Gorilla Journal

Journal of Berggorilla & Regenwald Direkthilfe

On the Trail of theMan whoDiscovered theMountain Gorilla

Poachers Kill TwoMountain Gorillas

Good News forthe Cross RiverGorillas?

GorillaJournal

No. 24, June 2002

Great ApeTrafficking inKahuzi-Biega

BERGGORILLA & REGENWALD DIREKTHILFE

2 Gorilla Journal 24, June 2002

CONTENTSDemocratic Republic of Congo 3Great Ape Trafficking in Kahuzi-Biega National Park 3A New Ape Orphanage Project 5Nyiragongo Eruption 5Ongoing Pillage of Resources 6Conservation of Mt. Tshiaberimu(= Mt. Kyavirimu) 6Crisis on the Itombwe Plateau 7Uganda 8Smuggling Network Destroyed 8Interahamwe Present in Uganda 8Park Borders Are Altered 8Rwanda 9On the Trail of the Man whoDiscovered the Mountain Gorilla 9Poachers Kill Mountain Gorillasand Steal a Baby 11Gorillas 12Good News for the Cross RiverGorillas? 12Bushmeat Campaign 13Gorillas and Ebola 13Illegal Gorilla Exports from Nigeria 13Western Gorillas: Recommenda-tions for their Conservation 14Who's Who? 15Reading 17Gorilla Gazette 18New on the Internet 18Visiting the "Documenta" inKassel? 18Berggorilla & RegenwaldDirekthilfe 19Finances 19Meeting 19

worked with WWF Cameroon com-pleting a gorilla survey in the Taka-manda Forest Reserve.

Uwe Kribus studied medicine inLeipzig and is a specialist in dermatol-ogy; since 1988 he has been a mem-ber of the Berggorilla & RegenwaldDirekthilfe and for two years he was amember of the Board of Directors. Re-cently he donated medicine for theParc National des Virunga.

Dr. Angela Meder observed thebehaviour and development of captivelowland gorillas for 10 years. A majoraim of her studies was the improve-ment of the management, rearing andhousing of gorillas in zoos. Today sheworks as a book editor. Since 1992she has been part of the Board ofDirectors of Berggorilla & RegenwaldDirekthilfe.

Chantal Shalukoma has beenworking for the Kahuzi-Biega NationalPark since 1992. She is especiallyinvolved in public awareness cam-paigns for nature conservation.

Iris Weiche is a biologist and ge-ographer. She started her work withprimates, in the wild and in zoos, in1990. At the moment she is finishingher doctoral dissertation on femalegorillas in zoos. Since 1994 she hasbeen active for the Berggorilla & Re-genwald Direkthilfe, and from May1997 to March 2002 she was a mem-ber of the Board of Directors.

Authors of this Issue

Augustin Kanyunyi Basabose isworking for the CRSN at Lwiro. Since1994, he has been researching theecology of gorillas and chimpanzeesin Kahuzi-Biega. In 1996, he took partin the gorilla census in the original partof the Kahuzi-Biega National Park. In2000, he took part in the latest censusin the same area.

Dr. Andreas von Beringe studiedeconomics. After having worked in themanagement of various companies for18 years, he founded his own com-pany, SAF AG in 1996. He is CEO ofthis company based in Switzerland.

Jacqueline Groves began work-ing with primates in 1991 with Pan-drillus in Nigeria. In 1995 she returnedto co-ordinate the Pandrillus’ Came-roon project, the Limbe Wildlife Centrefocusing on the rehabilitation of or-phaned apes. Since 1997 she has

Organization Address:Berggorilla & Regenwald Direkthilfec/o Rolf BrunnerLerchenstr. 545473 Muelheim, GermanyFax +49-208-7671605E-mail [email protected]:http://www.berggorilla.orgBank Account:Account number 353 344 315Stadtsparkasse MuelheimBank code number 362 500 00

Gorilla Journal 24, June 2002Editor: Angela MederAugustenstr. 122, 70197 Stuttgart,GermanyFax +49-711-6159919E-mail [email protected] and Proofreading: AnnaCovic, Ann DeVoy, Bettina andAndrew Grieser Johns, Colin Groves,Raymond MorrisonDesign: Edwin Artho, Angela MederProduction: Gentner-Verlag, StuttgartCover: Mountain gorilla shot byRobert von BeringePhoto: Courtesy Andreas von Beringe

The latest Gorilla Journal issue isavailable on the internet too (click on"Gorilla Journal" in the menu on thetop at http://www.berggorilla.org).If you prefer to download it instead ofreceiving a printed copy, please sendan e-mail to Angela Meder. You willthen be informed by e-mail as soon asthe new issue is on the website.

The printing of this Gorilla Journalissue was partly funded by IFAW.Last year we constructed the websitefor the bushmeat campaign (www.bushmeat-campaign.net) whichwas financed by IFAW; we used thesefunds for the prroduction of the EnglishGorilla Journal 24.

D. R. CONGO


Great Ape Traffickingaround the Kahuzi-BiegaNational ParkThe commerce in bushmeat is seenas the primary threat to the short-termsurvival of the African great apes. Thisis a valid assertion in view of what ishappening in the protected areas andtheir vicinity in the Democratic Re-public of Congo. The sale of bush-meat, and trafficking in various spe-cies and wildlife products and by-prod-ucts, are sufficient proof. With thecommerce in bushmeat we can onlyimagine the number of great ape off-spring that become orphans, and itconstitutes an indicator of the di-minution of the forest and decreasesin animal populations. This traffickinghas other serious consequences inthat it leads to unbalanced eco-systems.

The ProblemBukavu, the provincial capital of SouthKivu in eastern Congo, has become atragic place for wild animals, par-ticularly the great apes. This started in1996 as the result of the various warsand repetitive disorders in the Kahuzi-Biega National Park region. Indica-tions of this are visible in the townitself and in the immediate vicinity ofthe park – various species of animals,especially live monkeys, and carni-vores such as baby leopards andcheetahs. Trophies from elephants,gorillas and other primates, in the formof ivory, skulls, pelts, teeth, finger-nails, bones, and other things areabundantly and clandestinely foundthroughout the town. The trafficking inlive animals concerns especially thelarger primates, gorillas and chimpan-zees, and extends beyond the coun-try’s borders. Trafficking in other pri-mates takes place within the country,either from one province to another orwithin a single province. The animalsare kept in enclosures to amuse the

authority to act within 50 km outsidethe park limits. Several Governmentalservices, including the National Po-lice, Army, Justice Department, Envi-ronmental and Security Services, theONGDS, as well as the politico-ad-ministrative authorities, collaboratewith the Kahuzi-Biega National Parkin the collection of information. Thus,all of the park personnel are involved inthe collection of information, eventhough there is a small team that isformally assigned the task. This teamhas been under my supervision since1999. The limited experience acquiredhas enabled us to develop a strategyto dismantle the poaching networks inthe vicinity of the park. Nevertheless,some gaps persist on the technicallevel as the result of the inadequatetraining of the park personnel directlyinvolved in this activity.

Investigation and DiscussionResultsInvestigations of the trafficking and de-tention of wild animals have been lim-

children and sometimes end up in thecooking pot.

The Kahuzi-Biega National Park issubject to the looting of its naturalresources in a general way and is alsobeing emptied of its wildlife. Since thecontrol of the ICCN extends to only10% of the park, the park managersare unaware of what is happening inthe huge sections located in the low-land regions.

Brief Description of the ParkCommunication ServiceFor some years there has been acommunication service about the de-struction of the park’s natural re-sources. This branch of the anti-poaching campaign outside of the pro-tected area started to becomesystemized in 1999. The objective isto discourage, by surveillance alliedwith an environmental communica-tions network, the poaching networkthat exists upstream and down-stream. That is to say from the poach-ers to the controllers and through allthe intermediaries.

