Two arrested with dead mountain gorilla in DRCongo
NAIROBI (AFP) — Rangers in Democratic Republic of Congo on Tuesday arrested two men with a dead mountain gorilla near Virunga National park amid fears over the fate of the endangered species, an official said.
The suspected traffickers were seized with the female infant gorilla around 10 kilometres (six miles) from the edge of the park, where renewed fighting has blocked rangers from tracking 72 gorillas, said Samantha Newport, spokeswoman for Wildlife Direct.
"The suspects said the gorilla was taken from DR Congo's gorilla sector ... and they were aiming to get 8,000 dollars for the infant. The cause of death is unknown and the infant died about one week ago," Newport said in a statement.
"It is thought that another gorilla is being held by the same group," the statement said.
This brings to 10 the number of gorillas killed in the park in 2007. Two others are still missing.
Local and foreign militias as well as Congolese soldiers, poachers and illegal miners regularly cross the same area of the Virunga park, one of Africa's largest and a UNESCO world heritage site. Sometimes parts of it are occupied.
The mountain gorillas are a major tourist attraction in the Virunga park, where poaching is widespread.
Only around 700 endangered mountain gorillas remain in the wild, all of them living in the mountains of Rwanda, Uganda and the eastern DRC.
Since fighting erupted last month between the DRC army and forces loyal to cashiered general Laurent Nkunda, rangers' efforts to track the rare species have been paralysed, Newport said.
She expressed concern that fresh clashes on Monday, which ruptured an 18-day truce in the volatile region, could further endanger the gorillas.
