However we may have no choice. By the mid-2020s, a new UN and Interpol report says gorillas may disappear from the forests of the Congo Basin.
"We had done a report back in 2002 which was already fairly grim in terms of the predictions in terms of the extinction," says Amy Fraenkel, regional director of the U-N Environnmental Program.
"But that is unfortunately very much trumped by the recent findings, which are that between - I'd say less than 10-15 years out from now, we could see extinction in large ranges of the species."
Fraenkel notes the report links the threat to gorillas to militias, and the continued fighting in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
"The biggest cause is an increase in illegal logging and harvesting of minerals in the area which in many cases are being used to directly finance militias, as you know it's a very war-torn area."
She adds that "illegal activity" also includes killing gorillas for bushmeat to feed the loggers and militia.
But the gorillas also face perhaps a more dangerous foe than man. A deadly disease that has wiped out entire populations of gorillas.
"If I were to rank them in what is now the most immediate threat, Ebola would be number one," says Allard Blom, with the World Wildlife Fund's Congo Basin Program.
"It's very devastating to both gorillas and humans and gets transmitted between the species. So that is actually at the moment really wiping out a lot of gorillas in their areas where they are most protected. The biggest populations get hit by this virus. Basically, it's almost a 100% mortality rates in gorilla."
The UNEP Interpol report contains several recommendations to counter the threat to gorillas. One key element, says Amy Fraenkel, is to stem the economic benefit of the illegal trade, inside and outside of Africa.
"And that is something we've been working on in many different aspects of environmental crime. In this case, it's training law enforcement officials and park rangers - and deploying and giving them the resources. It's truly a war and they need to be well equipped."
Allard Blom of the WWF agrees with report's recommendation. He adds that it is important to work with logging companies to help stem the illegal bushmeat trade -- and on that front, he says there is some good news.
"There is now over five million hectares of forest that is certified...and I can tell you from personal experience, 10-15 years ago, most logging companies were extremely hostile to conservation organizations. We were seen as the enemy and that has dramatically changed.
The UNEP - Interpol report was presented at a recent meeting of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species.
http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/environment/Gorillas-on-the-Brink-90203897.htmlFew creatures in the wild captivate man as do gorillas. For those lucky enough to have... more
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UPDATE TO EARLIER POST
Buhanga, the 23 year old solitary Silverback of Congo’s Gorilla Sector, has died. He was found yesterday near Gatovu patrol post, his favorite haunt, lying face down in a stream struggling to breath. Innocent, Dr Magda and the Rangers were with him when he took his last breaths some 30 minutes later.
Today Dr Jan will perform the necropsy to determine the cause of death, which we believe to be natural. He will then be buried in the Gorilla Cemetary at Rumangabo.Buhanga had been a solitary gorilla for many years, and did not have any offspring that we knew of. His father was killed in crossfire in 1997.
As you may recall Buhanga was sick at the beginning of March, but he appeared to make a recovery. Innocent and Magda commented though on how thin he seemed yesterday. It will be interesting to know the results of the necropsy.
Buhanga, Karateka’s brother, had been a solitary for many years, and could often be spotted near Gatovu chomping on bamboo. He was videoed in August 2008 by Innocent. This was an incredibly special moment, and one that has stuck in the hearts of all Rangers in the Gorilla Sector, because it was the first time in a year that a gorilla had been seen. It was just a couple of months before the war reached a climax, and really represented a moment of hope that the gorillas of Mikeno would be okay, despite all the fighting so close to their habitat.
Buhanga will be missed.
http://gorillacd.org/2010/04/02/buhanga-solitary-silverback-1987-2010/UPDATE TO EARLIER POST
Buhanga, the 23 year old solitary Silverback of... more
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Mother Jones - Environment + Health → Tech, Top Stories
-- By Dave Gilson
Killer apps: The real story behind your smart phone's innards.
IT'S A CELL PHONE, a camera, a media player, and a handheld computer all in one. But what makes the iPhone such a great tech toy also makes it a perfect example of the often murky, sometimes downright sketchy origins of our electronics. Here's a glimpse of what's really in an iPhone 3GS—and any number of other gadgets, from laptops to game consoles:
We've loaded this iPhone up with 10 apps you won't find on a real smart phone (visit link:http://motherjones.com/environment/2010/03/scary-truth-about-your-iphone). Click on an app to learn where your phone's electronic components really came from.
--Dave Gilson, is a senior editor at Mother JonesMother Jones - Environment + Health → Tech, Top Stories
-- By Dave Gilson... more
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Mother Jones - http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2010/03/gorillas-extinct-mid-2020
In March, the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) announced that gorillas in the Congo may be extinct by the mid-2020s, a drastic change from its 2002 projection which had 10 percent of the original range surviving in 2030.
The culprits behind the demise of one of the world's brightest primates: poaching, logging, mining, the Ebola virus, and...cell phones.
