tagged w/ Goma
-
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
-
-
Armed Groups Raped More Than 150 Women
Added On August 25, 2010
Journalist Josh Kron reports from Goma, DRC, about the mass rape of women over four days in North Kiva last month.Armed Groups Raped More Than 150 Women
Added On August 25, 2010
Journalist Josh... more
-
-
UN AIRLIFTS YOUNG GORILLAS TO SAFETY
Gorillas airlifted out of Congo after threat from rebels intensified
The UN has airlifted four young eastern lowland gorillas out of a war zone in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to the safety of a sanctuary
At Risk
The animals which were flown from a battleground in Goma to The Kasugho sanctuary in the North Kivu province were moved out of the area where they risked being taken by traffickers and sold as exotic pets or killed for bush meat.
War
Eastern lowland gorillas only survive in the DRC and there are thought to be only 5000 left surviving in the wild. The rescue mission was part of a larger project to protect Africa’s remaining gorillas from the intensifying illegal trade in baby gorillas. As the number of armed rebels has proliferated in the east region of the DRC young gorillas are increasingly being caught for the exotic pet market. Older members of the species are more often killed and sold locally as bush meatUN AIRLIFTS YOUNG GORILLAS TO SAFETY
Gorillas airlifted out of Congo after threat... more
-
-
Interview with Divine Word Missionaries.
Over five million people have died during the past decade as a result of the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Few people are aware of the unimaginable scale of human suffering, death, and destruction that has occurred in this vast country deep in the heart of Africa. In the aftermath of this brutal war, children have endured the brunt of the suffering. This 67 minute film documents the plight of thousands of street children living in Kinshasa and confirms the wide-spread accusations of child witchcraft, torture and child prostitution. The film also examines the efforts to reintegrate demobilized child soldiers, displaced refugees, and orphaned children following the eruption of the massive Nyiragongo volcano, near the city of Goma in Eastern Congo. These heroic efforts are finally bringing some measure of hope and stability to the lives of the Congolese people.Interview with Divine Word Missionaries.
Over five million people have died during... more
-
-
Over five million people have died during the past decade as a result of the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Few people are aware of the unimaginable scale of human suffering, death, and destruction that has occurred in this vast country deep in the heart of Africa. In the aftermath of this brutal war, children have endured the brunt of the suffering. This 67 minute film documents the plight of thousands of street children living in Kinshasa and confirms the wide-spread accusations of child witchcraft, torture and child prostitution. The film also examines the efforts to reintegrate demobilized child soldiers, displaced refugees, and orphaned children following the eruption of the massive Nyiragongo volcano, near the city of Goma in Eastern Congo. These heroic efforts are finally bringing some measure of hope and stability to the lives of the Congolese people.Over five million people have died during the past decade as a result of the war in... more
-
-
Over five million people have died during the past decade as a result of the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Few people are aware of the unimaginable scale of human suffering, death, and destruction that has occurred in this vast country deep in the heart of Africa. In the aftermath of this brutal war, children have endured the brunt of the suffering. This 67 minute film documents the plight of thousands of street children living in Kinshasa and confirms the wide-spread accusations of child witchcraft, torture and child prostitution. The film also examines the efforts to reintegrate demobilized child soldiers, displaced refugees, and orphaned children following the eruption of the massive Nyiragongo volcano, near the city of Goma in Eastern Congo. These heroic efforts are finally bringing some measure of hope and stability to the lives of the Congolese people.Over five million people have died during the past decade as a result of the war in... more
-
-
-
Interview with ORPER.