The poachers often reside in thevillages bordering the park, which iswhy these activities occur in the vicin-ity of the park. The affected areas areexpanding because they were previ-ously inaccessible for security rea-sons, and they have been more andmore disturbed. Decree No 75/023,issued on July 22, 1975 gave us the

Gorilla group in the Kahuzi-BiegaNational Park

Silverback male in Kahuzi-BiegaPhotos: A. Kanyunyi Basabose

D. R. CONGO


ited to the highland sector of the park.The identification phase of the areasinvolved and the wild animals beingheld continues up to the present time.Nevertheless, as far as the featuredanimals of the Kahuzi-Biega NationalPark are concerned, and those underthe protection of the Washington Con-vention (CITES) that was ratified bythe Democratic Republic of Congo,these are being recovered in a peace-ful manner or with the assistance ofthe law enforcement authorities. Ofcourse, these actions are always ac-companied by environmental informa-tion meetings.

Insofar as the trafficking in gorillasis concerned, seven networks havebeen exposed by park teams since1999. Apart from the baby gorillaBitorwa, who was recovered and diedshortly afterwards, others were killed

long periods in the villages, under poorconditions (inappropriate diet, humancontact, absence of shelter and care).Fortunately, the CRSN is specializedto care for these animals. Researchpersonnel prepare diagnostics basedon laboratory examinations, followedby medical treatment and proper diet.Park and center personnel keeprecords for the great apes. The filescontain information concerning the ori-gin of the animal, and details pertain-ing to its capture, detention, labora-tory results, and so on… Data con-cerning parasites, pulmonary anddental information is also included.Overall, it may be said that the ani-mals are healthy as a result of thefavorable conditions under which theyare being maintained.

Looking to the FutureThe strategy of this activity at theKahuzi-Biega National Park is beingenhanced by seeking a blending withthe activity of the center. Only fi-nancial feasibility remains a problem.

Under present conditions at thepark, only the Lwiro Center is ap-

and it was the bones, skulls, andpieces of raw and cooked meat thatserved as evidence. The park com-munication service is still providingdata on the networks trafficking inbaby gorillas, but these networks areso strong, complex, and protectedthat the recovery of the young animalsis impossible.

As to chimpanzees, they are heav-ily traded and their marketing is guar-anteed. Since 1999, 16 live chim-panzee trafficking networks have beenuncovered in the park. Eight animalshave been identified and six recov-ered. Only one animal, which wasdeemed compatible, was left in one ofthe enclosures. Since these animalsare totally under the protection ofCITES, they are temporarily beingkept at the CRSN in Lwiro, until amore permanent solution can befound. Two of the six chimpanzeesrecovered by the Kahuzi-Biega Na-tional Park died shortly thereafter. JefDupain reports that at Eboumetoum(Dja/Cameroon) a whole chimpanzeecosts between 25,000 CFA and aquarter costs 5,000 CFA. In the townof Bukavu, a whole, smoked chimpan-zee costs between US$ 5 and US$10, depending on whether it is sold inthe market or delivered to a home.According to persons detained for traf-ficking, a live chimpanzee intended fortrade costs much more.

Present Situation of the Chim-panzees Held at LwiroFour chimpanzees are currently beingheld at Lwiro where accommodationand security facilities are available.Within the Biology Department of thisresearch center there is a great apeservice that contains appropriate hu-man resources, equipment, and infra-structure.

When the chimpanzees are re-covered by the park services they areoften in poor health. They are renderedfragile as the result of being held for

Two chimpanzee orphans kept atthe Lwiro Center

Photo: A. Kanyunyi Basabose

This tape was produced forpublic awareness by the GTZproject at the Kahuzi-BiegaPark. It contains Rumbamusic with texts about thepark and its resources

D. R. CONGO


propriate for receiving these animals.Unless we hear to the contrary fromthe conservationists who read this,the CRSN with its specialists, labora-tories, and a small forest will continueto assist in restoring the animal to agood physical and biological con-dition, to reassure it and readapt it tolife in the forest so that it may bereturned to the national park. In addi-tion, if it is not an animal that is sus-ceptible of being contaminated byman, it can be returned directly to itsnatural habitat.

For scientific research purposes,environmental training and study,some animals need to stay at theLwiro Center in a sort of foster care,orphanage or zoo setting. Persons ofgood faith, who understand our cause,can assist the Kahuzi-Biega NationalPark and the Lwiro Center in achievingthis objective. The Research Centerand the CRSN remain the institutionqualified to provide information on thebiological state, ethology and otherfundamental aspects of these animalsin captivity.

All this does not prevent the parkfrom continuing to appeal urgently tothe international scientific communityto act to slow the trafficking of pro-tected wild animals throughout theworld.

Chantal Shalukoma

A New Ape OrphanageProjectThe unrest following the war in theeastern Democratic Republic ofCongo (former Zaire) has led to theslaughter of a large number of gorillasin the montane forest sector of Ka-huzi-Biega. The recent gorilla censuscompleted in 2000 revealed that half ofthe gorilla population had been killedfor meat. Only 130 individuals werecounted during the census. Poachersin Bukavu illegally keep many gorillaand chimpanzee babies.

The park, in collaboration withAugustin Kanyunyi Basabose, re-searcher at the CRSN Lwiro and headof the laboratory of Primatology, De-partment of Biology, has launched acampaign to search for and confiscateall the ape babies kept by poachersand is planning to conduct an orphan-age project at Lwiro. We have alreadyreceived three chimpanzee babies(Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii). Ababy gorilla in a very bad health suc-cumbed after we had tried our best torescue him.

The orphanage project started withthe three chimpanzee babies at Lwirowhere Augustin Kanyunyi Basaboseand his colleagues are looking afterthem. Our aim is to keep the babiesuntil they are old enough to live freelyin the forest without specific care. Thepark accepted to reintroduce them intheir natural habitat when needed.

We received a small donation fromGTZ/PNKB-Bukavu for the daily livingcost including food, care and medi-cine, but it is not enough to fund theproject. We are now looking for sup-port to continue with our orphanageproject. Our hope is that an interna-tional NGO dealing with animal con-servation and especially great apeswill support us in this task to restorehope to those threatened animals.

Augustin Kanyunyi [email protected]

Nyiragongo Eruption

On 17 January 2002, the volcanoNyiragongo in eastern Congo erupted.It is situated within the southern sec-tor of the Virunga National Park and isone of the western Virunga Volca-noes. While the eastern Virunga Vol-canoes, where the mountain gorillaslive, have been inactive for a long time,the western volcanoes are still activeand erupt regularly.

When Nyiragongo erupted, the lavaflowed to Goma in a single stream andfinally covered about a fifth of the town.It was estimated that more than 100people died and about 350,000 losttheir homes and property. At least16,000 homes were destroyed. As thevolcano erupted during the harvest,much the food that was grown on therich soils was lost too. It is not onlyGoma which depends on that food butalso other regions of eastern Congo.The UN and relief organizations pro-vided humanitarian support. Withinless than two weeks, contributions toaid volcano victims in Goma hadreached US$ 26 million, the UN re-ported. The contributions were initiallyaimed at meeting the most basicneeds of the affected population.

Close-up of a chimpanzee in theorphanage

Photo: A. Kanyunyi Basabose

DEMOCRAT.REPUBLIC OFCONGO

RWANDA

UGANDARutshuruTongo

Rumangabo Jomba

Bukima

Goma

Lake Kivu

Nyiragongo

Nyamulagira

Gisenyi

EasternVirunga Volcanoes

The volcanoes Nyiragongo andNyamulagira in the Parc Nationaldes Virunga. Mountain gorillaslive in the Eastern VirungaVolcanoes (see map on page 11)

Map: Angela Meder

D. R. CONGO


Claude Sikubwabo Kiyengo wasnot hurt, but he had to flee and lost hiscomputer in one of the houses buriedunder the lava. In the meantime, a newone donated by a supporter of Berg-gorilla & Regenwald Direkthilfe washanded over to him. As e-mail accessproviders were also hit by the eruption,communication with North Kivu wascut for a long time.

Over three months after Mt. Nyira-gongo erupted, people still were con-tinuing to return to Goma. Many hadbeen living in Rwanda for a few monthsand had nowhere to go. Their homeshad been destroyed during the erup-tion and some were using treebranches and leaves to erect tem-porary shelters. Many people in Gomaalso lost their jobs after the eruptionand schools were unable to resumeclasses until nearly a month after thevolcano had erupted. In the meantime,relief organizations have continued tobuild schools and houses.

