Amid war, endangered Congo mountain gorillas survive in rebel-held fores
Nov. 26, 2008
VIRUNGA NATIONAL PARK, Congo (AP) _ Deep in the rebel-held forests of Congo's mighty Mikeno volcano, a world away from this Central African nation's latest fighting, a wild 440-pound mountain gorilla serenely rips a meal of bamboo stalks from the moist dark earth.
His pregnant "wife" dangles from a moss-strewn treetop. Nearby, another gentle ape waddles on all-fours among luminescent green foliage, a 3-month-old baby riding precariously on her back's velvety black fur coat.
The primordial scenes are a rare window into the lives of some of the world's last mountain gorillas. They unfold in a habitat on the edge of a war zone that until now has been overseen by renegade rangers who stayed behind when rebels seized control of these jungle foothills in late 2007.
Gorillas' Rebel Refuge
Rangers in the Mist
From sanctuary to war zone: Rangers, gorillas threatened in Congo's turbulent heart
Jan. 12, 2008
By TODD PITMAN
VIRUNGA NATIONAL PARK, Congo (AP) _ Not far from a hillside where several mountain gorillas shot dead last summer lie buried, park ranger Innocent Mburanumwe peers across a primordial canopy of treetops into what may be the most dangerous game reserve on earth.
The lush sanctuary _ home to some of the world's last mountain gorillas _ was thrust onto the front lines of Congo's latest war in September. Since then, the fragile habitat in the Central African highlands has been overrun by rebels and soldiers, transformed into an off-limits war zone.
In the world of wildlife conservation, the biggest worry most rangers face is the extinction of endangered animals. But in Virunga National Park, where more than 120 rangers have been killed over the last decade, they also worry about their own survival.
Gorillas, II
In war-ravaged Congo game park, gorillas struggle to survive
November 1, 2004
By TODD PITMAN
KAHUZI-BIEGA NATIONAL PARK, Congo (AP) _ Beneath a pair of extinct volcanic peaks in eastern Congo, on the edge of a verdant tropical rain-forest, an enormous silverback gorilla named Chimenuka lounges on his back, two feet propped against a tree.
The burly animal shows little interest in a small team of machete-wielding pygmy trackers, park rangers and armed guards who've come to check on him _ until they take one step too close.
In a second, the 180-kilogram (400-pound) gorilla springs upright, beating his chest, grunting and charging forward, forcing his guests to cower before slipping away on all fours into a curtain of thick underbrush.
Gorillas, I
18Aug1999 RWANDA: FEATURE - Gorillas threatened in Africa's war-torn heart.
SABINYO VOLCANO, Rwanda, Aug 18 (Reuters) - On the lush emerald slopes of northern Rwanda's mighty Sabinyo volcano, a family of 10 mountain gorillas - some of only a few hundred left on earth - relax in the mist under a light rain.