This is Jean Claude. It is with great pain that I have to announce the death of Musangania, a 5 year old gorilla from the Lusenge Family. Musangania was found dead near the camp of Burusi at 9 am on Saturday morning by the head of the monitoring team. This came as a complete shock to everyone at Mount Tshiaberimu. Since the death of two adult females in February and May this year we have been monitoring the health of the remaining gorillas extremely closely. In addition to daily health monitoring, MGVP vets visited the Lusenge family three weeks ago, and just last week CTPH vets visited the family also. Both vets’ reports confirmed that the family was healthy and well, and we had absolutely no cause for concern. So when Musangania’s body was found with an inflated belly, traces of blood in the mouth, lesions on the lips and foamy saliva coming from the mouth - I felt sick to my stomach. It was an extremely sad moment to find Musangania dead. He was such a young and lively gorilla and had been seen the previous day playing up in a tree, at a height of 9 meters, with his companion Mukokya and his father Nzanzu. Musangania’s body was carried by rangers to the Gorilla Organization’s base at Kyondo. The body was refrigerated overnight and on Sunday an autopsy was carried out by MGVP, CTPH, the Gorilla Organization and ICCN. The autopsy revealed that Musangania died from a brain hemorrhage and deformation to the front, right side of the head. We are still waiting for the results of samples taken during the autopsy, but based on the post mortem, the recent health monitoring and the sightings of Musangania up the tree the day before - we believe that the gorilla fell from the tree, whilst playing, and hit his head badly on the way down. This is a devastating moment for everyone here. A gorilla falling from a tree is rare, but unavoidable. Though with the very small population of Mount Tshiaberimu gorillas, it is a very big loss. Here is a picture of young Musangania’s body, the burial service, and Nzanzu, Musangania’s father.
Hello, this is Jean Claude. Muramba is a village at the foot of Mount Tshiaberimu, found on the west coast of Lake Edward. Sadly, Muramba has many problems and is a big threat to the survival of the gorillas. The population density of this village is growing and growing and is having a negative impact on the ecological corridor. Encroachment in the forest has been a problem in this area for a long time now. Since 2004 we have worked hard with the local community to raise awareness to environmental issues and provide alternatives to the forest wherever we can but this work has had little success. We recently carried out another visit to Muramba but again it was not successful. We will now concentrate on intensifying the patrols in the corridor between the coast of Lake Edward and the gorilla habitat, and also continue to work with the local communities to find a solution. Please see some pictures below taken by Vhosi during the recent mission to Muramba. In the first photo you can see the growing village between the lake and the forest of Mount Tshiaberimu. The next two photos show the meeting we held with the local community, and the final picture shows ICCN’s patrol boat.
Hello this is Jean Claude. During the last few days we have carried out a gorilla health monitoring visit at Tshiaberimu. Dr Jacques Iyanya and Dr Eddy Kambale from the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project (MGVP) led the mission and were joined by Dr Mavisi, a local vet who has been working with the project for some time, and Mr Odilon, our research coordinator. Three habituated gorilla groups were observed - Lusenge, Kipura and Kanindo - from the patrol posts of Burusi, Kalibina and Kikyo, respectively. During the health monitoring visit, three individuals were checked from Lusenge group (Nzanzu, Musangania and Mukokya), four individuals from the Kipura group and two from the Kanindo family. Faecal samples from each night nest were taken and close observations of the individuals health and behavior were recorded. It is very rainy here now at the moment but thankfully the rain started after the fecal samples were collected. I am very happy to tell you that no apparent health problems were recorded for any of the observed individuals - great news! In addition to the vet’s visit, ICCN trained rangers are collecting health data daily for some habituated gorilla group. They are using the MGVP IMPACT system (IMPACT = Internet-Support Management Program to Assist Conservation Technologie) This system gives the rangers guidelines to observe the gorillas health and helps them to identify any health problems. Please see some pictures below taken during the gorilla health monitoring visit. I am sorry that some of them some of them are not very clear.
Hello this is Jean Claude. Working with the local communities living around Mount Tshiaberimu is an extremely important part of our work to protect the gorillas and the forest. We help to build the capacity of the local people so that they can live in harmony with the forest and protect the habitat for the gorillas. I frequently visit local villages to keep them informed of our conservation work and raise awareness for the protection of the forest. Last week I visited the village of Kasundi not far from the ranger patrol post at Burusi and on this occasion I was able to deliver 30 iron roofing sheets to help the village construct a health clinic. The population of Kasundi is very much involved with the protection of the forest and appreciative of the conservation work that we are doing. When we arrived last week with the new roofing sheets the population welcomed us with dances to thank us for our work. I will write again soon with an update on the health of the gorillas.
