Missing Congolese gorillas found in rebel-held region

Some of the gorillas caught in the midst of fighting within the Democratic Republic of the Congo have been located. Dozens more remain missing.

Virunga National Park is home to about 200 of the estimated 790 mountain gorillas (Gorilla beringei beringei) remaining in the wild. A 2010 census suggests that the population is growing there, but the species remains critically endangered.

Consequently, the primates are tracked daily under normal circumstances ? but the park's rangers have been unable to monitor them for almost three months because of heavy fighting between a rebel militia called the M23 and government forces.

At the end of July, park authorities were given permission to search for the missing animals by the M23, now in control of Africa's oldest national park. After an initial security assessment on 29 July, a census has located several missing families.

"It was truly amazing to see the gorillas again after so long and so much fighting," says Innocent Mburanumwe, warden of the park's gorilla sector. "The gorillas circled us and several reached out to touch and smell us. They had not seen us for a very long time and seemed calm and curious."

The finds are encouraging because they suggest that no militia group has purposely targeted the gorillas, although they have been targeted in the past.

"At this stage we're not aware of any evidence that gorillas have been targeted in this conflict by either side," says Emmanuel de M?rode, chief warden of the park. "We are, however, concerned that the gorillas may be hurt in the crossfire, or that harm may come to them because of the difficulties in maintaining effective conservation work on the ground."

"There have already been two known gorilla deaths directly as a result of armed conflict," says de M?rode. "One in Dungutse in 2008 and one in Rugendo in 2001."

The conflict presents another threat to these endangered apes. Gorillas and humans are genetically close, which makes them vulnerable to many of the same diseases. That ups the chances that the gorillas could pick up an infection from the militia in the area ? or vice versa.

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