Adam Hochschild's piece in the March/April issue of Mother Jones http://motherjones.com/toc/2010/03, describes how the Congo's vast natural resources are continuously pillaged to feed foreign interests to the detriment of locals, their environment, and now gorillas.
'Militias have seized large chunks of gorilla land and logged and mined it. They have done so because the illegal trade in timber and in metals such as gold and coltan -- used in cell phones -- generates between $14 million and $50 million a year for them.' --- CNN reports
'This is a tragedy for the great apes and one also for countless other species being impacted by this intensifying and all too often illegal trade. Ultimately it is also a tragedy for the people living in the communities and countries concerned. These natural assets are their assets: ones underpinning lives and livelihoods for millions of people. In short it is environmental crime and theft by the few and the powerful at the expense of the poor and the vulnerable.' --- Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of the UNEP
http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2010/03/gorillas-extinct-mid-2020Mother Jones - http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2010/03/gorillas-extinct-mid-2020... more
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Gorillas could disappear from most of Africa's Greater Congo Basin within 10 to 15 years unless immediate action is taken to combat the illegal activities of militias, counter poaching and safeguard gorilla habitats, the United Nations and the international police organization INTERPOL warned in a report released today.
Illegal logging, mining, charcoal production and increased demand for bushmeat, plus deadly outbreaks of Ebola hemorrhagic fever are wiping out Congo Basin gorillas faster than the UN Environment Programme estimated just eight years ago.
The Rapid Response Assessment report, entitled "The Last Stand of the Gorilla - Environmental Crime and Conflict in the Congo Basin," finds that militias in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo are behind much of the illegal trade, estimated to be worth several hundred million dollars a year.
The report was issued at an ongoing meeting of delegates from 175 governments who are Parties to the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species, CITES.
David Higgins, manager of the INTERPOL Environmental Crime Programme, said, "The gorillas are yet another victim of the contempt shown by organized criminal gangs for national and international laws aimed at defending wildlife. The law enforcement response must be internationally co-coordinated, strong and united, and INTERPOL is uniquely placed to facilitate this."
"We are committed to combating all forms of environmental crime on a global scale," Higgins said. "INTERPOL is mandated to do so by providing law enforcement agencies in all our 188 member countries with the intelligence exchange, operational support, and capacity building needed to combat this world-spanning crime."
The report finds that smuggled or illegally-harvested minerals such as diamonds, gold and coltan along with timber ends up crossing borders, passing through middle men and companies before being shipped on to countries in Asia, the European Union and the Gulf.
The export of timber and minerals is estimated to be two to 10 times the officially recorded level, and is claimed to be handled by front companies in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi.
The illegal trade is in part due to the militias being in control of border crossings which, along with demanding road tax payments, may be generating between $14 million and $50 million annually, which in turn helps fund their activities.
The insecurity in the region has driven hundreds of thousands of people into refugee camps. Logging and mining camps, perhaps with links to militias, are hiring poachers to supply refugees and markets in towns across the region with bushmeat - meat fromm wild animals, increasingly gorillas.
"This is a tragedy for the great apes and one also for countless other species being impacted by this intensifying and all too often illegal trade," said UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.
* continued below in comments
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/mar2010/2010-03-24-01.htmlGorillas could disappear from most of Africa's Greater Congo Basin within 10 to... more
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PHOTO: The consumption of a silver-backed gorilla. (National Geographic)
Though most of our species in the more developed countries won’t even care about this, I feel compelled to report this tragedy of environmental disaster wrought by our lesser fortunate brethren in Africa specifically between the countries of Congo, Uganda, and Rwanda, all sites of genocides and the abuse of human rights in modern history.
There are multiple factors negatively affecting the population of African gorillas living in the Congo Basin. Of course, humans are one of them. Due to the violent militants and rebels ethnically cleansing their areas, it has forced thousands of refugees towards the wild, mainly the Congo Basin. Refugee camps are in wild demand of any food especially the meat of an ape. Insurgents and militias further harm gorillas by aggressively encroaching into the wild to extract precious – and illegal – minerals along with much needed lumber cutting down trees and ruining habitats for gorillas.
To top it all off, the epidemic of Ebola, a deadly virus for both humans and apes, especially apes, which became known to the public due to the strange infections of monkeys in the U.S being is accelerating the rate of mortality for these gorillas. This virus that originates from the Ebola River near Congo spreads through things such as spit, or soil rarely through human contact. Consequently, gorillas with their habits and movement patterns fell victim to an Ebola epidemic in the late 1900’s worsening their immune system and killing thousands of these gorillas.