According to World Vision, fivemonths after the eruption, small stallsselling sweets, cigarettes, and vehiclefuel were popping up across the lava,and business owners were raisingtheir buildings of twisted metal andconcrete to begin again. Unemploy-ment has escalated, producing amassive drop in wages and non-es-sential business. The volcano eruptionhit a region that has already beensuffering for years. More about thisyou will find in the RI report Beyond

the Volcano, A Slow Motion Holocaust(http://www.refintl.org/cgi-bin/ri/bulletin?bc=00363)

Summary of various press releases

Ongoing Pillage ofResources

In May, the UN reported on the con-sequences of the continued exploita-tion of natural resources in the Demo-cratic Republic of the Congo. Accord-ing to their report, it has a ruinouseffect on the civilian population.

The UN panel of experts said thatthe different foreign armies and armedgroups – both foreign and Congolese –employ various strategies to divert rev-enues for personal gain or to pay for-eign armies – either to maintain theirsupport against rival groups or to fi-nance continuing, existing military op-erations. Their immediate effect hasbeen "the further collapse of most lo-cal economies and the deepening im-poverishment of most Congolese fami-lies", according to the report.

Meanwhile, the humanitarian toll ofthis continuing exploitation is wide-spread, especially in the easternDemocratic Republic of Congo. "Localpopulations, including children, arebeing conscripted and used as forcedlabour in the extraction of resourcesby some military forces in differentregions," the report said. Other tac-tics, such as the destruction of infra-structure for agricultural production,are allegedly used by different armedparties to force people to participate inextraction work, leading in part to in-creased food insecurity.

Oxfam, one of the few humanitarianagencies managing programs in Con-go, released a report accusing Ugan-da of continued plunder of Congo'sresources: Poverty in the midst ofwealth (http://www.oxfam.org.uk/policy/papers/drc/povertywealth.htm). It was published after the vol-

Conservation of Mt.Tshiaberimu (= Mt.Kyavirimu)Although there are some effortsto ensure the conservation of theforests and the gorillas on thismountain within the Virunga Na-tional Park, it is very difficult. Aslocal people still do not entirelysupport the national park, themost important effort is to con-vince them and cooperate withthem.

This is the aim of the localorganization CADAK. This NGOhas been planning a publicawareness campaign with pro-fessional trainers. Under thisproject, among other things,posters to promote the protec-tion of the mountain will beprinted and distributed widely.Berggorilla & Regenwald Di-rekthilfe has financed the print-ing of these posters. The othersteps of the public awarenessproject, however, are still waitingfor funding.

Holger Schickor hands over a newcomputer to Claude Sikubwabo.

D. R. CONGO

BURUNDIBujumburaUvira

BukavuRWANDA

Lake Kivu

ItombweForest

Lake TanganyikaD. R. CONGO

Fizi

Mt. Mohi (3,475 m)Kamituga

Mwenga

Parc Nationalde Kahuzi-Biega

Elila

Ulindi

The approximate extension of theItombwe Forest and the gorilladistribution areas on the ItombweMountains (dark)

canic eruptions near Goma and washanded over to the French and BritishForeign Ministers.

The report indicates that up to 2.5million Congolese have died in lessthan 4 years from 1998 to 2002, manyof them as a result of malnutrition andpreventable disease, and that 65% ofthe estimated 35 million Congoleseare undernourished.

Summary of a UN press release

Crisis on the ItombwePlateau

The Itombwe moutains, a vast areawith large forests, are the home ofseveral gorilla populations. The area isnot protected. Although there havebeen several attempts to create re-serves for the gorillas and the excep-tional fauna and flora of this region,these plans have always beenthwarted by the wars. The Itombwearea has been a center of the conflict.Nobody knows whether gorillas havebeen killed there since the warstarted.


In July, fighting raged betweenmainly Rwandan army troops andBanyamulenge forces on the Mi-nembwe/Itombwe Plateau. The townof Minembwe has the only airstrip inthe region and is therefore strategi-cally important. Up to 100 villageswere deserted during the fights andsome 40,000 people displaced. Someof them fled into the mountains."Large numbers" of the displaced per-sons were facing the cold season onthe plateau without shelter, blanketsor warm clothing.

The fighting has prevented theBanyamulenge from grazing their cat-Map: Angela Meder

tle over extensive areas. Food needswere becoming critical because thelatest harvest had been massively de-pleted by the food requirements of thecombatants. Banyamulenge werealso being harassed and having theirmovements restricted in Uvira andBukavu. In Burundi, the governmenthas ordered the Banyamulenge intorelocation camps in the northeast.However, the refugees are resistingthe move, saying they will becometargets for hostile Hutu forces in thenew camp, which is close to the bor-ders of Rwanda and Tanzania.

Summary of an IRIN report

UGANDA


Smuggling NetworkDestroyedIn May, UWA, together with the Ugan-dan Police and conservationists dis-mantled chimpanzee smugglers in anoperation conducted in Kampala.They arrested four suspects and re-covered two chimpanzees which weresmuggled into Uganda from Congo.Two men were arrested in Mengo-Kisenyi as they were bargaining withtwo people who were posing as buy-ers. The sellers demanded US$ 4,000for a three-year-old chimpanzee. Afterinterrogation, the suspects named awoman colleague in Kisenyi who waslater arrested with her husband.

A week earlier, this couple had re-ceived US$ 500 from Debbie Cox, JGI,to supply two chimps, a leopard andparrots. She recovered a chimpanzeeless than one year old and promisedthat she would pay for all the animals.Unfortunately, the ape had beenstarved and died a day after beingrescued. UWA officers suspect thatthe smugglers had kept the chimpan-zee in Kampala.

Another recovered chimpanzee hadbeen kept by Charles Lwanga, aUganda Peoples Defence soldier whohad been keeping the animal at hisresidence for the last six months.When it was confiscated and handedover to JGI, it was about one year oldand severely malnourished.

Not all the arrested smugglers werepunished appropriately. One of thefour Congolese arrested for traffickingin chimpanzees was released by Bu-ganda Road magistrate’s court on atrivial bail. The Ugandan press cri-ticized this severely. The Congolesewere allegedly working with foreigndiplomats and licenced wildlife ex-porters to smuggle the chimpanzeesto Europe where they are sold as labo-ratory animals. Some rich people inthe Middle East also want apes aspets.

The chimp smuggling network hadalready been smashed five years agobut now seems to be in danger ofresurrecting. The Congolese smugglershould have been kept in jail until histrial was over. If he had to be givenbail, it should have matched at leastthe value of the chimpanzee.

Summary of New Vision articles

Interahamwe Present inUganda

In May, news agencies reported thatmembers of Rwanda’s Hutu militiagroup Interahamwe were active inUganda. The Joint Verification and In-vestigation Team set up by Rwandaand Uganda probed the activities ofRwandan dissidents and found someInterahamwe activity in the MgahingaNational Park area. According to thedocument there were "unconfirmed re-ports of Interahamwe presence in thedense forest of Bwindi". Clashes hadalso broken out in February betweenthe Interahamwe and the Ugandanarmy, following the discovery of In-terahamwe camps and leaflets con-taining propaganda against RwandanPresident Paul Kagame.

Drawing: Chisato Abe

Some Interahamwe had already„slipped“ into Uganda in the past – intothe Mgahinga Park from Congo. TheUgandan government-owned news-paper New Vision reported that therewere no camps in Uganda training In-terahamwe fighters against the Rwan-dan Government. But Rwandan armyspokesman Jean-Bosco Kazura saidthat there was evidence for Intera-hamwe presence in Kisoro District.

Summary of an IRIN report

Park Borders AreAltered

According to New Vision (Kampala),the Ugandan Parliament decided inMarch to alter the boundaries of sixnational parks: Mt. Elgon, LakeMburo, Queen Elizabeth, Bwindi Im-penetrable, Mgahinga Gorilla andRwenzori Mountain National Parks.The reason is that over 65,000 en-croachers would have to be evicted ifthis resolution was not passed.

According to Richard Lamprey(Protected Area Assessment) therewill be no significant change in thearea of Mgahinga and Bwindi Park.

RWANDA


On the Trail of the Manwho Discovered theMountain GorillaOn October 17, 2002, it will have beenexactly 100 years since the GermanCaptain Robert von Beringe cameacross mountain gorillas on theVirunga Volcanoes. He left but a fewbiographical traces.

