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Gorilla protection in the Congo is one of the main causes I'm terribly passionate about. People think I'm crazy to care so much for them, but the fact that they are endangered ties directly into the humanitarian crises that have plagued the region for way too long. This weekend, the rebel fighters actually seized the gorilla sector of the Virunga National Park. The park itself is a World Heritage site and is considered a true marvel of nature. The park rangers fled into the forest for their lives. As of this morning only 12 of the 53 have made any contact. Things are looking grim. When they finally found a road, they had to run back into the forest because the soldiers were shooting at them. They have no food or water and are in danger of dying of thirst or starvation. Their families have been living in a refugee camp for the past few weeks and cholera has started rearing its ugly head. A few have said that the fighting has never looked this bad.
I know this is a total bummer and such, but I really am trying to spread some awareness of all of this. The UN is "helping" but really just making things worse and this kind of stuff just never gets reported in the American media. The people of the Congo have been lost somehow in this world. It isn't right.
I set up a blog with them today as a campaigner at drowens01.gorilla.cd if you want to check it. I have a link on there to my Facebook group in which I am pledging 10 cents for every person that joins up to 3000 people. 300 bucks of my own money. Now, THAT just might be crazy. The money is mostly going toward food and supplies for the refugees. There is no way to care for the animals at this point. I'm not a religious person, but I am seriously praying to whatever higher power exists that these people lay off of ALL (not just the gorillas) of the animals in the park. The gorillas aren't particularly afraid of people, so they are definitely at high risk.
Thanks for reading this far. I at least hope you'll read a news article or two about it. Let me get you started:
Gorilla protection in the Congo is one of the main causes I'm terribly passionate about. People think I'm crazy to care so much for them, but the fact that they are endangered ties directly into the humanitarian crises that have plagued the region for way too long. This weekend, the rebel fighters actually seized the gorilla sector of the Virunga National Park. The park itself is a World Heritage site and is considered a true marvel of nature. The park rangers fled into the forest for their lives. As of this morning only 12 of the 53 have made any contact. Things are looking grim. When they finally found a road, they had to run back into the forest because the soldiers were shooting at them. They have no food or water and are in danger of dying of thirst or starvation. Their families have been living in a refugee camp for the past few weeks and cholera has started rearing its ugly head. A few have said that the fighting has never looked this bad.
I know this is a total bummer and such, but I really am trying to spread some awareness of all of this. The UN is "helping" but really just making things worse and this kind of stuff just never gets reported in the American media. The people of the Congo have been lost somehow in this world. It isn't right.
I set up a blog with them today as a campaigner at drowens01.gorilla.cd if you want to check it. I have a link on there to my Facebook group in which I am pledging 10 cents for every person that joins up to 3000 people. 300 bucks of my own money. Now, THAT just might be crazy. The money is mostly going toward food and supplies for the refugees. There is no way to care for the animals at this point. I'm not a religious person, but I am seriously praying to whatever higher power exists that these people lay off of ALL (not just the gorillas) of the animals in the park. The gorillas aren't particularly afraid of people, so they are definitely at high risk.
Thanks for reading this far. I at least hope you'll read a news article or two about it. Let me get you started:
We should be concenred. The fact that they are the closest to humans and they are endangered should be a concern. I was able to "get up close" to gorrilla once in a park setting. They reminded me of some people in my family. Big harry and scratch their butts alot. I am unsure what will be done but the rebels will kill them and use the sales to fund their operations. We should have laws that are strict in purchasing and posistion of any parts of these animals. Funny, a bag of weed can get you 20 years but having a stuffed hand of an endangered gorrilla that is illigal to import will get you nothing..
The thing about these soldiers is that they most likely are responsible for the execution of a family of gorillas in July 2007 (they never confirmed who actually did it. a lot of finger pointing...) and they left them there to rot and the babies to starve to death. The soldiers will kill any animals in their way and leave them there or use them for food. If those are the only options, then I'd rather they use the parts, but they will likely not try and sell the animals. They have more important things to worry about. However, it can't be said that one of them won't sell one to some guy who will then trade it off to the black market or something, but the fact is that these people are so dangerous that they'll just kill anything for no reason. It doesn't matter if there's a benefit or not. If you are not a human who is part of their cause then you die.
And technically, chimps are our closest living primate relative. Gorillas are after, followed by orangutans. All of the other monkeys just sort fall into whatever place they are after that. It's totally beside the point, but just an FYI from an anthropologist who loves primates.
I'm a dweeb.
Anyway, it should be noted that at one time late last year the rebels that now occupy the park were under strict orders not to harm the gorillas. The penalty for violating these orders was death. I don't know if things have changed, but I really hope not. This is why I'm still a tad optimistic about the safety of the animals. It's possible the area is mostly for power play. The unfortunate thing is that there are still missing rangers and their families to worry about.
Last Edit: Oct 27, 2008 16:21:58 GMT -5 by DNA - Back to Top
God bless those rangers! IMHO, they should be allowed to shoot poachers on sight. Standing up to an army is another thing, though. I pray for the rangers, gorillas, and innocents in harms way.
