For the first time in more than a year, mountain gorillas in the
Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) Virunga National Park have
been seen by park rangers, and are reported to be doing well.
Thanks to successful negotiations led by the park’s director,
Emmanuel de Merode, the Congolese Institute for the Conservation
of Nature (ICCN) has been allowed to reenter and work in the
southern part of the park. “We were very worried about the
mountain gorillas as we had not any contact with them for over a
year, but ICCN rangers have already seen many of the mountain
gorilla families and we are happy to report that most of them
seem to be doing well,” said de Merode. “We are continuing our
census of the gorillas and are reinstating our antipoaching
operations.” Last September rebels took control of several park
sectors – including those with mountain gorillas – forcing park
rangers and their families to evacuate the area. Since that
time, the ICCN had not been able to monitor the gorillas. WWF
has been providing equip