Browsing Category: "Wildlife"
National Geographic magazine’s latest issue (July, 2008) deals with the gory Virunga Gorilla Killings. I’m yet to read it. But what prompted me to write a post on this issue is the fact that I was greatly affected by a small video (7min. duration) titled Who Murdered the Virunga Gorillas? The video is available on National Geographic’s website.
The Venue
Virunga National Park is situated in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, bordering Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and Rwenzori Mountains National Park in Uganda. This 7,800 square kilometers of protected area, is declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO. Virunga Park is a chain of active volcanoes and house of some very interesting and rare animal species like hippopotamuses and mountain gorillas. The latter belong to the globally ‘endangered species’ list. So far, the park has been famous for it’s successful conservation work regarding these Great Apes. But on July 22nd, 2007, an entire family of gorillas was executed mercilessly!
The Crime
Now, Virunga is infamous for its gorilla killings! Within a short span of two months, seven massive gorillas were gunned down, abandoning their kids. The disturbing photographs (by Brent Stirton) of these dead apes, swept across the world media, have created an outrage among conservationists and nature lovers. Attempts made by photographer Brent Stirton and writer Mark Jenkins to discover the motive behind these killings, have unraveled a disturbing mix of power, corruption, extreme poverty, human desperation, greed and associated violence.
The Issue
The face of the crime is undoubtedly ugly but the issue behind it is not a new one. The forces that lead to such sad killings of animals in the wild are threads of a complex fabric,
spun every single minute of human existence in developing societies. Like others Virunga too, is not resistant to ‘these’ forces. The question arises what are these forces then? Can they be challenged by human efforts?
The issue is not just Man vs. Nature but also Man vs. Man. Nearby Virunga National Park, is the huge camp of war-displaced people whose lives have been torn and tattered by the Congo Civil War. These people depend on the forest cover protected by the boundaries of the national park. The huge, hungry and poverty stricken population of these displaced people is a part of the Charcoal Mafia. It’s illegal to harvest charcoal inside the park premises but the locals (with the help of some corrupt officials) do just that. This is an outcome of human desperation and greed. The committed park rangers deal with such locals. Rangers also deal with a dangerous resident militia. The latter has occupied the gorilla specific areas of the vast national park. Their very presence is a threat to the gorilla’s existence. The militia wants justice and power from the government but their victims are not just humans only. The mountain gorillas, now being used to the irritating presence of humans, cannot distinguish whether those people with guns are there to protect or to terminate them!!!
The Reality
After watching the video, I could not help but remember that something similar and of grave nature has actually happened in India as well. The wiping out of tiger population at Sariska National Park in recent past and ongoing killings at Ranthambore, bear a semblance to what happened a year ago in Virunga. The issue is afterall, Can man and beast co-exist?
The Solution
There is no easy and straightforward solution that can change the scenario of Virunga and other national parks in a day or two. In this huge world, humans and other species are competing for space and nutrition. And each species is valuable. The process of establishing equilibrium between men and animals is unfortunately a slow one but the good part is, it is possible. I think we need a handful of Dr. Jane Goodall(s) in every continent!
