Tshiaberimu

Hi this is Vhosi, Social Assistant at Mount Tshiabirimu for the Gorilla Organization      

Currently at Mount Tshiabirimu two activities are putting a massive strain on the gorilla population: charcoal production and bamboo growing. We have more than fifteen villages where the human population rate is about 203 people/square kilometre of density, and their food comes from plants and animals which the land and waters must sustain.    

Communities in the nearest villages from Mt.T, such as Burusi, Kitolu, Kisone and Buswagha, are growing beans – they wild-raise bamboo sticks from the bush and sometimes illegally from the gorillas habitat to support the growth of these beans. Others are wild-raising bamboo sticks for sale in order to earn money for their survival. Wood is also being used for building, fuel (charcoals), and for other uses. Much is now the product of tree plantations, but immense quantities are still harvested from wild forests. There are currently two trucks in Kyondo town, which transport charcoals from Burusi, Kasisi and Buswagha villages to Butembo city three times weekly with 40 and 80 packs (80-90kg each); meaning that there is a loss of trees from these villages to produce about 30,600kg of charcoals for Butembo people every week. 

Last week I had a talk with Mwami Kapita (the customary chief of Isale Kasongwere), in Burusi village about bamboo stick cutting and charcoal consumption. He told me that he is highly concerned because the natural resource shortages and disease are proportionately increasing with the population – unfortunately gorillas will be the main victims of this. He concluded with suggesting that we have to increase public awareness to support the community projects in a hope that we can create a better balance between the expanding population and the resources we have available, to secure the cousins of ours.  

Hi this is Tuver

Jean Claude has informed me that the population of Kisoni village, on the outskirts of Mount Tshiaberimu, recently handed-over a blue monkey (Cercopithecus mitis) to ICCN rangers after she ventured out of the forest and was held captive by individuals in the village.

The ranger Kataps, while walking in the region, noticed the monkey, which was being taunted by local boys. Soon after local villagers called ICCN to help them release the captive monkey. Rangers were very happy to witness such good relations between the park and people, enabling them to help the captured monkey in the village of Kisoni.

On this picture Kataps and I at Mont Tshiaberimu

The health of the monkey was then monitored in Burusi (the entry point to the forest of Mount Tshiaberimu) and she was soon after released to join other blue monkeys, and is now starting to settle back in to the wild.

This act of collaboration between population and park has really pleased the authorities of the ICCN, the Director Norbert Mushenzi, expressed particular appreciation of the gesture by the community, especially following recent unfortunate events.

In my opinion these acts show the great ways communities have collaborated with the Gorilla Organization, in partnership with ICCN, since 1996 to help protect this part of the Virunga National Park, and offers great promise for the future.

Hi, this is Tuver.

This is Tuver,

with news from Jean Claude about a new Mwami, or chief,
at Tshiaberimu, Abdhul Kalemire III.

In November 2008, the Mwami of
Bashu, Kalemire II, died. He was a friend of the project and defender
of the gorillas of the Virunga National Park. After lengthy discussion
about his succession, Paluku Abdhul Kalemire III has now replaced his
father. His installation ceremony, carried out by the Administrator of
Beni Territory, took place on 28 March 2009, at Vuhovi, the capital of
the of the Bashu Chiefdom. All the traditional chiefs of North Kivu
Province took part in this ceremony, as well as several delegations.
ICCN was represented by the Tshiaberimu project, with a delegation
including Jean Claude, the social assistant Vhosi and two of the
rangers. The project contributed a large goat to the ceremony
following traditional custom. After the Mwami’s installation, the
Tshiaberimu project vehicle was used to transport the delegation of
the Administrator and his followers to Kyondo.

Jean Claude himself was
the Administrator’s driver for the whole ceremony. At Kyondo, the
Administrator and the Mwami had good discussions with Jean Claude
about reinforcing the collaboration between the local authorities of
the Territory, the chiefdom and the Mount Tshiaberimu Conservation
Project.

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.

Hello this is Jean Claude again. Despite the terrible time that we have had at Tshiaberimu, leading to the death of the chief of monitoring on 8 January, I am very happy to announce the birth of a baby gorilla to the Mutsunga family!

I have received reports from the rangers that the female, Mwengesyali, gave birth to the infant on 31 January at Mahinga, near the patrol post of Kikyo.

Mwengesyali is the mother of Mukokya and Musanganya (who tragically lost his life after falling out a tree last year), and at the moment lives in a group led by the silverback Kanindo.

This afternoon I will be trekking in to the forest myself to see the new baby and hope to bring more news to you tomorrow!

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.

This is Tuver. It is with great sadness, we received confirmation of the death of ranger Safari Kakule. Safari was at Mount Tshiaberimu with six other rangers during the evening of 8 January when they were attacked by rebel militia without warning. They defended their position, managing to detain a rebel officer, but the attack was extremely violent and the rangers were far outnumbered. As they retreated from their position, Safari was fatally hit by the attackers’ gunfire.

Safari was an exceptional ranger, who had worked on the Gorilla Organization project at Mount Tshiaberimu for over three years. Recently Safari had taken part in gorilla health monitoring training organised by the Gorilla Organization through Conservation through Public Health (CTPH). He was expected to play a very important role in protecting the gorillas of Tshiaberimu.

His body was carried out of the forest by his colleagues and brought to Kyondo, several hours from where the attack took place. From there he was taken back to Lubero, to a final resting place at his family home. Safari leaves a widow and three children.

Gorilla veterinarian, Gladys Kalema recalls Safari’s visit to Bwindi where he took part in gorilla health monitoring training towards the end of last year. “Safari was such a hardworking and dedicated ranger, with a great personality. May God rest him in peace”.

Fifteen rangers were dispatched during the early hours of 9 January. After a long and arduous journey to the remote area of Mount Tshiaberimu they arrived safely. The rangers will help the Mount Tshiaberimu team strengthen their position, which remains extremely fragile. ICCN Director Norbert Mushenzi, head ranger, Atamato and Gorilla Organization project manager and Tshiaberimu Conservator, Jean-Claude Kyungu are all on site, conducting the investigation and organising the emergency reinforcements.

The rebel that was arrested by the rangers during the attack has been questioned and several leads on the perpetrators of the attack have been identified.

Safari was a brave, dedicated ranger who gave his life to the gorillas. His untimely death is a reminder to us all of the ultimate sacrifices that rangers make in the name of conservation. We can never thank him enough for what he has done for the gorillas. Rest in peace Safari.

Here is a picture of Safari taken in August last year during the gorilla health monitoring training.

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.

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