UN Helicopters Successfully Rescue Baby Gorillas

UN peacekeepers from the Congo have successfully airlifted endangered baby gorillas out of the conflict zone where they were rescued.  The four babies were flown from the conflict zone in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the Kasugho Sanctuary in the North Kaivu province on Tuesday.  Six other gorillas are to be flown into the sanctuary on June 10 in an attempt to help the the other four form a sustainable, viable population back in their natural habitat.  The illegal trade in bush meat and live baby gorillas has been a boon to local militant groups, and this rescue mission is hoped to be a first step in both saving the gorillas and helping to stop the war.

Human conflict in Congo is constantly claiming casualties

A gorilla mother and her baby.

Baby gorilla rescued from Illegal trafficker

To read the full article about the air lift click here

The last stand of the Apes: On the brink of Extinction, Humans Vs Apes.. on the front lines of the biggest battle on our planet

If someone were to destroy your grandmother’s house in order to sell the materials for a profit would you be OK with it?  Unfortunately our race, the  human race, is doing that exact thing to our closest living relatives in Africa.  Habitat exploitation, poaching for bush-meat  as well as the introduction of new diseases is destroying the last hold out populations of chimpanzees and gorillas.  At the current rate, soon there will no longer be any wild chimpanzees or gorillas and according to experts minimum of  $30 million dollars is needed if we plan on conserving these species on our planet.

“This devastating mix of threats leaves us on the brink of losing some of our closest living relatives,” said Russell A. Mittermeier, president of Conservation International and chairman of the Primate Specialist Group of IUCN-The World Conservation Union’s Species Survival Commission. “Protecting gorillas and chimps is not just important in its own right. These animals are also flagship species, important symbols for vast areas of forest that are among the richest on Earth. Protecting them protects many other species as well.”

A western lowland gorilla

A western lowland gorilla baby with a silverback male.

A baby chimpanzee.

PLEASE NOTE: Photos Below are of explicit nature

Dead Chimp on to be sold in the local market for bushmeat

Gorilla head to be sold in local market

A monkey split in half; common fare alongside the logging roads of equatorial Africa

To read the full article click here

Environmental Crime and Conflict in the Congo Basin: The Last Stand of the Gorilla – A report by UNEP & Interpol

Gorillas, the largest of the great apes, are under renewed threat across the Congo Basin from Nigeria to the Albertine Rift: poaching for bushmeat, loss of habitat due to agricultural expansion, degradation of habitat from logging, mining and charcoal production are amongst these threats, in addition to natural epidemics such as ebola and the new risk of diseases passed from humans to gorillas.

Alarmingly, parts of the region are experiencing intensified exploitation and logging of its forest, in some cases even within protected areas. In the DRC, many of these activities are controlled by militias illegally extracting natural resources such as gold, tin and coltan as well as producing charcoal for local communities, urban areas, camps for people displaced by fighting and sometimes even to communities across the border.

A victim of the human conflict between militia & conservation groups

These militias are located, motivated, armed and financed directly by this illegal extraction of minerals, timber and charcoal. A network of intermediaries including multinational companies or their subsidiaries, neighboring countries and corrupt officials, are involved in the transportation and procurement of resources which stem from areas controlled by militia, or for which no legal exploitation permission exists.

Rangers destroying a charcoal kiln in an effort to fight deforestation and illegal exploitation of resources by militia

To read the full report from The United Nations Environment Programme, click here

Bushmeat Agony and Ivory: Bushmeat Crisis and Elephant Poaching is only Increasing

Last year alone the conservative estimate for the number of elephants killed in Kenya is 220; while conservationists estimate that 36,000 elephants were poached worldwide last year.  In Kenya, this number is an increase of %400 from two years ago.  These elephants are being killed for their ivory, but this is not the only cause of poaching in Africa; the rampant bushmeat trade of everything from gorillas to antelope is the target of poachers.  Large bushmeat markets in Nairobi and other major cities keep these industrial-like poachers in business, as well as the desire for “exotic flavors” in the US and Western Europe.  This consistent poaching for meat, trophy, and ivory and pushing these fragile populations of African animals to the brink of extinction, and the rest of the world’s desires for these cheap African goods is what keeps the poachers going.

Forest elephant poached for its meat and Ivory in Congo

A poacher putting his catch of bushmeat into a sack for transport.

Smoked monkey for sale in a local market

To read the full article click here

The Last Stand of the Gorilla: Guerrilla Warfare has beocome a MAJOR threat for Mountain Gorilla Survival

Scientists warn that all gorillas could be killed in the Congo River Basin by the mid 2020s if action is not taken.  Militias in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have greatly exacerbated the poaching problem by smuggling bush meat through the same channels as timber, diamonds, and gold.  The UN Environmental Program (UNEP) warms that the current rate of habitat destruction and poaching on gorillas is well above a sustainable level.

