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The slaughtered gorillas were carefully bound to stretchers to enable the rangers to carry the weighty bodies to Rumangabo. Many of the local villagers came to help |
Gorilla Executions
Gorilla Executions 2007
On July 22nd 2007, several members of the Rugendo gorilla family were callously shot dead. Rangers heard the gunfire and knew in their hearts something terrible had happened. The gorillas were not killed for meat as their bodies were left intact. Neither were they killed by accident. The Rugendo family had been a much visited group – used to the presence of humans – for a very long time. The executions were reported all over the world and were unanimously condemned.
It is thought that the deaths were directly related to the charcoal trade. This illegal trade is destroying Virungas forests and is very lucrative. The rangers had been locating and destroying charcoal kilns. The gorilla executions were a grim warning to the rangers.
The case against those responsible is ongoing.
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The silverback - Senkwekwe
Senkwekwe – which is the name of a bird that sings in the morning - was a very calm and strong silverback. |
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The silverback, Senkwekwe, was no doubt shot trying to defend his family. Safarai, Neza and Mburanumwe were also killed. Safari, had a very young infant, Ndeze, who miraculously survived the attack. She is now being cared for in Goma. One of the other females was pregnant.
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Adult female – Safari with Ndeze |
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Adult female - Neza |
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Adult female - Mburanumwe |
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The remains of Macibiri, another adult female, were found one month later and her 2 year old infant, Ntaribi, is presumed to have perished.
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Macibiri with Ntaribi |
2007 was a bad year for the Virunga mountain gorillas. In January, a solitary silverback, Karema, was killed. It is thought he was shot
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Nsekuye with Ndakasi hitching a ride |
for meat, as his remains were found discarded. Karema means cripple in Swahili, as Karema had a hand missing from being caught in a snare as a youngster. He was a very calm and trusting silverback and would not have been concerned at the approach of his killers.
Another solitary silverback went missing from the same area, at the same time.
It is thought that he may have suffered the same fate. General Laurent Nkunda’s troops were occupying the forest at that time.
On June 8th 2007, the adult female Nsekuye was shot in the back of the head, leaving a tiny baby, Ndakasi, an orphan. Both Ndeze and Ndakasi are being cared for together in Goma.
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Nsekuye was also carried by rangers back to Rumangabo for burial |
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Including the death of Mfabure and the unborn baby from the July massacre, Virunga lost 10 mountain gorillas in 2007.
May all those responsible be brought to justice.
May the lost gorillas of Virunga rest in peace.
An account of the Rugendo family history was put together by rangers Innocent and Diddy, just after the massacre, and is given below:
The Rugendo family
In 1997, the Rugendo family was led by the Silverback Rugendo and included 18 individuals. Since this time the group have never been this large again, and the family comprised two Silverbacks; Rugendo and his son Humba, 1 blackback, called Senkwekwe, 8 adult females, 1 sub-adult female, and 6 infants.
The next year, in 1998, there was a fight between Rugendo and Humba and the group was split into two parts. Eight family members stayed with Rugendo: Senkwekwe the blackback, 4 adult females, and 3 infants.
In 1999, there were two births in the Rugendo group. During this year, Senkwekwe also started to become a silverback.
June and July of 2001 saw an increase in fighting between the military of the rebel forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Uganda with militia groups in eastern Congo.
There was much fighting in the Virunga area, and on July 15 the Rugendo group was caught up in clashes between the military and the Interahamwe militia groups; the Silverback Rugendo was shot dead.
Rugendo, who had been habituated since 1986, died just 40m from the park boundary. His body was buried at Rumangabo, the headquarters for Virunga National Park, and his son, Senkwekwe, took over leadership of the group.
Normally a male gorilla will take his high position within the family not only because of his strength, but also because of his experience and abilities. As young males lack the necessary experience, they often find it hard to lead the group, and can lose the females of the group to other families. In 2002, a year after Senkwekwe took leadership, the adult female Kidole left the group to join the Mapuwa family, following interactions between the two families. This year also saw the disappearance of Safi and her infant Katembo.
At the beginning of 2003 the group was down to just 6 individuals, after the infant Bahati was killed by the local population at Bikenga, who threw stones at Bahati after finding him in a maize field.
At the end of 2003, with the birth of Bavukahe on the 6th December to Safari, and the birth of Noel on the 24th December to Neza, the group was up to 8 individuals.
2004 saw the adult female Bilali leave to join the Munyaga group, taking the group down to 7 individuals.
But in 2005 the group was back up to 10 individuals; after interactions with the Humba Family, the sub adult female Mburanumwe joined the Rugendo family, as did the adult female Machibiri from the Kabirizi family, and another immigration from the Humba family later on in the year, by the sub adult Mukunda.
In January 2006 the group reached 11 individuals with the birth of Ntaribi, by Machibiri who came over from the Kabirizi family.
In June 2007, the group reached the highest number since 1998, 12 individuals, with the birth of Ndeze by Safari.
Just a month later, the Rugendo family was attacked. Three adult females, Safari, Mburanumwe and Neza were killed, and Senkwekwe, the Silverback who took lead of his family after the killing of his father in 2001, was also shot dead.
Machibiri and her infant Ntaribi are still missing.
…and a tribute to Karema:
Farewell to a Friend: Karema (1989 - 2007)
Karema was born in 1989 to Mukechuru and Rugendo, a large silverback. His mother Mukechuru died of old age in 1991, when Karema was still very dependant on her care. His father looked after him thereafter.
The word Karema means “handicapped”. He lost his left hand, most likely to a snare. Men plagued his existence to the end, and yet he was known for his exceptionally calm personality. The first recorded contact with Karema was by the biologist Conrad Aveling, who noted his friendly disposition. He was a calming influence on the gorilla group, which was frequently visited by tourists in those days.
He disappeared from his family in February 2002, reappearing as a young blackback a few months later, living a life of solitude. He died at the hands of a species he trusted completely, aged 18.
This entry was posted on the gorilla.cd web site, Thursday, January 18th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