In the penultimate decade of the20th century, two events drew theworld’s attention to the fate of the EastAfrican mountain gorillas, a sub-spe-cies threatened with extinction. OnDecember 26, 1985, the American re-searcher Dian Fossey was murderedunder circumstances that remainmysterious to this date. Dian Fosseyhad devoted almost 20 years of her lifeto the study and conservation of thesegood-natured, gigantic apes. Threeyears later, the film Gorillas in the Mistwas shown in the cinemas. It is basedon Dian Fossey’s book that was pub-lished in 1983. The film deeplytouched and delighted the many peo-ple who went to see it.

In contrast, the person who actuallydiscovered the mountain gorillas, theGerman Captain Robert von Beringe,remains largely unknown. A plaquecommemorates him at the entrance ofthe Virunga Conservation Area, wherethe Democratic Republic of Congo,Rwanda and Uganda meet. Er-roneously, the plaque calls him "Os-car" instead of Robert. Only a fewcopies of the reports of his expedi-tions in this volcanic region remain inmuseum archives and special lib-raries. Most of his personal paperswere destroyed in the Second WorldWar bombing raids on Dresden.

Friedrich Robert von Beringe wasborn on September 21, 1865, inAschersleben on the northeasternborder of the Harz Mountains. He wasthe eldest son of Cavalry Captain KarlRobert von Beringe and his wifeMathilde Luise. His father was squad-

ron leader in the second Hussar Regi-ment of Magdeburg, stationed in thissmall town in what is today Saxony-Anhalt, and was then a part of thePrussian kingdom. Three years later,Friedrich Robert’s younger brotherGottlieb was born, also in Aschers-leben. A sister, born in June 1867,died at the age of two months.

A Career in the Colonial ArmyFollowing the example of his father,Friedrich Robert von Beringe chosethe career of an army officer. From1894 to 1906 he belonged to the Hus-sar Regiment No. 1, the "Toten-kopfhusaren" (Death’s Head Hus-sars). During this time, von Beringereceived the "Totenkopfring" (Death’sHead Ring) and developed a deepfriendship with August Mackensen,later Field Marshall von Mackensen. Itwas von Beringe’s own wish to join theImperial Colonial Army for GermanEast Africa, which comprised today’scountries Tanzania, Rwanda andBurundi.

Having reached the rank of Lieu-tenant, he distinguished himself with asuccessful punitive expedition in Sep-tember 1898. From the Kilwa military

post on the coast of the Indian Oceanhe went against the rioting Watumbi,a mountain tribe of the coastal hinter-land. As chief of the Usumbura Mili-tary Post (1902–1904), which today isBujumbura, the capital of Burundi, heled an even more significant militarycampaign. It was described in detailand its importance acknowledged inthe History of the Imperial ColonialArmy in German East Africa pub-lished in 1911. At the beginning ofMay 1903, von Beringe, who had beenpromoted to Captain by then, movedout from Usumbura with a force ofeight Europeans, 115 askaris (Africansoldiers), two machine guns andabout 300 auxiliary warriors, to cam-paign against the rebelling tribal chiefMuezi Kisabo and "force him into sub-mission and recognition of Germanrule". Kisabo managed to escapetwice, but in July, after a prolongedpursuit, he finally gave himself up. Sovon Beringe’s campaign achieved itspolitical goal.

Von Beringe’s success in naturalhistory pursuits was not even fleet-ingly mentioned in the History of theImperial Colonial Army in GermanEast Africa. These interests, which

Robert von Beringe with African soldiers


Portrait of Captain Robert vonBeringe

Mt. Sabinyo Photos: Cyril Grüter and Ulrich Karlowski

led him onto the track of the mountaingorillas were, after all, rather morepeaceful missions.

On August 19, 1902, Captain vonBeringe set off from Usumbura Postheading north in order to visit Germanfield posts in today’s Burundi andRwanda. The goal of the expeditionwas to maintain contact with localtribal chiefs, consolidate relationshipswith these chiefs, and to strengthenthe power of and their respect for theGerman administration. The unit wassmall (but equipped with a machinegun) and included the medical officerDr. Engeland, sergeant Ehrhardt, 20askaris and a number of porters.

Encounter on the Volcano’sSummitFirst, von Beringe paid a visit to SultanMsinga of Rwanda. Then he continuedon his way north in the direction of thechain of volcanoes in today’s VolcanoNational Park. From 16 to 18 October,after they had reached the volcanoes,von Beringe, Dr. Engeland, someaskaris and porters attempted toscale Kirunga ya Sabyingo (Mt. Sa-binyo) for the first time. Von Beringeestimated the volcano’s altitude to beapproximately 3,300 m.

On the evening of the first day theycamped on a mountain saddle atabout 2,400 m. Local people, who hadclimbed up, provided them with "am-ple food", as von Beringe later re-ported in the Deutsches Kolonialblatt(German Colonial Newspaper).

On October 17, 1902, Captain vonBeringe and Dr. Engeland set off for

the summit, accompanied by fiveaskaris and the required porters. Theycarried a tent and eight water con-tainers. Initially they marched throughbamboo forest with thick undergrowth.Although they tried to use elephantpaths wherever possible, they oftenhad to cut their way through the veg-etation with machetes.

After two hours we reached rockrubble with blackberry bushes andblueberry plants,

von Beringe wrote of the continuingascent.

With every step, vegetation be-came scarcer, the hill becamesteeper and the going got more dif-ficult, until we had to climb overgreat boulders during the last hourand a quarter. We were on a ridgethat climbed in a south-westerly di-rection. Both sides of the ridge fellaway steeply into deep gorges.

At an altitude of 3,100 m, the twoGermans put up their tent, after theyhad tried to level the ground with mossthey had gathered. The ridge was sonarrow that the tent pegs had to befastened into the slopes. The askarisand the porters sheltered in rockcaves and tried to protect themselvesagainst the bitter cold with the help offires.

And so the scene was set for thehistoric encounter that von Beringedescribed in the Deutsches Kolonial-blatt:

From our camp we saw a herd oflarge black apes who were trying toclimb the highest point of the vol-cano. We succeeded in killing two

large individuals. With a great rum-bling noise of falling rocks, theyfell into a crater opening towardsthe northeast. After five hours ofstrenuous work we managed to getone animal up on a rope.

A Baffling DiscoveryThe retrieved animal was a large, hu-man-like, male ape with a body lengthof 1.5 m and a weight of more than200 pounds. He had no chest hair, butenormous hands and feet.

Unfortunately, I was not able toidentify the genus the ape belongedto,

the Captain wrote with regret. Hethought that it could not be a chimpan-zee because of the animal’s size,and, until then, the gorillas that wereknown to live in the lowlands had notbeen found in the area of the EastAfrican Great Lakes.

RWANDA


Parc National des Virunga

Parc National des Volcans

Mgahinga GorillaNational Park

UGANDA

RWANDA

D. R. CONGO

Mikeno4,437 m

Karisimbi4,507 m

Visoke3,711 m

Karisoke

Muside3,000 m

Sabinyo3,637 m

Gahinga3,474 m

Muhavura4,127 m

Robert von Beringe decided to sendhis discovery to the Zoological Mu-seum in Berlin for examination. Theape’s skin and one of his hands wereeaten by a hyena on the way back toUsumbura. With the skull and the partof the skeleton that arrived in Berlinintact, Prof. Paul Matschie (1861–1926), who worked at the museum,was able to classify the animal as anew form of gorilla, which he calledGorilla beringei after the man who dis-covered it. Later the mountain gorillawas considered a subspecies (Gorillagorilla beringei), but in the meantimeMatschie's name is used again for theeastern gorilla.

In 1906, Captain von Beringe re-turned to Germany. On October 9,1906, the slim and attractive 41-yearold married the merchant’s daughterJohanna Caroline Luise Edith Lade-mann from Steglitz, whom he had metwhen he was out horse riding. Thechurch wedding took place in the Kai-ser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche in Ber-lin. Robert von Beringe then continuedhis career in the army. He was in theDragoon Regiment No. 11 of Wedel(the Pomeranian Regiment) until1912, and thereafter in the DragoonRegiment Prince Albrecht of PrussiaNo. 1 (the Lithuanian Regiment). Hewas promoted to Major in 1908 and

stayed a Major until he retired in 1913.He lived with his family – he had oneson and one daughter – in Dresdenuntil the beginning of the SecondWorld War. After having suffered se-verely from diabetes for years, he diedon July 5, 1940, in Stettin, where hisdaughter Ursula’s parents-in-law lived.

