Jacqui Morris

Gorilla conservation programme suffers setback

The International Gorilla Conservation Programme (IGCP), a partnership between FFI, the African Wildlife Foundation and World Wide Fund for Nature-International, has been dealt a severe blow. On 13 August a male silverback mountain gorilla, Rugabo, and an adult female were shot dead by poachers in the Virunga National Park in Zaire a few hours after tourists had visited their group. The reason for the killings did not become apparent until several days later when a 2nyear old gorilla was found in a field close to the Ugandan border. The women who found the gorilla reported it, and the Institut Zairois pour la Conservation de la Nature (IZCN) was alerted. The gorilla was captured and, on the assumption that poachers had captured it from Rugabos group and then abandoned it, IZCN and IGCP staff started a careful operation to return it. It was difficult to approach Rugabos group, which had become extremely shy since the killings and initially fled at the approach of humans but, eventually tourist guides who were familiar with the group were able to approach with the young gorilla. On opening the transport cage the young male emerged, walked towards its kin and was immediately accepted.