Think environment activists have time? Think again. Within the next decade, the gorillas in the Greater Congo Basin will completely disappear as activities such as mining and poaching continue to rapidly increase as demands for the end-products also increase. Ninety percent of both infected gorillas and the natural habitats will decrease in the same timeframe of roughly ten to fifteen years according to the United Nations Environment Program, a surprise for those who had thought gorillas in the Congo Basin would lose the same amount of their habitat by the year 2030.
A nightmare for environment activists, the lack of gorillas in the region of Central Africa will have significant impacts on the levels of their community, ecosystem and ultimately the biosphere leading to other environmental casualties as well.
Unlike the cases of whales, tigers, and others being terribly cut down by humans in the animal kingdom, the decreasing population of gorillas in Central Africa (already around the number of seven hundred gorillas, a gloomy statistic when compared to the previous population in the 20th century) is even harder to prevent. You can’t exactly hunt down militants in politically unstable areas in Africa, and you can’t exactly hand out vaccination to a line of gorillas to prevent their deaths in the Ebola outbreaks.
The rangers at these wildlife sites are nearly helpless as well due to the lack of outside support for Interpol’s Environmental Crime Program and such other programs. More than 180 rangers have already been killed by those who illegally garner resources at the expense of the species of gorillas.
There simply is no room for optimism only reality.
http://inewp.com/?p=1862PHOTO: The consumption of a silver-backed gorilla. (National Geographic)
Though... more
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Gorillas in central Africa are in danger from illegal logging, mining and from hunters who are killing great apes for meat, said a joint report from the United Nations and Interpol released Wednesday.
A previous report in 2002 estimated that only 10 percent of gorillas would remain by 2030. The author of the 2002 report and of the newly released one said that estimate now appears too optimistic.
"We fear now that the gorillas may become extinct from most parts of their range in perhaps 15 years," U.N. Environmental Program's Christian Nellemann said.
One of the dangers gorillas now face is a large increase in logging for timber that is mostly destined for Asia, particularly China, said Nellemann, also editor-in-chief of the newly released report "The Last Stand of The Gorilla."
Militant factions have also taken over gorilla land, making the protection of gorillas extremely difficult, he said. Increasing human populations and the deadly ebola virus are also killing gorillas.
Achim Steiner, executive director of UNEP, said that logging and mining camps hire poachers to supply refugees and markets with the meat of wild animals, including gorillas.
The report calls for greater scrutiny of European and Asian companies using subsidiaries to extract timber and minerals from central Africa.
"This is tragedy for the great apes and one also for countless other species being impacted by this intensifying and all too often illegal trade," Steiner said in a statement. "In short it is environmental crime and theft by the few and the powerful at the expense of the poor and the vulnerable."
David Higgins, manager of the Interpol Environmental Crime Program, said that gorillas are a victim of the contempt shown by organized crime groups toward national and international laws aimed at defending wildlife.
The report, however, contained some good news as well. An unpublished survey of one area of eastern Congo in the center of the conflict zone discovered 750 previously unknown critically endangered eastern lowland gorillas.
"What we are worried about is that these gorillas are disappearing faster than we can actually mobilize resources to save them," said Nellemann, who called for increased resources for UNEP and Interpol to protect great apes.
The report also found that the number of mountain gorillas in the Virungas, a transboundary national park, has risen 12 percent since 2007 as a result of strengthened law enforcement.
There are four distinct types of gorilla. Three are listed as critically endangered and one is listed as endangered.
Help save the gorillas!
International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP)
http://www.igcp.org/Gorillas in central Africa are in danger from illegal logging, mining and from hunters... more
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Despite an international ban, the trade in endangered animals to the Middle East is flourishing. This exclusive report tracks the dealers, buyers and government officials who protect them.
In January 2005, a crate containing six baby chimpanzees and four monkeys was rescued from a flight from Cairo. The animals had been denied food and water for days and one soon died. Scouring flight records, animal investigators linked the shipment to a notorious wildlife smuggler. It's believed this smuggler traffics an average of 40 chimpanzees a year, bribing airport officials. Despite a wealth of evidence against her, she has never been prosecuted.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7gsvvzlab8&NR=1
There is NO EXCUSE for this horror. As a compassionate and smart consumer, know where you 'stuff' comes from!
Please do not add to the environmental devastation and ethical atrocities taking place.
Climate change (global warming) already threatens these magnificent beings with extinction. Deforestation, mining and "exploration" in the DRC (& surrounding African nations) is driven by CONSUMERISM.
Please visit my blogger page http://julesrs007saveanimals.blogspot.com/ for links and other information on how to help this magnificent & endangered being, the Mountain Gorilla.- FULL LENGTH FILM -
Despite an international ban, the trade in endangered animals... more
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The gorilla conservation campaign, launched during the UN Year of the Gorilla 2009 by the Uganda Wildlife Authority, has sadly lagged behind projected friend numbers, as during a recent visit to the website www.friendagorilla.org only 13,587 friendships had been entered into via Facebook and Twitter, each contributing a modest US$1 as a minimum fee. Further contributions can be made and are most welcome - as much as one can muster in financial terms.