Andreas von Beringe

For their help with my research I am gratefulto my mother, Friedel von Beringe, who metthe "very quiet man" as Robert von Beringe’sdaughter-in-law; to my brother Niklas; to theDirector of the Armed Forces History Mu-seum in Rastatt, Dr. Joachim Niemeyer; toDr. Harald Pieper, Zoological Museum Kiel.

Poachers Kill MountainGorillas and Steal aBabyRwandan police have arrested twopeople in connection with the killing oftwo gorillas and the disappearance ofa baby gorilla in the country’s firstincident of poaching in 17 years. Thetwo females of the Suza group,Muraha and Impanga, were attackedby poachers on 9 May, 2002, becausethey had infants nursing that thepoachers were seeking to sell.

The killing was discovered by rang-ers the next day when routine checksrevealed the body of the first gorilla

with bullet wounds and her 2-year-oldinfant missing. The second gorilla,called Ubuzima, was found with theinfant still beside her. For two daysthe 12-month-old must have been atthe side of her dead mother. Thepoachers probably left her behind be-cause they were afraid of the silver-back male.

The baby was treated for de-hydration by the MGVC staff and aftershe had recovered, she was returnedto the Suza group where she wasadopted by a blackback male calledKwakane. But as she is only one yearold and not fed by a lactating female,her chances to survive are not verygood. Gorillas depend on their moth-er's milk for at least two years.

It seems that there is no trace ofthe older infant that was missing afterthe mother had been killed.

Summary of various press releasesand reportsVirunga

ConservationArea

RWANDA

Drawing: Chisato AbeMountain gorilla in bamboo forest

GORILLAS


Good News for theCross River Gorillas?Results from surveys undertaken in2000 and 2001 have indicated thatthere may be up to 180 Cross Rivergorillas remaining on the Cameroonside of the border. In 1999, it wasestimated that up to 100 gorillas werestill surviving in the Takamanda ForestReserve, located in the South WestProvince of Cameroon, the only areain Cameroon then known to supportCross River gorillas. However, asresearch extended into the adjacentMone Forest Reserve and the MbuluForest in 2000, the presence ofgorillas was discovered in thesecontiguous forest areas and subse-quent studies were undertaken toestimate their population density.

Although surveys to clarify gorilladistribution are still ongoing and thisfigure may be subject to change,these initial results confirm that theCross River gorilla population isindeed larger than previously believed.Although this is positive news, un-fortunately it does not mean that thegorillas are any less at risk of possibleextinction. Already classified as"critically endangered" by the IUCNRed Data List (2000), these gorillasstill face an uncertain future as threatsto their habitat and from huntingcontinue to further fragment gorillagroups.

Over the past 4 years, conservationefforts undertaken by the local peoplein collaboration with the Cross RiverGorilla Research Project (Cameroon)and the Ministry of Environment andForests (MINEF) project PROFA havemarkedly reduced gorilla hunting inthese areas. However, other threats tothe gorillas such as encroachmentinto their preferred habitat and theconstruction of a road between two oftheir known ranges will certainly havean effect in further isolating alreadyexisting sub-populations.

Surveys are currently being un-dertaken to assess the rangingbehaviour of the gorillas, who at thepresent time are known to preferhighland areas and to avoid extensiveareas of lowland forest. This may bebecause hunting is higher in lowlandareas than in the highlands. If lowlandforest corridors cannot be securedand if gorillas are deterred from usinglowland corridors to reach gorillagroups in other highland sites, in-

Mbulu Forest

NIGERIACAMEROON

SouthwestProvince

TakamandaForestReserve

Mak

one

Northw

est ProvinceMone

ForestReserve

Munaya Mone

Manyu (Cross) River

Oyl

Obonyi 2

Obonyi 1

Obonyi 3

Umbuli Mende

Matene

Akwaya

Atolo

Mago

Basho 1Ketoya

Mblishe

Kekpane

Kekukesim

Kajifor

Takamanda

AssamTakpe

Aworri

Mamfe 5 45’

6 00’

6 15’

9 30’9 15’

Takamanda and Mone Forest Reserve and location of Mbulu ForestOrig. map: Daniel Slayback, SSAI/NASA Goddard Space Centre, J. Groves

breeding and loss of genetic variationmay imperil isolated groups.

In order to highlight the tenuousfuture that these unique apes face, aposter and leaflet campaign focusingon the conservation of the Cross Rivergorilla will be distributed to local com-munities over the next 2 months. It ishoped that this small-scale educationinitiative will be followed up with furtherconservation education activities.

Jacqueline Groves

GORILLAS


Bushmeat Campaign

The EAZA bushmeat campaign is nowvery active at the political level. Alm-ost 2 million further signatures havebeen presented after the great hand-ing over ceremony in Brussels, in No-vember 2001, to the petition com-mittee of the EU. A reaction is ex-pected in July. the greatest successwas achieved in Great Britain, wherethe government itself put funds at thedisposal of the battle against thebushmeat crisis.

Intensified checks at a London air-port showed that bushmeat in con-siderable quantities is often smuggledin from Ghana. Last winter a con-fiscated smoked brush-tailed porcu-pine from Zurich was handed over foridentification to the Stuttgart Zoo.

The zoo association wants to con-tinue its close cooperation with otherbushmeat initiatives like GRASP (IanRedmond is a contact person there)and the American Bushmeat CrisisTask Force. Much lobby work is beingdone by the partner IFAW that alsosent representatives to certain envi-ronmental congresses like the "Bio-diversity Congress" in The Hague inApril.

There have been only unofficialtalks with African decision-makers atthe moment; but official action isplanned in August for the World Sum-mit for Sustainable Development(Rio+10). This forum is being preparedfor at the time of writing. With regardto the bushmeat campaign there aremany important aspects, such ashealth and sustainability, that have tobe discussed at the European and – ifpossible – also the American level.

The political representatives of theEuropean nations and the embassiesof the African countries are to beinformed more thoroughly about thebushmeat problem. The fund-raising,though it only made up a small part ofthe campaign, produced a total of

approximately 70,000 Euro, of which40,000 were earmarked for particularprojects. The rest of the money willhelp cover the costs of Jef Dupain'sproject in Cameroon, and whatremains will probably be dividedbetween PASA and the Berggorilla &Regenwald Direkthilfe.

On 3 May we received a messagethat the Basel Zoo is going to give theproceeds of its entire fund-raisingcampaign, approximately 9,000 Euro,to Berggorilla & Regenwald Direkt-hilfe. This sum, in addition to another4,500 Euro from the EAZA Campaigndonated by the Zoos of Cologne, Nord-horn, Nuremberg and Karlsruhe, aswell as a fund-raising on the occasionof Mr. Krieglsteiner's death (a total of2,800 Euro), is being provided forurgently needed material for theKahuzi-Biega National Park. Onetransport of clothing and equipmenthas already arrived, another one willbe sent later this year.

Iris Weiche

Illegal Gorilla Exportsfrom NigeriaFour young gorillas were sent fromNigeria to Malaysia in January. Offi-cially, these apes were born in theIbadan zoo – although no gorilla birthhas ever been reported in captivity inNigeria. The recipient of the animals,the Taiping-Zoo in Malaysia plannedto send tigers, sunbears and otherrare animals to Nigeria in exchange forthe gorillas.

It is assumed that the four gorillasare bushmeat orphans that wereimported to Nigeria from Cameroon.This is illegal and a violation of CITESwhich has been signed by Nigeria.The authorities in Johannesburg, thefirst stop of the gorillas on their wayto Malaysia, should have becomesuspicious but did not investigate thecorrectness of the CITES permits.Nigerian and international conserva-tion and animal welfare groups pro-tested and demanded the return of thefour baby gorillas.

This is not the first case of gorillasmuggling from Nigeria. In September2001 a gorilla baby had been exportedfrom Nigeria illegally. In Egypt, theape was confiscated. As the vet-erinarian at the airport was afraid ofdisease transmission and did notknow what to do (although he couldhave asked zoo colleagues), hedrowned the baby in chemicals.

