Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below 
redguru
New member
Rebels kill, eat endangered mountain gorillas
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) -- Rebels in eastern Congo have killed and eaten two silverback mountain gorillas, conservationists said Wednesday, sparking fears more of the endangered animals may have been slaughtered in the lawless region.
Only about 700 mountain gorillas remain in the world, 380 of them spread across a range of volcanic mountains straddling the borders of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda in Central Africa.
One dismembered gorilla corpse was found Tuesday in a pit latrine in Congo's Virunga National Park, a few hundred meters (yards) from a park patrol post at Bikenge that was abandoned because of rebel attacks, according to the London-based Africa Conservation Fund.
Another silverback was killed in the same area January 5, said the group, which based its report on conservationists in the field.
Warlord's men blamed for slaughtering the two gorillas
The conservation group blamed rebels loyal to a local warlord, Laurent Nkunda, for the latest killing, and a local warden said rebels had also killed the other gorilla for its meat. Nkunda is a renegade army soldier who commands thousands of fighters in the vast country's east who have in recent years assaulted major cities and clashed sporadically with government forces.
Paulin Ngobobo, a senior warden at the park, described on his blog finding the animal's remains.
"We've learned a lot: The gorilla had in fact been eaten for meat. His name was Karema, another solitary silverback that had been born into a habituated group -- meaning that he had grown to trust humans enough to let them come to within touching distance," Ngobobo wrote.
"Above all, we learned that the remaining gorillas are extremely vulnerable -- the rebels are after the meat, and it's not difficult for them to find and kill the few gorillas that remain," he said.
Ngobobo wrote on his blog that the first gorilla reported killed earlier this month had been shot by rebels and also eaten.
"A local farmer was ordered to help the rebels collect the meat of the gorilla," Ngobobo said. "He told them that the meat was dangerous to eat, and immediately informed us of the incident."
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) -- Rebels in eastern Congo have killed and eaten two silverback mountain gorillas, conservationists said Wednesday, sparking fears more of the endangered animals may have been slaughtered in the lawless region.
Only about 700 mountain gorillas remain in the world, 380 of them spread across a range of volcanic mountains straddling the borders of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda in Central Africa.
One dismembered gorilla corpse was found Tuesday in a pit latrine in Congo's Virunga National Park, a few hundred meters (yards) from a park patrol post at Bikenge that was abandoned because of rebel attacks, according to the London-based Africa Conservation Fund.
Another silverback was killed in the same area January 5, said the group, which based its report on conservationists in the field.
Warlord's men blamed for slaughtering the two gorillas
The conservation group blamed rebels loyal to a local warlord, Laurent Nkunda, for the latest killing, and a local warden said rebels had also killed the other gorilla for its meat. Nkunda is a renegade army soldier who commands thousands of fighters in the vast country's east who have in recent years assaulted major cities and clashed sporadically with government forces.
Paulin Ngobobo, a senior warden at the park, described on his blog finding the animal's remains.
"We've learned a lot: The gorilla had in fact been eaten for meat. His name was Karema, another solitary silverback that had been born into a habituated group -- meaning that he had grown to trust humans enough to let them come to within touching distance," Ngobobo wrote.
"Above all, we learned that the remaining gorillas are extremely vulnerable -- the rebels are after the meat, and it's not difficult for them to find and kill the few gorillas that remain," he said.
Ngobobo wrote on his blog that the first gorilla reported killed earlier this month had been shot by rebels and also eaten.
"A local farmer was ordered to help the rebels collect the meat of the gorilla," Ngobobo said. "He told them that the meat was dangerous to eat, and immediately informed us of the incident."
