AVIAN FLU is of great concern across Europe but of equal concern deep in the jungles of VirungaNational Park, (VNP) the few remaining apes are, as any primate, subject to human diseases, and should be kept away as far as possible from any human contact.
Fabian Leendertz, wildlife disease epidemiologist at the Robert Koch Institute in Berlin, says: “…respiratory diseases introduced by humans have long been suspected at sites where apes in the wild have been in close contact to humans… and we need to be more proactive about instituting strict hygiene precautions at all ape tourism and research sites.”
The VNP, straddling the borders of the DRC, Uganda and Rwanda, is home to more than half of the world’s remaining mountain gorillas, with these three states sharing the huge responsibility of what is probably Africa’s oldest national park, and one of the greatest Ecotourism projects in that part of the world.
For wild life enthusiasts the welfare of more than half of the apes population is of great concern now in the eastern DRC’s Gorilla Sector, where an estimated 380 mountain gorillas apes, are currently in the care of ‘very aggressive’ rebels having commandeered the area from the ICCN. (the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature).
The fact that the rebels are also taking tourists into the VirungaNational Park, where UN Peacekeepers claim landmines have been planted along one of the main routes is of great concern to everyone in that the rebels are taking in probably two groups per week, which is putting the apes at further risk. Through such contact with the outside world these apes are liable to contact human diseases, for which no antibiotics or medication is readily available especially while in the apes are in the hands of the rebels.
One contributing factor for this is that the local communities in that area, rely on illegal charcoal traders for fuel who, it is believed were responsible for the execution of five members of the Rugendo family and 10 great apes in 2007.
Taking in tourists may generate money for the militias, but of major concern is that the gorillas are under threat from poaching and habitat loss. Stopping the illegal charcoal shipments leaving the area is in the hands of the ICCN rangers, assisted by the UN forces, but they are unable to enter the Gorilla Sector.
It would be preferable if the destruction of the habitat were avoided altogether because as conservation groups point out, in 20 years time only 10 percent of the apes’ existing habitat will remain.
At this rate, it will be a matter of decades before the local communities are without charcoal for fuel, because it is highly unlikely that solar power heating will be generated for their benefit anywhere in the near future. At the end of the day, the local peasants will be forced to vacate the area – leaving behind scrub where apes and the tallest trees in which they slept, could have been a viable Ecotourism attraction in the region – and why? Because solar power today for the locals is too great an expense to even consider for tomorrow, but at what cost? It depends on which side you are… for others the cost is far less this way because as soon as the apes are dead and the locals vanquished, it will be easier to mine deep down beneath the barren land in order to access Africa's precious minerals. It’s all part of the greater picture, no matter what the environmentalists believe.
Remember how the fish, those elephants and other animals in Malaysia reacted during the terrible tsunami several years ago, when everyone ignored them? Perhaps a closer study of these few remaining mountain apes in the African Rift System would reveal just when and where the next earth tremors will happen in that region because it is here that the Somali Plate and the Africa Plate hinge, and since 1991, almost 7,000 mild shock waves already have been experienced as has been reported by Entebbe’s seismic expert, Dr Ezra Twesigomewe.
(This article is based on a report by Mark Kinver, Science and Nature Reporter, BBC News.)
READER OPINIONS
BODIDILEE, BULAWAYO • na.byo Subject: THE REBELS WERE INNOCENT! Fri, 21 Mar 2008 01:50:31 • So, who is paying the Rangers now to kill off the estimated 380 remaining gorillas, thereby causing unrest in DRC's Gorilla Sector of the Virunga National Park?
Donette Read Kruger • Stringer Subject: UNBELIEVABLE! SHOCKING! Thu, 20 Mar 2008 10:35:16 • BBC NEWSFLASH TODAY 20.3.08
Ranger held over gorilla killings
Conservationists around the world were shocked by the gorilla killings
A senior wildlife park official in Democratic Republic of Congo has been arrested amid claims that he organised the killing of rare mountain gorillas.
The Congolese Nature Conservation Institute (ICCN) is reported to have brought the charges against Honore Mashagiro - one of its members.
Ten gorillas were killed in 2007 in the Virunga National Park, a Unesco world heritage site.
The park is in a volatile region where rebels have set up a base.
The area is also home to more than half of the world's last 700 mountain gorillas living in the wild.
Six other foresters could be questioned over the killings, and their role in trapping and slaughtering the animals on the alleged orders of Mr Mashagiro, reports say.
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