At the beginning of July, the Ni-gerian Minister of Environment, AlhajiMuhammadu Kabir Sa’id, accordingto a press article, "reiterated theFederal Government’s commitment tochecking the spate of deplorable inter-national trade and illtreatment of thenations endangered wildlife. ... He pro-mised the accelerated completion ofthe on-going review of wildlife regula-tions towards enhanced enforcementand the establishment of a committeeto investigate the current incidence inorder to bring the culprits to book."

Gorillas and Ebola

WHO is convinced that contactwith an infected gorilla triggeredthe latest Ebola outbreak thatkilled 53 people in Gabon; 12infected persons survived. In theneighbouring Republic of Congo,authorities reported 43 deaths,and at least 12 other cases ofthe disease. The disease wastraced to a gorilla found in thenorth of the country, whoseremains tested positive for theEbola virus.

The outbreak struck in aremote area populated by Pyg-mies and other peoples. Thesuspicions of medical workersquickly fell upon primates, whichalso can contract the virus anddie of it.


GORILLAS

Confiscated brush-tailedporcupine

Photo: Luca Siermann, Wilhelma

The Minister said this move camein the wake of series of letters fromvarious conservationists and environ-mentalists as well as from the CITESSecretariat. The Berggorilla & Regen-wald Direkthilfe had also written sucha letter as soon as the incident waspublished.

Western Gorillas:Recommendations fortheir ConservationThe vast majority of the world’s goril-las live in the forests of central westAfrica, not in the mountains of eastAfrica. At a recent meeting (May2002) in Leipzig, Germany (funded bythe Max Planck Institute for Evolution-ary Anthropology and the Great ApeConservation Fund, US Fish & Wild-life Service), reports from the fieldwere unanimous in showing that west-ern gorillas are threatened by com-mercial poaching throughout their

range. Field researchers, conserva-tion scientists and representatives ofhabitat countries, pooled their knowl-edge to identify solutions in terms of apragmatic strategy that if imple-mented immediately will really make adifference.

With immediate investment in lawenforcement this decline could be re-versed. Although habitat destructiondoes contribute to the decline, large-scale commercial poaching threatensto drive western gorillas to extinction.

Hunting of gorillas is illegal in allrange states, but even in nationalparks gorillas are not safe. Poachinghas reached crisis levels due to therapid expansion of logging, civil unrestand lack of management capacity.Present conservation activities havenot succeeded and the consensus ofthe expert group at Leipzig is thatwithout truly effective law enforcementwestern gorillas may go extinct in ourlifetimes.

Past international investment hasnot sufficiently focused on building lawenforcement capacity. The interna-tional community must immediatelyhelp range countries enforce existingnational and international laws. Inthe longer term gorilla conservationshould focus on creating a network ofeffectively managed protected areasfunded through sustainable mecha-nisms such as trust funds.

Focussing on gorillas makes senseas gorillas have a range of characteris-tics that legitimise their adoption asthe emblematic species for conserva-tion in central Africa. Gorillas are char-ismatic flagships, vulnerable to distur-bance, ecologically demanding um-brella species in that if measures aretaken to protect them, a myriad ofother species that share their habitatwill also be protected. Thanks to fieldresearch over the past two decades,more is known about gorillas than anyother species and the bottom line isthat if we are unable to galvanise ef-

forts to conserve western gorillas, theworld will be a poorer place for ourchildren to live in.

Recommendations1) Law enforcement capacity is

strengthened to allow habitat coun-tries to effectively enforce existingnational laws and international con-ventions that protect gorillas.

2) A network of ecologically repre-sentative protected areas must becreated across the geographicalrange of western gorillas.

3) Sustainable funding mechanismssuch as Trust Funds are created toensure stable and sufficient rev-enues for management and re-search within protected areas.

4) Precise estimates of the numbersof western gorillas remaining areobtained and a system to monitorfuture population trends put inplace.

5) Road access to logging conces-sions is strictly controlled to reducethe negative impact of selective log-ging on western gorillas.

6) Impact studies are conducted for allnew infrastructure projects to mini-mise the detrimental effects of eco-nomic development on western go-rillas.

7) A system of independent evaluationof conservation and research activi-ties is established to improve effec-tiveness and transparency.

8) A network linking all efforts to con-serve western gorillas is estab-lished to optimise performance.

ConclusionsThe expert group gathered at Leipzigdeveloped a Conservation Strategy forwestern gorillas based on these rec-ommendations. A fund to protect for-ever the habitat of these amazing ani-mals would cost only about 3 dollarsfor each person in the developedworld.

http://www.westerngorilla.org


Who's Who?

AWF African Wildlife Foundation. Conserva-tion organization based in the USA.www.awf.org

Banyamulenge Tutsi who had fled from Rwanda andsettled in Kivu, especially in the Masisiregion, and were driven out of theirhomes by the Zairean government

BMZ Bundesministerium für wirtschaftlicheZusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (Ger-man Ministry for Economic Cooperationand Development). www.bmz.de

CADAK Coordination des Activités de Dévelop-pement Autour de Kyavirimu. CongoleseNGO for the development of the areaaround Mt. Kyavirimu (or Tshiaberimu),based in Butembo

CARE Cooperative for Assistance and ReliefEverywhere. American aid organizationwhich is privately maintained; subsidiaryorganizations in many countries.www.care.org

CITES Convention for the International Trade inEndangered Species. Prevents or regu-lates international trade in endangeredplants and animals as well as productsmade from them. www.cites.org

CRSN Centre de Recherche en SciencesNaturelles (Center for Scientific Re-search). Research center in Lwiro ineastern Congo

DFGF Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund (originally:Digit Fund). Organization founded byDian Fossey. Since its foundation, it hassupported the Karisoke Research Cen-tre in Rwanda, the rangers who patrol thearea and the monitoring of the gorillagroups habituated for research. Today,DFGF also is working in Congo. DFGFInternational: www.gorillafund.org; DFGFUK: www.dianfossey.org

EAZA European Association of Zoos andAquaria. www.eaza.net

ECOFAC Conservation et utilisation rationelle desEcosystèmes Forestiers en AfriqueCentrale (Conservation and Rational Uti-lisation of Forest Ecosystems in CentralAfrica). An EU program that supportsseven projects in seven African coun-tries. www.ecofac.org

FAO Food and Agriculture Organization. UNorganization for food, agriculture, forestryand fishery. Based in Rome, Italy.www.fao.org

FFI Fauna und Flora International (originally:FFPS). British conservation organization.www.fauna-flora.org

FSC Forest Stewardship Council. Grants certi-fications for sustainable logging practices.www.fscoax.org

FUT Freundeskreis für Ugandas Tierwelt(Friends of Ugandan Wildlife). GermanNGO; supports conservation projects inUganda, especially in the national parks

GEF Global Environmental Facility. WorldBank program for the environment.www.worldbank.org/html/gef

GRASP Great Ape Survival Project. UNEP pro-gram for the conservation of great apes.www.unep.org/grasp

GTZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für technischeZusammenarbeit (Society for TechnicalCooperation). Developmental aid organi-zation of the German government.www.gtz.de

HRW Human Rights Watch. NGO that investi-gates and exposes human rights viola-tions. www.hrw.org

ICCN Institut Congolais pour la Conservation dela Nature (Congolese Institute for NatureConservation). Formerly: IZCN. Nationalpark authority in the Democratic Republicof Congo

IFAW International Fund for Animal Welfare.Based in London. www.ifaw.org

IGCP International Gorilla Conservation Pro-gramme (French: PICG). Successor tothe Mountain Gorilla Project which man-aged gorilla tourism in Rwanda. Fundedby FFI, AWF, WWF; based in Nairobi

IMF International Monetary Fund. www.imf.orgInterahamwe Hutu militia who prepared their villages for

the genocide in Rwanda in 1994; theyorganized most village killings.

IPPL International Primate Protection League.Organization for the protection of pri-mates. www.ippl.org

IPS International Primatological Society. Sci-entific society for primate research

IRIN UN Integrated Regional Information Net-works. www.reliefweb.int

WHO'S WHO?

WHO'S WHO?


ITFC Institute of Tropical Forest Conservation. Insti-tute of Mbarara University; manages researchin the national parks of southwestern Uganda.

