Tshiaberimu

Category: Communities, Gorillas, Rangers, Research, Tourism, Tshiaberimu, Virunga National Park | Date: Sep 16 2009 | By: tshiaberimu

 Hi,This is Tuver

On behalf of Mount Tshiaberimu guards ,ICCN staff in this sector of Virunga national Park and Gorilla Organization Staff,i thank’s all off you for all donations we gate via wildlifedirect.

We are happy to continue our work and protecting this gorilla habitat whith your support.

Thank’s and we still need your help and more support.

Tuver Wundi

The Gorilla Organization Communications Manager

No responses yet

Category: Communities, Gorillas, Tshiaberimu, Virunga National Park | Date: Sep 16 2009 | By: tshiaberimu

Hi,This is Vhosi

Tsangyamuyi is a farmer from Burusi village close to Mount

Tshiaberimu in eastern Congo DR. She has benefited for over three years from the Gorilla Organization-funded programme which shows locals how to grow their own vegetables and trains them in sustainable and pig farming.

As a widow and a mother of five, courageous Tsangyamuyi has benefited from the Gorilla Organization’s livestock distribution scheme. She was given a pig which gave birth to eleven healthy piglets. Villagers now recognise her as a dedicated and experienced farmer within the Burusi village.

Not only does Tsangyamuyi have plans to buy iron roofing sheets to improve her home, but she can now pay for school education for all her five children, where as before she only could pay for two. Some of the pigs will be sold to buy seeds to grow more vegetables and she will use the remaining pigs’ manure to fertilize the crops, a farming technique she was taught as part of the programme.

Tsangyamuyi’s success is a clear testament to the large amount of work the Gorilla Organization has undertaken and the success they have achieved in maintaining the protection of the gorillas from human encroachment and to alleviate poverty in the local communities.

One response so far

Category: Gorillas, Research, Virunga National Park | Date: Jul 16 2009 | By: tshiaberimu

Hi, This is Kyungu

The trackers and vets at Mount T are shocked to report the sad death of a silverback named Kanindo, who died after falling into a ravine at Miamba, a three hour walk from the nearest patrol post at Kalibina. Kanindo fell and lay paralysed at the bottom of the gully for about four days, without food or water. Our trackers noted on 5 July that Kanindo and his juvenile companion Mukokya had not been seen.

Then two days later they saw Mukokya alone. This was not usual, as young Mukokya has been accompanying Kanindo ever since his father Nzanzu died of old age in February. Before that time, Kanindo had been a solitary gorilla. Trackers found Kanindo in a gully on the afternoon of 8 July, but he was unable to move, and they were unable to move him. Vets were called, and they went directly to the place.

The gorilla was howling in pain, and they gave painkillers and antibiotics. Three days this continued, but they were not able to save Kanindo from death, which came on 11 July at around 18:00. Kanindo, the dead gorilla, had been used to human presence thanks to efforts of the Gorilla Organization in this area since 1996 to save what is still left of this part of the park. All of the staff at Mount T are under a cloud of shock and emotions about his death.

5 responses so far

Category: Gorillas, Tshiaberimu, Virunga National Park | Date: Feb 18 2009 | By: tshiaberimu

Hello, this is Tuver.

I hate to have to bring you bad news from Mount Tshiaberimu again. After the excitement of the new baby gorilla, I am pained to announce that the baby died. Sadly this is not unusual for gorillas, who have an extremely high mortality rate of 30%.

Shortly after we heard of the death of this precious new baby, I was devastated to hear about the death of another Mt Tshiaberimu gorilla - the magnificent Silverback Nzanzu. Nzanzu was an elderly silverback, who lived with his son Mukokya. While an autopsy is being carried out on his body, with the help of MGVP, we believe he died from old age.

Nzanzu was part of the original Kipura family, which split in 2002 allowing Nzanzu to form the Lusenge family with adult female Mwengesyali and their son Mukokya. This new group lived happily until 2007 when Mwengesyali left to form the Mutsunga group, leaving Nzanzu and his son Mukokya alone. In recent months the rangers had have been reporting that Nzanzu was looking increasingly old.

While this is very sad news for Mt Tshiaberimu, at least we can feel reassured that these two gorillas, at different stages of their lives, died naturally in their home environment.

Here is a photo of Nzanzu, taken in 2006.

6 responses so far

Category: Butembo, Gorillas, Rangers, Tshiaberimu, Virunga National Park | Date: Feb 02 2009 | By: tshiaberimu

Hello this is Jean Claude. Since Safari Kakule, the head of monitoring at Mount Tshiaberimu, was murdered by militia on 8 January, we have been working hard to bring peace again to Tshiaberimu and ensure that those responsible for the attacks are caught.

On 28 January we arrested a man who was responsible for planning the tragic attack. The rangers based at Mulango wa Nyama carried out the arrest with the support of a team of rangers from the advanced force.

He was arrested at Nguli and then transferred to the public prosecution department in Beni by Director Mushenzi.

This man’s brother was responsible for planning the attacks last year, that led to the death of a WWF employee at Tshiaberimu. We sincerely hope that justice is done.

