Two Virunga National Park Rangers Bareke and Butsitsi have attended Special Training on gorilla conservation in Rwanda. With all the daunting challenges faced by Virunga’s rangers, working smart, as well as hard, is key. Covering 7,800 square kilometers of park is no easy task under any circumstances and especially not with a small ranger force.
Effort to Save Virunga’s Disappearing Grauer’s Gorillas
The fate of Virunga’s eastern lowland Grauer’s gorillas continues to hang in the balance. In 2008, their population was a mere 22 individuals and today that number stands at six. The remaining six are comprised of a habituated group of four and a group of two – an adult female and a silverback. Virunga’s Chief
Ranger Killed in Ambush of the Museya Patrol Post
I am very sorry to report that another member of our ranger staff has been killed. Ranger Kasereka Kipako, age 34, was ambushed at his patrol post while his fellow rangers were out on a morning patrol. We are still investigating the incident, but the evidence points to Mai-Mai militia being the perpetrators of the
Gato’s New Baby – Humba Family
A few days ago, I reported the birth of a baby in the Humba family, but at the time, I wasn’t certain about the identity of the mother. I can now tell you the mother is Gato. Another ranger, a HUGO (a community volunteer), and I located the Humba family in the Bizenge area of
Rangers Search for Gorilla Families as Fighting Decreases
After holding our patrol post at Bukima during the worst of the fighting, we finally got the period of calm we needed to check on our mountain gorilla families. On March 16th, when the heavy fighting shifted to Kibumba (which is still very close by), we began our search. By March 19th, we managed to
Silverback Bageni’s Wounds Healing
Last week, Dr. Eddy and Dr. Martin of MGVP to check on silverback Bageni and his family. As you will remember, Bageni got in a bad fight with silverback Mukunda and suffered some deep wounds to his arm. Fortunately, Bageni’s wounds did not become infected and they are showing good progress. We observed him to