IUCN International Union for Conservation of Natureand Natural Resources (French: UICN). Unionof more than 800 governmental and non-govern-mental organizations. Based in Gland, Switzer-land. www.iucn.org

JGI Jane Goodall Institute. Organization for theconservation of chimpanzees (meanwhile alsoother wildlife) founded by Jane Goodall. Basedin the USA. www.janegoodall.org

KfW Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (Credit Institutefor restoration). Central German institution thatprovides loans; funded by the federal and landgovernments. www.kfw.de

MAF Morris Animal Foundation. American veterinaryorganization

Mai-Mai Guerrilla warriors in the eastern DemocraticRepublic of Congo

MGCF The Mountain Gorilla Conservation Fund. Initi-ated by Ruth Keesling. www.mgcf.net

MGVP Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project. A MAFproject in Rwanda for gorilla health care in theVirunga Volcanoes and the Bwindi Impenetra-ble Park. www.MorrisAnimalFoundation.org/Mountain_Gorilla.html

MLC Mouvement pour la Libération du Congo (Move-ment for the Liberation of Congo). Rebel move-ment in the Democratic Republic of Congo ledby Jean-Pierre Bemba. Controls the northernpart of the country. Supported by Uganda

MONUC UN peacekeeping troops in CongoNGO Non-governmental organizationORTPN Office Rwandais du Tourisme et des Parcs

Nationaux. Rwandan national park authorityOxfam Oxford Committee for Famine Relief. British

relief organization. www.oxfam.org.ukPASA Pan African Sanctuary Alliance. Cooperation of

African ape orphanagesPOPOF Pole Pole Foundation. Conservation and devel-

opment NGO in Bukavu, supported from JapanRCD Rassemblement Congolais pour la Democratie

(Congolese Rally for Democracy). Rebel move-ment in the Democratic Republic of Congo.RCD-Goma (controls the southeastern part ofthe country): supported by Rwanda; RCD-ML(coltrols the northeastern part of the country):supported by Uganda

REA Rettet die Elefanten Afrikas e. V. (Save Africa'sElephants). German NGO based in Hamburg

RI Refugees International. www.refintl.orgSSC Species Survival Commission. IUCN com-

mission which develops and carries out pro-grams for the conservation of biological di-versity

SSN Species Survival Network. Union of numer-ous NGOs that work together to achieve abetter implementation of the legislation forspecies conservation

UNEP United Nations Environment Programme.www.unep.org

UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific andCultural Organization. www.unesco.org;World Heritage: www.unesco.org/whc

UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner forRefugees. www.unhcr.ch

USAID United States Agency for International De-velopment. Developmental aid organizationof the USA Government. www.usaid.gov

UWA Uganda Wildlife Authority. Ugandan author-ity for wildlife conservation. www.uwa.or.ug

WCF Wild Chimpanzee Foundation. Based inLeipzig, Germany. www.wildchimps.org

WCS Wildlife Conservation Society (originally:WCI). American conservation organization;based in New York. www.wcs.org

WCU Wildlife Clubs of Uganda. Ugandan NGO.www.africaonline.co.ug/clubs.html

WFP World Food Programme (French: PAM). UNrelief program. www.wfp.org

WHO World Health Organization. Based in Ge-neva, Switzerland. www.who.int

World Bank Special UN organization which gives loansto projects in developing countries. IBRD:International Bank for Reconstruction andDevelopment; IDA: International Develop-ment Association. www.worldbank.org

WSPA World Society for the Protection of Animals.Animal protection network of more than 300member societies in over 70 countries.www.wspa-international.org

WWF World Wide Fund for Nature. Internationalconservation organization. Headquarters ofWWF International: Gland, Switzerland.www.panda.org. Numerous national organi-zations; WWF USA: World Wildlife Foun-dation

ZGF Zoologische Gesellschaft Frankfurt von1858 e. V. (Zoological Society of Frankfurt).German conservation organization; based inFrankfurt Zoo


READING

Jacques VerschurenMa vie sauver la nature. Sint-Mar-tens-latem (Editions de la Dyle) 2001.529 pages, paperback, Euro 31. ISBN90-76526-11-7. The book can be or-dered at:

Editions de la DylePontstraat 80B-9831 Sint-Martens-Latem(Deurle), BelgiumTel. +32-92810058Fax +32-92810670.

Jacques Verschuren is one of thegenuine pioneers of African wildlifeconservation. He was already en-gaged in surveying and protecting na-ture in Congo during colonial times;his work and his thoughts were formedduring the 1950s and 1960s. He sup-ports the approach that conservationmeans no human intervention.

This book, a kind of autobiography,includes many decades of conser-vation experience – mainly in Congo.Jacques Verschuren describes hisexperience with many famous peoplelike Dian Fossey. Mobutu appointedhim the manager of the Congolesenational parks and consulted himwhen he wanted to create new parks;one of them was Maiko, another onewas Salonga. However, Verschurenacted according to his own judge-ment, even if this was agains the regu-lations of the IZCN.

Apparently he has the impressionthat his merits for conservation havenot been acknowledged sufficiently

and wants to correct this with thisimpressive book. It is a legacy foryounger conservationists. JacquesVerschuren recalls his experiences,usually in short sequential episodesand thoughts. He describes his "sa-faris", which means exploring natureby walking and camping in the wilder-ness. This is Verschuren's approachto conservation – not the theoreticalconsiderations and computer analy-ses that often characterize presentday conservation projects. He proudlydescribes how he saved the VirungaNational Park after independence, al-though everybody warned him not tostay in that dangerous situation.

Apart from his experiences in Af-rica, Europe and a few other placesaround the world, he has includedshort texts with his personal opinionson various subjects that are importantto him (e. g. hunting, tourism...), andhe describes the techniques that heused during his work for conservation(e. g. wildlife photography and theplanning of a "safari"). The authordoes not claim to analyze the situa-tion in Africa objectively and the refer-ences are restricted to his own publi-cations.

Regarding the future of Congo's na-tional parks, Jacques Verschuren isvery pessimistic and criticizes thepresent trend to emphasize the needsof humans and ignore those of wildlife– and the idea that wildlife has to payfor the right to survive. We can only doour best to make sure that his ap-proach will also survive.

Angela Meder

Dawn Prince-HughesGorillas among Us. A Primate Eth-nographer's Book of Days. Tucson(University of Arizona Press) 2001.139 pages, 14 illustr. Hardcover US$40, ISBN 0-8165-2150-6. PaperbackUS$ 17.95, ISBN 0-8165-2151-4.

This is not a scientific book, nor is ita novel – it is something in-between.

Dawn Prince-Hughes wrote her bookas a diary of a person who observesgorillas in a fictitious zoo.

When I met her in 1989 while wewere both studying gorilla behaviour inSeattle, I was impressed by her un-usual, very emotional and intuitive wayof looking at the gorillas. Probably thisunusual approach is what is neces-sary to write a book like this. Readingit is a pleasure for various people inter-ested in gorillas. Persons who areused to studying gorillas will find sto-ries they may have experienced them-selves, and that sound very familiar.On the other hand, gorilla friends whodo not yet have a good idea of howgorillas live will find the book very use-ful because it is an easy but well-founded introduction to all aspects ofzoo gorilla life.

Scientists, especially women, areoften very careful to avoid emotionalcomments on their subjects becausethey fear that criticism by colleaguesmight damage their respectability.Dawn Prince-Hughes does not try toavoid getting involved. For her theemotional relationship between thevisitor and the gorillas is an extremelyinteresting and rewarding aspect ofher work. Only on such a basis couldshe have written such a book aboutsuch fascinating creatures.

Angela Meder

READING


Bill Weber and Amy VedderIn the Kingdom of Gorillas: FragileSpecies in a Dangerous Land. NewYork (Simon & Schuster) 2001. 384pages, hardcover, US$ 27.50. ISBN 0-743-30006-3

David Hulme and Marshall W.MurphreeAfrican Wildlife & Livelihoods: ThePromise and Performance of Com-munity Conservation. Westport (Hei-nemann) 2001. 344 pages, paper-back, US$ 26.95. ISBN 0-325-07059-8

Sue Boinski and Paul A. Garber(eds.)On the Move: How and Why AnimalsTravel in Groups. Chicago (Universityof Chicago Press) 2000

Richard MackayThe Atlas of Endangered Species.Threatened plants and animals of theworld. London (Earthscan) 2002. 128pages, full colour photographs, maps,figures, tables. Paperback, £ 11.99.ISBN 1-85383-874-8.