Since the recent attacks there has been a constant feeling of fear in the region. The wives of the rangers fled the camps and are staying in villages around the region.

Safari’s widow, is staying in Butembo, 53km from Tshiabirimu. Yesterday my wife arranged for the wives of the other rangers, and some women from Burusi village, to visit Safari’s widow and her three children to offer moral comfort and support. She was presented with a sack of coals, a sack of potatoes and a few kilos of peas. This is a very difficult time for this brave lady and all women in this area.

The women spent all day discussing the difficulties of working life at Tshiaberimu and expressed their support and gratitude to each other. This support network is very important during the difficult periods in DR Congo.

I will keep you updated if I have any more news.

2 responses so far

Category: Gorillas, Rangers, Tshiaberimu, Virunga National Park | Date: Jan 09 2009 | By: tshiaberimu

Hello, this is Tuver. I am a colleague of Jean Claude, working for the Gorilla Organization in Goma. At midnight last night I received a devastating phone call from Jean Claude. One of the Tshiaberimu patrol posts was violently attacked by Mai Mai militia.

The head of monitoring was shot and he is now missing, we are extremely concerned for his safety.

Early this morning 15 ICCN rangers, accompanied by ICCN director Mushenzi traveled to Tshiaberimu to support Jean Claude. This area is very remote so it will take some time for the emergency reinforcements to arrive.

Jean Claude is doing all he can to investigate this situation and keep the staff safe. I have no other information to report now but as soon as I hear from Jean Claude I will let you know.

This is terrible news for Tshiaberimu and we are extremely worried about all the staff and the Tshiaberimu gorillas.

6 responses so far

Category: Gorillas, Rangers, Virunga National Park | Date: Nov 04 2008 | By: tshiaberimu

Hello, this is Jean Claude. Please see below the heart-rending letter my colleague Henry Cirhuza from Goma has sent out to the world about the humanitarian crisis in eastern DR Congo.

Dear friend,

I am writing to you from Goma, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where once again the horror of war threatens to destroy our country and the conservation efforts that we have established to protect some of the world’s last remaining gorillas.

I am proud to be Congolese and I am proud of my country, but it breaks my heart to see war engulfing our lives and all that we have worked hard to achieve.

The situation in Goma deteriorated suddenly on Wednesday evening. Soldiers from the Congolese national army, who had been fighting rebels on the road to Kibumba, just north of the city, arrived in Goma and began firing bullets everywhere.

The soldiers were out of control, and mass panic broke out among the population of Goma who did not know what to do. After nightfall, the city remained at the mercy of uninhibited soldiers who began to loot homes and rape women throughout the city. It was a terrifying situation. All we could do was lock ourselves in our houses and hope for the best. I felt completely helpless.

On Thursday morning, we awoke with great reluctance. We did not know the extent of the damage done over night, nor who controlled the city. But we were at least thankful that we had made it through the hours of darkness without being harmed.

I later managed to speak with a neighbour, who has connections with the military. He reported that at the last minute, when the city was about to fall into the hands of rebels, negotiations were made and Laurent Nkunda, the rebel leader, had been forced to call a cease-fire.

Despite the supposed cease-fire, we continued to hide in our homes. We were still too terrified to leave the house in case the gunfire started again, and we listened to the radio in the hope of gaining information. I contacted family, friends and colleagues to make sure that no one had suffered from the attacks. The day before we had lost contact with some of our colleagues in Rutshuru, a town in the middle of rebel held territory. We feared the worse - and felt helpless to do anything, but thankfully they were all OK; after spending a fearful night in the forest they had returned to their homes. My two cousins sadly did not fare so well. Armed robbers had visited their homes, all their personal belongings were looted and their families were petrified – they lost everything.

The situation in Goma has turned in to a major humanitarian crisis. There are hundreds of thousands of people without homes, and the lack of food and water is becoming a major problem. All the markets and shops are deserted and since many of the roads surrounding Goma are controlled by rebels there is no way for food to get to the city. It will not be long at all before people start dying of hunger. My family only have enough food for one more day and then we too will start to get desperate.

Up until now we have been reluctant to leave Goma. For all of us the memories of the Nyirangogo volcano eruption, which destroyed much of Goma in 2002, is still fresh in our minds. During this time we became refugees and suffered theft, abuse, hunger and cold, and we are scared that if we leave we will be in this situation again. But as we run out of food I have realised that we can no longer stay here.

Myself and the rest of the Gorilla Organization team are also becoming increasingly concerned about the gorillas.

As food runs out and soldiers make life in the city hell, people are fleeing to the only place they can – to the gorillas’ forest. They will be searching for food, but my fear is that they will not find enough food in the national park either – the forest cannot support hundreds of thousands of people – and instead they will unintentionally be destroying the gorilla habitat. We can only hope that the gorillas will be wise enough to move deep into the forest, or maybe cross the border in to Rwanda. Having said that, as the forest becomes populated with refugees and soldiers there will be little place for them to hide.

