Nature's fury threatens Mountain gorillas
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Loading... - Alamini Chesang
- 21 Mar 2022
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Recent effects of global warming are worrying conservationists, concerned by the frequency of mudslides as recently seen in Uganda’s Kisoro district, one of the six natural habitats of the Silver Backs in the eight Virunga volcanoes region.
In January, Mount Karisimbi, one of the Virunga volcanoes in Kisoro and which is shared by Rwanda and Uganda suffered catastrophic mudslides that destroyed homes, farmlands and forests, killing at least nine people on the Ugandan side, and forcing people to move to safety. Both communities and wildlife now face the threat of hunger.
Kisoro lies between the protected areas of Echuya Forest Reserve, Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park. This is the home to Uganda’s gorilla population and the centre of gorilla tourism, an important source of income for communities here and a revenue stream for the government.
“If the mudslides continue, a lot of the gorillas’ forage food, such as bamboo forests, will be swept away, presenting the threat of hunger for the animals. We need to find a quick fix for this threat before it’s too late,” said Greg Bakunzi, founder of Red Rocks Initiatives for Sustainable Development, a Rwanda-based wildlife conservation organisation.
Rwanda is world famous for its gorilla families and their conservation in the wild, and a threat to a shared habitat is a threat to all.
Mountain gorillas account for a big percentage of Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo’s tourism revenues. Rwanda charges $1,500 per person, Uganda $700 and the DR Congo $400, for a one hour gorilla tracking session in the wild.
Any threat to gorillas is therefore taken seriously. Humans who are facing food insecurity can get aid or move, but not gorillas, and because of rising temperatures, there has been an overall decline in plant biomass in the Virungas in the past decade, especially gallium, which is the food mostly preferred by mountain gorillas, according to Dr Felix Kinani, a Kigali-based veterinary doctor who previously worked with Gorilla Doctors, a non-profit that works in gorilla conservation.
“The rising temperatures have also led to increased dust in the forests, which puts the gorillas at the risk of contracting respiratory diseases such as coughs. Gorillas need cooler places to survive because of the lower risk of contracting diseases,” Dr Kinani said.
“Mountain gorillas are not known to survive anywhere else in the world other than in their natural habitat in the Virunga Mountains and Bwindi Impenetrable National Park,” Dr Kinani says.
According to Kinani, Mountain gorillas cannot even be translocated to another national park because they have high stress levels, and moving them from their natural habitat ends up in their death.
And now that the endangered primates are increasing in numbers, Kinani says that the only way to protect them is by protecting their habitat, which is the natural forests and where possible, these protected areas should be expanded. Read More…