A. B. Assensoh and Yvette M.Alex-AssensohAfrican History and Politics. Ideo-logical and Military Incursions,1900–Present. St. Martin's Press2001/2002. 284 pages. Hardcover,US$ 55, £ 35. ISBN 0-312-23893-2.Paperback, US$ 24.95. ISBN 0-312-24039-2.

John K. Raison, A.G. Brown,David Flinn (eds.)Criteria and Indicators for Sustain-able Forest Management. Oxford(Oxford University Press) 2001. Hard-cover, 464 pages, US$ 120. ISBN:0851993923.

Gorilla Gazette

The Gorilla Gazette, a newsletter de-signed for gorilla keepers and peopleprofessionally involved in gorilla con-servation and research, will now bepublished by the Dewar Wildlife Trust/Gorilla Haven.

For more information about sub-scriptions, please contact Jane Dewar([email protected]). Or seethe Gorilla Haven website at http://www.gorilla-haven.org

New on the InternetIn May 2000, a congress was held inChicago called "The apes: challengesfor the 21th century". The con-tributions to this congress can bedownloaded in PDF format from theinternet. You will find them at http://

Visiting the "Documenta" in Kassel?

Then you are also most welcome to visit a little exhibition called "gorillahandy" – an installation presented by the Kassel artist Gerhild Werner onthe bushmeat crisis and coltan industry. It focuses on the relationshipbetween mobile phones in the developed countries and gorilla hunting inthe Democratic Republic of Congo.

"gorilla handy" can be seen and heard within the art project "TRA.FO2002" in a transformer house, a preserved monument at the Lutherplatz inthe city centre of Kassel. The installation will be shown from 14 August tothe beginning of September.

Opening day: 13 August 2002, 7.30 pm

www.brookfieldzoo.org if you clickon "conservation".

In May, researchers and conserva-tionists working with western gorillasmet in Leipzig, Germany. They de-cided to start an alliance to fight fortheir survival. On their website http://www.westerngorilla.org they pre-sent themselves and their aims (seealso recommendations on page 14).

Some new reports on the situationin the eastern Democratic Republic ofCongo are available for downloading.RI published their study Beyond theVolcano, A Slow Motion Holocaust athttp://www.refintl.org/cgi-bin/ri/bulletin?bc=00363. At http://www.oxfam.org.uk/policy/papers/drc/povertywealth.htm the Oxfam Pa-per Poverty in the midst of Wealth canbe downloaded as RTF file.

BERGGORILLA & REGENWALD DIREKTHILFE


Finances

Income 2001Subscriptions 20,908.49 DMDonations 51,826.19 DMRefund from meeting 179.17 DMSales 4,569.45 DMTotal 77,483.30 DM

Expenses 2001Administration 848.25 DMExpenses Directors 3,379.60 DMGorilla Journal 11,704.06 DMSubscriptions 461.05 DMItems/postage for sale 1,353.80 DMRefund credit 8,000.00 DMPay/top-ups Uganda 5,985.53 DMEquipment 7,118.60 DMOffice Uganda 1,670.00 DMTravel expenses 4,538.47 DMBushmeat projects 5,000.00 DMProject support 10,620.52 DMTotal 60,679.88 DM

We thank everybody who supportedus from 1 November 2001 to 20 May2002. Major contributions and dona-tions were received from KlausBaumgarten, Walburga Dönges, Hel-ga Eberharter, Horst Engel, MichaelErhardt, Jörg Famula, HundelebenGmbH, Ursula Karlowski, EdelgartKipka, Hartmann Knorr, Herbert Koel,Ruth Kreutz, Paula Leuer, AngelaMeder, Günther Peter, A. Ruoff, An-dreas Vaeth, Gabriele Witte, Elisa-beth Zaruba and Helmut and SusanneZeitler.

We also received donations of vari-ous equipment; Cornelia Klimmerconvinced one of her colleagues tosend us a few knapsacks, andMarianne Famula, Siemens Mün-chen, sent us a notebook computerdonated by a colleague. This note-book was handed over to ClaudeSikubwabo Kiyengo in July and willreplace the one he lost when Mt.Nyiragongo erupted. The companySTRABAG donated money for gum-boots. Erwin Fidelis Reisch (Gentner

Verlag Stuttgart) took charge of thereproduction and composition costsfor the Gorilla Journal. We are gratefulfor the confidence of these and of allthe other supporters.

MeetingAt the first weekend in March, themembers' meeting of the Berggorilla &Regenwald Direkthilfe took place inBochum. 32 members took part, andin addition many friends, interestedpersons and guests of the organiza-tion. They all wanted to learn every-thing about the present situation in theCentral African countries and aboutspecial gorilla conservation projects.

Important subjects were, amongothers, the situation and activities inthe Democratic Republic of Congo,Nigeria, Cameroon, Rwanda andUganda as well as the internationalbushmeat problem. After an in-teresting program during the day withtalks by Karsten Otte, Cherry KabuloGbushu and Johannes Refisch, theevening included lively conversation atthe bar and videos.

On the second day, the organiza-tion reported on its structure, the sup-port of members and friends, as wellas the future plans. The official mem-bers' meeting followed. The reports of

the treasurer and the Board of Direc-tors were accepted by the members.A new Board was elected: AndreasFretz, Angela Meder and CarolaVogelsberg. Rolf Brunner was re-elected as treasurer. The formerBoard members Karl-Heinz Kohnenand Iris Weiche left the Board. Theyhad supported the organization formany years with their knowledge andenergy and were responsible for itssuccess. Although they are no longermembers of the Board, they continueto support the Berggorilla & Regen-wald Direkthilfe and give us the benefitof their experience. They received anovation for their invaluable contribu-tions to gorilla conservation.

Uwe Kribus

The new Board of Directors: Andreas Fretz, Carola Vogelsberg,treasurer Rolf Brunner, Angela Meder Photo: Iris Weiche

Some of our longest-standingmembers: Rolf Brunner, HeinzZaruba, Manfred Hartwig, UweKribus

Photo: Iris Weiche

A NEW SAFARI ALTERNATIVEMgahinga Safari Lodge is a new luxury lodge, perched at the tip of a peninsulajutting into the waters of Lake Mutanda, in southwestern Uganda. The lodge is the idealsetting from which to track the mountain gorilla in nearby Mgahinga Gorilla National Park;venture deep into Bwindi Impenetrable Forest; search for savannah antelope in LakeMburo National Park; or visit Lake Bunyonyi – renowned as the ‘lake of little birds andsweet water fish’.

The lodge complex consists of a main building – which houses the reception,restaurant, lounge and bar – and six spacious, twin-bedded tents. All equipment at thelodge is of the highest European standard. The tents are en suite, with hot showers andflush toilets, and have continental quilts and pillows. Soft drinks and laundry serviceare provided. The restaurant serves a high standard of continental and traditionalcuisine accompanied by a selection of local and international wines and spirits.

For further information contact:Niedermeier Verwaltungs- undTouristik GmbHKurt Niedermeier, Seeshaupter Str. 17D-81476 Muenchen/GermanyTel: +49-89 759 79 626Fax: +49-89-759-79-627

E-mail: [email protected]

Subscription to the Gorilla JournalIf you become a member, you will receive the journal regularly. If you want to subscribe without becoming a member,we would be grateful if you could make a donation to cover our costs. The costs to send the journal overseas are abutUS$ 20. Please send your application with a cheque to Rolf Brunner (address below).

Declaration of Membership

Starting with the following date I declare my membership in Berggorilla & Regenwald Direkthilfe

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Date and signatureUS$ 25 (Student)US$ 75 (General member)US$ 120 (Family)US$ 180 (Donor)

Please send to: Bank account:Rolf Brunner Berggorilla & Regenwald DirekthilfeBerggorilla & Regenwald Direkthilfe Account number 353 344 315Lerchenstr. 5 Stadtsparkasse Muelheim, Germany45473 Muelheim, Germany Bank code number 362 500 00Fax +49-208-7671605

Gorilla Journal

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