Over five million people have died during the past decade as a result of the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Few people are aware of the unimaginable scale of human suffering, death, and destruction that has occurred in this vast country deep in the heart of Africa. In the aftermath of this brutal war, children have endured the brunt of the suffering. This 67 minute film documents the plight of thousands of street children living in Kinshasa and confirms the wide-spread accusations of child witchcraft, torture and child prostitution. The film also examines the efforts to reintegrate demobilized child soldiers, displaced refugees, and orphaned children following the eruption of the massive Nyiragongo volcano, near the city of Goma in Eastern Congo. These heroic efforts are finally bringing some measure of hope and stability to the lives of the Congolese people. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ukald_ZOvq0Interview with ORPER.
Over five million people have died during the past decade as... more
-
-
Interview with ICRC.
Over five million people have died during the past decade as a result of the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Few people are aware of the unimaginable scale of human suffering, death, and destruction that has occurred in this vast country deep in the heart of Africa. In the aftermath of this brutal war, children have endured the brunt of the suffering. This 67 minute film documents the plight of thousands of street children living in Kinshasa and confirms the wide-spread accusations of child witchcraft, torture and child prostitution. The film also examines the efforts to reintegrate demobilized child soldiers, displaced refugees, and orphaned children following the eruption of the massive Nyiragongo volcano, near the city of Goma in Eastern Congo. These heroic efforts are finally bringing some measure of hope and stability to the lives of the Congolese people. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hgdaXLQe7AInterview with ICRC.
Over five million people have died during the past decade as a... more
-
-
Gorilla.cd - Protecting the Mountain Gorillas of Virunga
2008 Filed under (Rangers) by Norbert Mushenzi @ 5:33 pm
Our Ranger Louis Kabwana passed away in the early hours of the morning. He had been ill shortly before the evacuation on 10th October. We had taken him to the clinic in Goma, but providing adequate treatment has been incredibly difficult in recent weeks. He was carried by our Rangers on his final journey, accompanied his family and by myself and the Director, and all the members of our refugee camp in Goma. It was a simple, dignified occasion.
Louis Kabwana dedicated his whole life to the mountain gorillas of Mikeno. He joined the Park in 1971 as part of the team protecting the gorillas, and had worked there ever since. He leaves a widow and 9 children. Gorilla.cd - Protecting the Mountain Gorillas of Virunga
2008 Filed under (Rangers)... more
-
-
(CNN) -- Thousands of people who fled fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are crossing back into rebel-held territory because they say conditions at refugee camps are intolerable.
With no food, water or sanitation in the camps, people have decided that it is worth the risk to return to their homes, even though rebels killed and raped many people just last week, residents told ITN's Jonathan Miller, who is near the city of Goma.
Many of their villages have been looted and emptied of people by the rebels, they said.
Roads were filled with people returning to rebel-held territory, carrying their belongings on their heads or on their backs.
However, others, fearful of fresh violence, continued to leave their homes, overwhelming aid centers. See photos of the refugee camps »
Aid groups were expected to travel into the Congo's rebel-held territory on Sunday to help tens of thousands of people displaced by the latest bout of rebel fighting.
On Saturday, aid groups delivered food and water to a refugee camp north of Goma, traveling through a narrow "humanitarian corridor" the rebels established following a cease-fire with government forces that the rebels announced Wednesday.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the international community cannot allow Congo to become "another Rwanda," where 800,000 died during a 1994 genocide.
Western diplomats shuttled between Goma -- the scene of some of the worst fighting -- and Kigali, in neighboring Rwanda, to meet with leaders in order to get a peace process back on track. Watch the diplomatic efforts »
"The immediate needs are obvious," said British Foreign Secretary David Miliband and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner in a joint statement Sunday.
The cease-fire seemed to be holding Sunday, but both sides appeared to be massing troops near the cease-fire line.
Government soldiers flew in from the capital Kinshasa and deployed in the jungle, and rebels were out in force on their side of the line.
ITN reporter Miller heard intermittent firing from the hills that mark the line where the two sides face off only a few hundred yards apart. A small contingent of United Nations troops in the area donned flak jackets and helmets in response.
(CNN) -- Thousands of people who fled fighting in the eastern Democratic Republic of... more
-
