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Congo's Gorillas Victims in War Over Charcoal

Corruption, poverty, unrest combine for conservationists' nightmare

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 23, 2008 2:09 PM CDT
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(Newser) – Who murdered seven mountain gorillas in the Congo last year? Perhaps, National Geographic finds, the question should be how any of the magnificent apes stay alive at all. A three-way military standoff—a holdover from neighboring Rwanda’s haunted past—enveloping Virunga National Park has left gorillas, people, and the park itself in grave danger.

What one anthropologist called “arguably the greatest national park on the planet,” Virunga is the front line in a battle between tribal militias. The Congolese army seems to switch sides on a whim, and the resulting lawlessness has led to illegal charcoal production that could devastate the park’s old-growth forest, a steep human cost, and an uncertain future for one of the last refuges of the mountain gorilla.

A female mountain gorilla holds her one-day old son in Virunga National Park in eastern Congo.
A female mountain gorilla holds her one-day old son in Virunga National Park in eastern Congo.   (AP Photo/WildlifeDirect, HO)
The scull of a rare mountain gorilla that was killed this year is kept in a box at Virunga National Park in Rutshuru, Congo.
The scull of a rare mountain gorilla that was killed this year is kept in a box at Virunga National Park in Rutshuru, Congo.   (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
In the August 6 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, July 30): Slaughter in the Jungle.
In the August 6 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, July 30): "Slaughter in the Jungle."   (AP Photo)
A soldier loyal to warlord Laurent Nkunda stands guard as civilians look on in the background at the village of Kitshanga, Democratic Republic of Congo.
A soldier loyal to warlord Laurent Nkunda stands guard as civilians look on in the background at the village of Kitshanga, Democratic Republic of Congo.   (AP Photo/Riccardo Gangale)
Congo government troops sit together after they were captured by soldiers of warlord Laurent Nkunda.
Congo government troops sit together after they were captured by soldiers of warlord Laurent Nkunda.   (AP Photo/Riccardo Gangale)
Tourists take photos of a gorilla family at Volcanoes National Park in Ruhengeri, Rwanda.
Tourists take photos of a gorilla family at Volcanoes National Park in Ruhengeri, Rwanda.   (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe)
A Nkunda soldier. Nkunda's Tutsi troops have been fighting with a Hutu militia in the Congolese jungle for years.
A Nkunda soldier. Nkunda's Tutsi troops have been fighting with a Hutu militia in the Congolese jungle for years.   (AP Photo/Riccardo Gangale)
One of the murdered gorillas is reverently carried from the jungle by Congolese villagers.
One of the murdered gorillas is reverently carried from the jungle by Congolese villagers.   (AP Photo)
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The UN steps in, or tries to
Associated Press

A visit with the Virunga gorillas
CBS News

Charges in the murders, earlier this year
Australia's News Network

 
murder • Democratic Republic of Congo • Rwanda • Hutu • Tutsi • mountain gorillas • charcoal trade • Virunga Park

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