The gorillas are now completely unprotected. Rebels raided the Congolese wildlife authority (ICCN’s) headquarters at Rumangabo earlier in the week, and the rangers were forced to flee. Many rangers are now suffering in squalid refugee camps, but some remain missing and we fear these guardians of the gorillas may not make it. While we believe that the gorillas are not a target of the unrest, it is surely only time before they get caught up in the conflict - and without ranger protection they are in serious danger.

If we can make it safely over the border to Rwanda, our colleagues there will be able to help us find food, water and shelter and we will be able to get back to our work of saving the gorillas. The Gorilla Organization is perfectly placed to help ease the pressure on the national park and support the rangers in protecting the gorillas. But for this we need your help.

Congo is in crisis. This is an emergency situation. We need funds to evacuate the Gorilla Organization’s staff and partners from eastern DR Congo and to help them survive away from home until it is safe for them to return. And we need funds to ensure that as soon as the area is safe we have the resources in place to protect the gorillas and their habitat as well as we possibly can.
Please help us and give whatever you can today.

Thank you

Henry Cirhuza
DR Congo Programme Manager
The Gorilla Organization

One response so far

Category: Communities, Gorillas, Tshiaberimu, Uncategorized, Virunga National Park | Date: Oct 29 2008 | By: tshiaberimu

Hello, this is Jean Claude. Sorry for the delay in my post, last week I was in Kampala, Uganda for the Gorilla Organization’s annual strategy meeting.

I have some sad news. On Thursday October 23 2008, Mwami Kalemire II, head of the chiefdom of Bashu, departed this world after a month in hospital.

Mwami Kalemire was a valiant fighter for ICCN, he was a man of value, peace and reconciliation. Mwami Kalemire, Grand Chief of Nande, was also the leader who controls Mount Tshiaberimu. He has championed the cause of the Virunga National Park and in particular Mont Tshiaberimu.

I attended the burial ceremony along with a huge gathering of Mwami Kalemire’s supporters including the Governor and a strong delegation from Kinshasa, Goma, Masisi, Walikale and Uganda.

Mwami Kalemire, a great supporter of gorilla conservation did not die alone. The same day the wife of late conservator Mesi’s father and Madame Scheidegger of Flora Fauna International also passed away. It was difficult for me to represent ICCN and the Gorilla Organization at all of ceremonies Thursday on Sunday 26 October, it was a very sad day. But it was important for me to say goodbye to them all and I succeeded to be everywhere. May missing souls depart in peace ….

2 responses so far

Category: Communities, Gorillas, Tshiaberimu, Virunga National Park | Date: Oct 02 2008 | By: tshiaberimu

Hello, this is Jean Claude. On 18 September, as we traveled from Mulango Patrol Post to Burusi Patrol Post, we received a phone call alerting us to the presence of a lion in the Nguli valley towards Vihyo village.

The local population at Nguli had heard the roar of the lion and in the morning awoke to find that 13 goats had been killed. The community called the head of the Mount Tshiaberimu patrol post and also contacted the army to register the case.

Following the call I contacted ICCN’s Director Mushenzi, to ask for advice and he agreed with our suggestion to chase the lion away by firing shots in to the air.

We had to inform the whole population before we took action to ensure that they were not alarmed by the gunshots and to avoid panic.

Unfortunately this operation did not work as the lion resisted.

The next day one man Mr Kamuda was injured as the lion bit him in the leg. He was treated at the local health centre. In addition four of Mr Dokoro’s goats were found dead and three belonging to Mr Shiriki were also killed - totaling 20 all together.

The following day we again tried to drive out the animal with the help of the army. On the fourth gunshot the lion jumped on a soldier, but as the solider fell to the ground he retaliated and shot the lion. The lion became enraged but eventually, after the seventh shot, the lion succumbed and was carried away by the local people.

We did our best to move the lion safely without killing it, and it is sad that the animal lost its life. We are working hard with the communities in this area to improve their livelihoods and reduce encroachment on the forest so that they are able to protect the forest and the animals living there.

2 responses so far

Category: Gorillas, Rangers, Tshiaberimu, Virunga National Park | Date: Sep 11 2008 | By: tshiaberimu

Hello this is Jean Claude. A few weeks ago the trackers and rangers at Mount Tshiaberimu took part in a four day training course at the Kalibina summit at Tshiabirimu. The training was facilitated by Dr. Gladys and Stephen Rubanga of Conservation Through Public Health under the financial support of ZSL and the Gorilla Organization.

The training covered both theory and practical skills and looked at clinical signs, the collection of data on the health of gorillas, processing data, the laboratory, the autopsy and veterinary treatment. The training was planned following the death of two gorillas earlier in the year.

During the training Dr. Gladys presented the team with antibiotics very kindly donated by Judy Brey from California and equipment offered by ZSL. These drugs and equipment will be kept at Mount Tshiberimu in case of an emergency – if another gorilla gets ill the team will be able to make a decision about whether to intervene and if it is decided that they should they now have all the necessary equipment that the need.

The photos below were taken during the training.

Here the trackers and rangers gather round at the beginning of the training

Here is Gladys and the CTPH team with the antibiotics and equipment

The training continues in the forest

4 responses so far