They were brutally killed in an ambush. Another 6 rangers from Virunga National Park, Congo, lost their lives.
An armed attack and well six the guardians of the gorillas who died last Sunday. One by one killed in the Virunga park, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the oldest park on the continent. For now there is still no claim, but it is well known that they have been here for years dozens of militias who want to appropriate the park's natural resources.
I ranger part Virunga, a sanctuary for endangered mountain gorillas, are at the forefront of conservation for the protection of wildlife, natural resources and indigenous communities. And now, according to reports, the six rangers, aged between 25 and 30, were taken by surprise by an ambush during a phase of foot patrol on the central edge of the reserve, in the locality of Kabuhendo. A seventh guard was seriously injured and was transferred to the hospital in Goma, the capital of the North Kivu province.
Read also: Virunga Park, 13 rangers who protected the gorillas massacred and killed
Virunga is found in the forested volcanoes of Central Africa and is home to over half of the world's mountain gorilla population. It is the oldest national park on the African continent (established in 1925) and the largest tropical rainforest reserve, covering 7.800 sq km. A Unesco World Heritage Site since 1979, it stretches from the Virunga Mountains in the South, to the Rwenzori Mountains in the North, bordering the Volcanoes of the National Park in Rwanda and the Rwenzori Mountains National Park and Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda.
In recent times, poaching and the Congo civil war have severely damaged flora and fauna. In fact, dozens of militias in this region are fighting to appropriate the park's natural resources. Among, in addition to the Mai-Mai, there are the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, Fdlr, a Hutu ethnic group opposed to the government of Rwanda and one of the last active Rwandan rebel factions in Congo.
Statement from Virunga National Park following the fatal attack on Park Rangers today: https://t.co/P30dSCmLqJ
- Virunga NationalPark (@gorillacd) January 10, 2021
Almost 200 rangers have been killed since Virunga became a national park.
Fonte: Viruga
Read also:
- 5 rangers and a guide massacred in the Virunga park: they were defending the last mountain gorillas
- Mountain gorillas: the Congo rangers who risk their lives every day to protect them (PHOTO and VIDEO)