This is a message from Rebecca, a 23 year old ranger who has recently arrived at Tshiaberimu from ICCN’s local headquarters in Mutsora. I am Rebecca. I have a love of nature. I decided to become a park guard as I saw how the ‘rebellion’ was widely destroying the Virungas National Park. I have just finished my ranger training and when I heard about Tshiaberimu my boss thought I would do well and be able to help in this sector. But unfortunately, shortly after I arrived at Tshiaberimu, two female gorillas died. It was a very sad time for me at the beginning of my career. I am determined to fully immerse myself with conservation and to take part in all the patrols to protect the gorillas. I hope to show other women that the gorillas are our close relatives; our cousins and we must help to protect them. When I see how the female gorilla Kitawite cares for her baby Musomboli, I remember how my mother cares for me. The job is not easy as I am the first girl to stay in the northern sector of the Virungas and particularly at Tshaiberimu. I do not yet earn any wages but with the support of the project I have everything that I need. I think that I will be among one of the first and few female conservationists.
This is Jean Claude. I would like to personally thank everyone who has contributed both morally and financially to the search for an urgent solution to save the population of gorillas at Mount Tshiaberimu. I would especially like to thank Wanda, Christine, Muriel, Antonia, Cathy, Teresa and Judy for their financial contributions, which have been very gratefully received. Thanks for all your interest in saving Tshiaberimu gorillas. I will write with more news from here soon.
Hello, this is Jean Claude. I have a message for you from Mr Odilon, who is in charge of research at Mt Tshiaberimu. This is what Odilon says: Following the death of our two female gorillas I spent all of my time in the forest, monitoring the gorillas health to make sure they are all well. For me, there has been nothing to distract me as I am a single man. I have always likened myself to Kanindo, the lone male gorilla at Mount Tshiaberimu who is restless and sometimes comes out of the forest to spend time on the farms. Now Kanindo has found himself a mate. He has married the adult female Mwengesyali and now he seems so much calmer and happier! I am also no longer single. Following the distressing time we have been through here at Mount Tshiaberimu I thought it was time for me to share my life with someone and on 28 June I got engaged! Jean Claude and all my friends, family and colleagues joined me for the dowry exchange in my village on the edge of Tshaiberimu. It was a great celebration bringing together the communities, the park and the gorillas.
Hello this is Jean Claude. After the gorilla naming ceremony in Rwanda I crossed back in to DRC at the Goma boarder. Here I met with my colleagues from the Gorilla Organization before leaving the following day with the Director Virunga National Park for ICCN, Norbert Mushenzi, to travel back to Tshiaberimu by road. It is a long journey of many miles, and unfortunately this time our vehicle could not make it - at Rwindi the vehicle broke down. Thankfully Henry Cirhuza, the Gorilla Organization’s Congolese programme manager was able to help us out, and drove to meet us so that we were able to complete our journey. We were on our way to meet Madame Felicite Kalume, the provincial minister for the environment and tourism in North Kivu province. Madame Kalume, accompanied by the governor and deputies, was on a mission to Kyondo, a small town about 5km from Mount Tshiaberimu to assess the state of security in the area and to make sure that the gorillas were safe. Once we all arrived we had three meetings with Madame Kalume and the Mwamis (chiefs) of the local area. The meetings went well and the Minister convinced the chiefs of the positive implication of the conservation activities taking place along the west coast of Lake Edward, which borders on to the slopes of Tshiaberimu. The meetings closed as we were invited to celebrate the 46th birthday of Mwami Stuka.
After the nightmare following the death of our two gorillas at Mount Tshaiberimu, I had a moment of comfort. I was invited by the Office of Rwandan Tourism and National Parks (ORTPN) to take part in the annual gorilla naming ceremony in Rwanda. For me this was not only a moment of celebration for the gorillas, but also an opportunity to exchange experiences and sufferings with other members of the conservation community.
I would like to thank everyone who has given me this opportunity for relaxation and to meet other people working hard for gorilla conservation.
Hello this is Jean Claude. Thank you again for all your messages. In response to some of the comments I thought it might be useful to give you a quick outline of how the Mount Tshiaberimu Conservation Project is funded.The project is currently operating on a grant from the European Union in conjunction with the United Nations Great Apes Survival Project. This has been running for the past two years and will come to an end at the end of this year. This has been paying for the majority of the operating costs, particularly the rangers’ salaries and field rations, as well as our education campaign and community support activities around the mountain. Other operating costs are kept to a minimum, but the rising fuel costs are causing us some concern. With this grant we have been able to keep the rangers well-equipped and there should be enough available still to upgrade a radio system as needed. Beyond that however, we could not have budgeted for the tragic events that have happened this year, nor for the attack that happened last year.Emergency funds are therefore desperately needed on top of the grant to pay for fully equipping the project with veterinary supplies and further training in gorilla health monitoring and veterinary procedures. The costs are: Necropsy kit is approx $200 and darting equipment $2000. Antibiotics approx $1000, anesthetic drugs $2000 and up to an extra $6000 for the training. We are working with Gladys and CTPH to provide these for us once the funds are in place.Thank you all. I will keep you updated if there are any further developments.
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