Mountain Gorillas

February 2009

Mountain gorillas are an endangered species with some 700 alive. Nearly half of these animals live in Virunga National Park which borders Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The gorillas are caught in the middle of the Congo’s ongoing civil war between militia groups and the Congolese Army. This month’s National Geographic magazine, along with a companion documentary, uncovers the question: “Who murdered the mountain gorillas?” I spoke with three people who know firsthand …

Feb 2007
Days before Senkwekwe and three other mountain gorillas were killed, journalist Paul Raffaele filmed Senkwekwe in the wild. He reports on the battle to save the world’s mountain gorillas. In the mountains of the DRC, silverback gorilla Senkwekwe watches over his young family. A few weeks later, he was dead, alongside three females in his harem. It was the worst gorilla massacre in 25 years. “There’s a threat to the gorillas from poaching, for the exotic pet trade”, explains ranger Rob Muir. Gorillas now share their habitat with rebel militias, driven into the hills by UN peacekeepers. These rebels could have been responsible for the killing of another two mountain gorillas earlier. “They were stripped of all their flesh”, describes Muir.