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Tragic plight of gorillas in Congo |
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Written by Traveller
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Tuesday, 05 May 2009 |
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.jpg "rangers carry out silverback")
A photographic exhibition at the Fovea Exhibitions , Beacon, New York highlights the plight of the mountain gorillas in the Virunga National Park, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the image here conservation rangers from the anti poaching unit evacuate the body of a 530lb silverback one of four killed in mysterious circumstances though suspected to be by workers in the illegal charcoal industry.
Only 630 mountain gorillas exist worldwide with 200 in the mountains of eastern Congo. The rangers, of which more than 100 have died in efforts to protect the gorilla, are employees of the conservation organisation Wildlife Direct. They are paid based on the level of donations to the organisation and perform one of the most dangerous jobs in wildlife conservation – Congo has the highest rate of human casualties of any counrty since WW11 with 6 million fatalities as a result of war, disease, starvation and militia violence.
View exhibition images here
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