In horrible news this morning, control over Virunga National Park in the Republic of Congo has gone over to rebels.
I'm not studied enough in the politics of the situation to know whether the rebels or the government or (most likely) neither group holds any moral high ground in the human element of this story. I do know that war takes money, and gorillas are big precious bags of money to some peoples' eyes, alive or dead. I doubt a rebel force would be promoting eco-tourism so that they can make money without killing or displacing some of the last wild mountain gorillas in the world.
Enjoy and protect your native wild animals,
Bp
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2 comments:
This is really upsetting news, the gorillas are such gentle giants and so easy to kill (I visited some in Rwanda). If the groups of gorillas get too separated (or too small), the birthrate will decline and they will soon be extinct. They are hanging on by a thread as it is. The African conservation efforts are admirable but the “big-man” politics and redneck soldiers with guns problem will likely doom this magnificent animal. It’s a shame the gorillas aren’t more fierce since the value of these gorillas is so much more than these redneck soldiers I wouldn’t mind seeing the soldiers replace the gorillas dead and bound up to the bamboo litters (ref. the BBC photograph from the article).
I thought of you and that silverback you had the close encounter with when I read this. I agree with your sentiment completely.
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