Gearing up 4 Gorillas

Mambo is a young, sub adult male mtn gorilla that G4G saw first, in 2004 near the Jomba ranger patrol post, that is now controlled by Nkundas rebels. They are currently letting the rangers check on the gorilla families near Jomba - including the Mapuwa family. Mapuwa is the silverback & Mambo’s dad.

The rangers undertook a census in August, just before all the fighting began & have sent this updated photo of Mambo! He’s a real cheeky fellow & tries to look at the camera after a photo has been taken! Mambo features on the front of G4G’s booklet & we’re so pleased to be able to give you this latest picture…..he still looks a right little character!!

The gorilla sector rangers have arrested two men who are accused of trying to sell gorillas. One gorilla has ben found dead but another is thought to be held and ‘up for sale’. There are few details for security reasons and I’m not going to post the photo of the dead gorilla this time. Rangers are trying hard to locate the second gorilla.
This is horrendous news. rangers are not able to determine whether these gorillas are from habituated groups or wild mtn gorillas - they still cannot patrol the sector due to the army & rebel presence.
G4G will update you as we receive any news….

Mapuwa (the silverback) and the 12 strong family have been seen alive & well today by the two brave rangers who’ve been let into the forest by the rebels controlling the patrol post at Jomba.

They were given a weapon back each to go & locate & check on the Mapuwa gorillas. This is really good news - although we’re always guarded as the situation is still very tense with the ceasefire only meant to hold until the weekend - so anything could happen again, any time.

The 5 remaining members of the Rugendo family (the others were those killed on July 22nd) are currently well, but outside the Park. They’ve descended into fields to find food and to perhaps escape the turmoil. This can, understandably, cause problems with the surrounding villagers as the fields provide food for the community, but fingers crossed, they’re OK for now.

Below, some of the Rugendo family in happier times…

To be on the safe side, details regarding Augustin and his rangers will be held over until the current situation has been resolved. Instead, this is the Mikeno sector of Virunga National Park. The Mikeno sector is where the mountain gorillas are. You can see how close it is to the border with Rwanda and Uganda, hence the reason why the gorillas sometimes cross over into different countries - not that they know they’re doing it! You can also see the ranger patrol posts of Bikenge and Jomba. This is where the most fierce fighting has been taking place.
Camp Bukima is also shown. The rangers are still waiting for permission to go back into the forest to check on the status of the gorillas. The Congolese Army and Laurent Nkundas men are still in control of the Mikeno sector.

Meet Augustin Kambale, one of the 5 gorilla protection rangers sponsored through G4G. Augustin and his fellow rangers work in the Mikeno gorilla sector of Virunga National Park, eastern DR Congo. Whilst the fierce clashes reported in previous posts have quietened down, it is feared to be only a temporary lull, as the two sides strengthen their positions. Augustin and his rangers are desperate to get back into the forest to check on the gorilla groups, but it is still too dangerous.

 During the rest of this week, posts will outline more about what the rangers do, what they need to do their work and how G4G, with your help, is assisting them. Augustin is such a charismatic character, always smiling and wanting to share his love of, and experiences with, the mountain gorillas. Tomorrow, Augustin will explain more about himself and his family.

Very bad news that fighting between the rebels and Congolese army has worsened at & between the two ranger patrol posts in the Mikeno gorilla sector. Rangers are reporting the repeated use of bombs - a new and very worrying phase in this conflict. A ceasefire reportedly negotiated by MONUC (UN) has obviously not held.

As you might sense from the tone of this post, a recent press report that all the habituated gorillas are safe is totally inaccurate and a misrepresentation of the facts.  Rangers were going in carefully yesterday to try & start tracking the whereabouts of the gorillas but would have retreated again due to this heavy fighting.

G4G is holding its breath for news of the rangers, communities and gorillas of Virunga.

Diddy & Innocent are two of the expert DR Congo gorilla trackers. With fighting having quietened a little, they are carefully making their way back into the Mikeno sector to see if they can trace any of the gorillas. The gorillas usually move around a 5km area so with the recent close fighting, no-one can tell just where they’ll be now.
Good luck to Diddy & Innocent - and stay safe guys.

Watch out for news on BBC, Reuters etc as rebels loyal to Laurent Nkunda have taken over all the ranger stations and posts in the Mikeno gorilla sector and beyond. There are reports of heavy fighting. Nkunda’s men are fighting the Congolese army and this has been brewing for some time. The rangers and their families are being helped away from the area, after the rebels raided their patrol posts and stole arms, ammo, supplies, radios etc. This is a truly grave situation. Latest posts on www.wildlifedirect.org/ - go to ‘gorilla protection’ tell of heavy fighting approaching the main ranger station of Rumangabo and they’re preparing to evacuate.
The gorillas now have no protection. Let’s pray they move away from the area.
Our thoughts are with the rangers, families and all the communities in the area who must be fleeing for their lives.
More as we hear.

It is with great sadness that we report that Bilali’s newborn baby, in the video below, has been killed. The details are not clear but it looks like the baby died after interactions between the silverbacks/blackbacks of the group. Bilali is the only female in this group.

The rangers cannot go into the forest at the moment to check what is happening, as rebel forces shot & killed a ranger nearby a few days ago, many people from local communities are leaving the area due to this threat and it is too dangerous for the rangers to go in. One troop of the Advance Force, (a small but highly trained troop of rangers) currently patrolling the gorilla sector in this time of increased threat, was attacked last night.
We are awaiting news of any injuries. Let’s pray they all managed to get back to the ranger station unharmed.