An orphaned gorilla from near the Loanga National Park

Malnourished Orphaned baby gorilla for sale in local market

Current distribution of gorillas in Africa

A gorilla being butchered for sale at a bush meat market

Click here to read the full article

Rare Animals Are Being ‘Eaten to Extinction’

Research in the Congo River Basin has determined that 3 million tons of bushmeat are being removed every year, the equivalent of butchering 740,000 bull elephants.  Malnutrition and the ease of access to weapons has caused the rate of poaching to increase dramatically.  Most animals taken are small antelopes, but even monkeys are gorillas are being killed for their food.

But in a 500 million acre region of the Congo Basin stretching into eight countries, hunting has reached an unprecedented scale. Researchers from the Overseas Development Insititute calculated that 3.4 million tonnes of bushmeat is removed every year from that area alone, equivalent to the weight of 40.7 million men.

Two baby bonobo chimpanzees in a sanctuary

Poacher with Colobus Monkey that was just shot

A bushmeat market in Africa.

Freshly Killed Mandrill For sale on the side of the road

Gorilla Bushmeat

Click here to read the full article

Stopping wildlife trafficking in Congo

The bushmeat trade in the Congo basin has been widely publicized but poorly addressed. While fines and sentences exist for wildlife trafficking, they have traditionally been poorly enforced due to corruption, poor governance, and attentions focused on other priorities. Major traffickers, who tend to be rich and well-connected, trade with impunity, knowing that a well-placed bribe or a phone call can get them off with little more than a slap on a wrist.

A leopard skin and gorilla hands confiscated from poachers

More confiscated items including carved and uncarved ivory, hides, and other animal products

To read the full article click here

African children on ‘gorilla warfare’ mission in run-up to COP15

Recognition that children are the way to protect the great apes is becoming more and more apparent.  However, these children, even though they swear that they want to protect the apes have almost all eaten gorilla and chimpanzee.  Subsistence level living pushes people into the bushmeat trade.  With an easy food source that can also be sold what is to stop these children’s fathers from hunting our closest relatives?

Gorillas are killed and eaten on the believe that their meat confers strength to whomever consumes it.

Bushmeat is both consumed in Africa by locals as well as sold to other countries looking for exotic meats.

Read more here

Virunga National Park at War

Virunga is truly the crown jewel of Africa’s national parks. The park contains over 50% of sub-Saharan Africa’s biodiversity and is home to about 200 of the earth’s last 720 critically endangered mountain gorillas. Virunga is also the second oldest national park in the world, behind only Yellowstone. Despite this, the forests and amazing animals of the park, most notably the mountain gorilla, are in a desperate fight for their survival.

The park, its rangers and field team have constantly been at war with militia groups and poachers alike. In 2007 seven mountain gorillas were killed in the park, which is shared between Rwanda, the DR Congo and Uganda. Conservationists blame the militias who have also looted property from rangers. Rebel groups such as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and Allied Democratic Force (ADF) guerillas from Uganda have plundered forest resources in the past. Not only that, but with the rapid increase in poaching activities compared to 2008, and the rise in demand for items such as ivory and rhino horn, Virunga Park, it’s inhabitants and rangers continue to fight an ongoing war.

Ranger burning snares in Virunga National Park

Poached Elephant carcass left in the Park

The bodies of Mountain Gorillas killed in the massacre of the Rugendo family in July 2007, Virunga National Park, DR Congo.

To learn more about the conflict or how you can help, please visit their site.

What is the Bushmeat Trade?

The bushmeat trade is the illegal, over-hunting of wildlife for meat and income.

Already in West and Central Africa this trade has resulted in declines and local extinctions of many wildlife species and the economic, cultural and ecosystem services they provide. In addition, a number of human health threats have emerged from the trade in bushmeat including linkages to  HIV/AIDS, ebola and the threat of anthrax.

Bushmeat trade is not regulated or managed by any authority. Economic benefits from the trade go mainly to hunters and traders. If current trends continue, future generations of citizens in Africa will not have the opportunity to access benefits from wildlife. Using wildlife to meet protein and income demands cannot be supported in the long term.

The immediate threat of loss of economic opportunity, cultural and ecological services, and other values to a wider community must be addressed today.

(Taken From: www. bushmeatnetwork.org)

Here are some images from the Bushmeat Trade for you to get an idea of what we are talking about:

Smoked Gorilla Meat