New fears for mountain gorilla survivors
Monday 10 September 2007
Plans to protect the gorillas that survived the slaughter in a Congolese national park are in jeopardy after rebel forces seized control of their surrounding habitat.Your donations are still urgently needed.
© Jacques/MGVP
The Zoological Society of London and other conservation organisations providing 24-hour monitoring for the six remaining gorilla families have been forced to abandon work at Virunga National Park and return to nearby town Goma.
Two key patrol posts were attacked and rangers responsible for the increased gorilla protection were disarmed. Mountain gorillas - 380 of which, or half of the world population, live in the Virunga volcanoes region - are now in grave danger.
The bodies of one silverback and three female gorillas were discovered on Sunday July 22nd. Park rangers later found an injured baby from the same family alive and she is still being cared for by vets in Goma.
Donations from the public to ZSL are going directly to helping the long-term protection of the mountain gorillas in Virunga National Park. An impressive £9,500 was raised and will go towards equipping the rangers and building patrol posts and communication systems.
However, more money is still desperately needed so please continue to donate to our mountain gorilla conservation work in Virunga National Park.
ZSL has also been involved in developing a three-month emergency plan to protect the remaining animals.
