Mountain gorillas at Virunga Mountains are at risk following the current war in eastern DR Congo.
According to Emmanuel de Merode the director of the Virunga Park, the mountain gorillas are the star tourist attractions “but since the fighting broke out on May 15, the tourists stopped coming”.
The virunga mountain park is shared between Rwanda, Uganda and the DRCongo. This place is a natural habitat for the mountain gorillas.
Most affected is the area of the Virunga mountains overlooking the towns of Jomba and Bunagana close to the Uganda border which are home to 200 of the endangered primates.
The ongoing fighting is reportedly between DRC forces and rebels of the M23 rebel movement. Thousands of Congolese have been displaced, especially in the Rutshuru district of North Kivu province.
The park director said three out of five patrol sectors affected by the fighting have been evacuated leaving the gorillas without care and exposed to the crossfire of the belligerents.
The Virunga Park – formerly known as Albert national park – was created in 1925 during colonial rule and is famous worldwide as one of the very few remaining refuges of the mountain gorilla.
However, since 1996, the park has also been home to various armed groups behind the instability in eastern DR Congo.
Some of the human intruders have not shied off from killing the apes for commercial purposes.
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