SOMETIMES..

Sometimes I do wonder what the f*ck some people are thinking.

This is from the BBC

Concern over gorilla ‘executions’

Conservationists have expressed concern over the “senseless and tragic” killing of four mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The bodies of three females and one male were discovered by rangers earlier this week in t1.jpghe Virunga National Park.

Officials said the “executions” were not the work of poachers because they would have taken the bodies.

Since January, seven of the large apes in the region have been shot dead.

“This is a senseless and tragic loss of some of the world’s most endangered and beloved animals,” said Deo Kujirakwinja of the Wildlife Conservation Society’s (WCS) Congo programme.

“This area must be immediately secured or we stand to lose an entire population of these animals,” he added.

Scare tactics’

The four animals belonged to a group of 12 gorillas, known to researchers as the Rugendo family, which was often visited by tourists.

Because poachers would have sold the bodies as food or trophies, conservationists think the apes were killed by a group that was trying to scare wardens out of the park.

The WCS said the protected area was coming under increasing pressure from “outside exploitation”, including the charcoal trade.

“Whatever the motive underlying this tragedy, the gorillas are helpless pawns in a feud between individuals,” said Mark Rose, chief executive of Fauna and Flora International.

“We are deeply concerned about this incident, which follows more than 20 years of successful collaboration for mountain gorilla conservation.”

A census carried out in 2004 estimated that 380 gorillas, more than half of the world’s population, lived in the national park and surrounding Virunga volcanoes region.

The latest killings take the number of shootings in the area to seven. Earlier this year, two silverback male gorillas were shot dead in the same area of the park, while a female was killed in May.

I don’t even begin to understand the thinking behind this.

Here is the little film I made about gorillas…

  1. July 29, 2007 at 16:58 | #1

    Ohhh, that is heartbreaking. I can not stand for any animals to suffer and it is especially painful to see happen at the hands of humans.

  2. July 29, 2007 at 17:57 | #2

    How come the same amount of attention is not given to the suffering people of the Congo as the apes of the Congo? Is it because Western countries benefit from the diamonds and natural resources; as well as the sale of weapons to the Central Africa region?

    Here are some articles about it, in case you are not aware of it.

    http://worldpolicy.org/projects/arms/reports/congo.htm
    http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=9832
    http://zmagsite.zmag.org/JulAug2007/snow.html

  3. michaelgreenwell
    July 30, 2007 at 17:14 | #3

    randall, to be concerned about one does not exclude concern about the other.

  4. July 31, 2007 at 16:33 | #4

    Your accent is a lot less Scottish that I would have expected…

  5. michaelgreenwell
    August 3, 2007 at 12:47 | #5

    kim – i don’t know what you mean

  6. michaelgreenwell
    August 3, 2007 at 12:47 | #6

    ah, you mean the film. its not me speaking!! its douglas adams

  7. emily
    May 18, 2008 at 17:31 | #7

    randall, the humans are the ones who killed the congo apes

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