This correspondent continues to encourage visits to this site and hopes that the number of gorilla friends can double, triple, or grow even more during 2010 for the benefit of wildlife conservation and in particular to support the endangered mountain gorillas.
Meanwhile it was also reported that the Nkuringo group near Clouds Safari Lodge added another newborn baby to the group, which now has 20 members. The newly-born’s sex has not yet been determined, and a naming will only take place once the gender is established.
http://www.friendagorilla.org/
http://www.eturbonews.com/13762/friend-gorilla-needs-extra-boostThe gorilla conservation campaign, launched during the UN Year of the Gorilla 2009 by... more
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UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are using their aircraft to help protect endangered chimpanzees and other wildlife following a volcanic eruption in Virunga National Park.
Nyamulagira, one of two active volcanoes inside the park, started erupting early on 2 January (PDF). The lava has since moved 4 kilometres in three days. Luckily it has gone south, away from major human settlements and Virunga's famous mountain gorillas, which are further east.
But another endangered ape, the 40 eastern chimpanzees that live on Nyamulagira itself, could still be at risk if they are surrounded by lava, and as the plants they rely on for food become coated by abrasive volcanic ash. Park officials hope animals in the lava's path will simply move away from it. "Our rangers say birds and animals in the area are behaving in a disturbed way," boosting hopes that they will move, says park spokesperson Samantha Newport.
The UN multinational force MONUC is stationed in the DRC to protect civilians in a war that has so far claimed the lives of at least 5 million people. On Saturday it offered Congolese authorities monitoring the volcano the use of its Indian planes and helicopters.
But Congolese conservation authorities were unaware of the offer, and on Tuesday staff at Virunga were still trying to arrange a flight over park to assess the damage. After being contacted by New Scientist, staff were able to arrange for Innocent Mburanumwe, the chief warden for the southern sector of the park, to take a MONUC overflight. "We are very happy about that," says Newport. "It has also allowed us to check on deforestation."
New threat
Eastern chimpanzees, a subspecies of the common chimp, are classed as endangered because their numbers are dropping steadily, mainly due to deforestation, although the Ebola virus poses an added threat. In total they may number as few as 76,000, all living in east and central Africa.
Richard Carroll, head of African programmes for the WWF, fears that if the eruption destroys people's livelihoods, they will be more likely to hunt or cut wood for charcoal in Virunga, increasing the threat to wildlife.
"This also shows how dangerous it is to rely on a few fragmented reserves for entire species," he says. The eruption is not currently threatening mountain gorillas, but it could be disastrous if it did: around 200 of the 700-odd mountain gorillas left in the wild live in Virunga.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18340-troops-protect-chimps-from-volcano-lava.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-newsUN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are using their aircraft... more
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Monkey species will become 'increasingly at risk of extinction' because of global warming, according to new research, published this week. It reveals that populations of monkeys and apes in Africa that depend largely on a diet of leaves may be wiped out by a rise in annual temperatures of two degrees Celsius.
The study by researchers from Bournemouth University, Roehampton University and the University of Oxford suggests that the species most at risk are the already endangered gorillas and colobine monkeys.
The paper, published online by Animal Behaviour, pinpoints which species are most threatened by climate change in a series of new global maps. They show current and predicted distribution patterns of primates, comparing the populations according to their diet and the amount of enforced rest they are predicted to need.
They warn that Old World monkey populations in Africa will be hardest hit even by a very modest two degrees Celsius increase in global mean temperature, especially those whose diets are mainly leaf-based such as the beautiful colobine monkeys. In contrast, New World monkeys in South America will be virtually unaffected by a rise of two degrees in mean temperatures.
However, even the South American species will begin to suffer if temperatures rise as much as four degrees Celsius (the currently predicted most extreme value) because suitable habitats will then become increasingly fragmented and small fragmented populations are more liable to chance risks of extinction.
These predictions are based on analyses of the ecological constraints that determine how much time animals are forced to rest. The researchers found that animals that have forced rest have less time to forage for food or engage in other biologically essential activities, such as forming friendships. Although most primates have adaptations that help them cope with the heat, they head for shelter and rest when the sun gets too hot.
The researchers show that resting time is influenced by three main factors: the percentage of leaves in the animals' diet, temperature variation and mean annual temperature. When these three effects come together, susceptible species will be unable to cope and populations will go extinct.
detailed article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091220174210.htm
related article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/10/091028090530.htmMonkey species will become 'increasingly at risk of extinction' because of... more
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The first to study mountain gorillas, Schaller habituated them to humans, allowing us to see their truly amiable nature.
Nature's Greatest Defender : SAT DEC 12 10P et/pt :
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com...The first to study mountain gorillas, Schaller habituated them to humans, allowing us... more
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