They say a journey begins with a single step, and this one is no different, though it nearly didn’t happen. Having picked up some YoG posters and stickers from my tiny office in the English market town of Stroud, I shouldered my rucksack, picked up my camera-bag and walked to the station. It seemed odd exchanging greetings with people enjoying […]
When Jana Jirátová and her boss Miroslav Bobek visited us from Czech Radio last month we had never heard of ‘The Revealed’ – a Big Brother parody played out by Gorillas in the Prague Zoo. The competitors were members of a lowland gorilla family; Richard, Moja, Shinda, Kamba and others. The show was odd in so many ways, a TV […]
The Brazilian journalist Fátima Chuecco helps to spread the word on the Year of the Gorilla and gorilla protection to an audience in Brazil. She is also in charge of a Portuguese website on the YoG and topics related to gorilla conservation. We thank her for her activism and invite others to follow her example. Go to www.gorillashelp.com to find […]
The population of mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s Virunga National Park has risen by 12.5%, a census shows. It is the first census to be completed by the park’s wildlife rangers since rebel troops seized control of the area in August 2007. “The status of Virunga’s Mountain Gorillas is a triumph for conservation,” said Emmanuel de Merode, […]
At the turn of the year 2005 and 2006 an unusual reality show came into being, initiated by Czech Radio. It was a reaction to the boom of container reality shows such as ‘Big Brother’. In this slightly different reality show the participants were the Prague Zoo gorillas. Richard, Shinda, Kijivu, Moja and later Kamba were monitored non-stop by 16 […]
A wildlife ranger has paid the ultimate price in the effort to protect endangered Mountain Gorillas in Democratic Republic of Congo. Ranger Safari Kakule was killed by rebel forces during an attack on the evening of January 8 in Congo’s Virunga National Park. Safari and six other rangers were attacked while on patrol. More than 120 rangers have been killed […]
YoG Coordinator Veronika Lenarz (UNEP/CMS) gave an interview in French to Radio Canada. The interview gives an outline of the campaign’s rationale and goals. To listen to the interview, follow the link below, then go to January 1st in the right-hand box and start at Minute 35 of the audio file.
When rebels loyal to renegade DRC general, Laurent Nkunda, invaded and occupied the Virunga National Park in 2007, most rangers fled. Some 30 rangers however remained behind and continued their work under the new ‘administration’. Late last year, the rebels advanced pushing their front further towards Goma. Rumangabo, the Virunga Park headquarters fell to the rangers after a fierce battle […]
Ben Affleck and Mick Jagger teamed up on Wednesday to launch a short film called “Gimme Shelter” drawing attention to the plight of Congolese families driven from their homes by a decade of war. The film focuses on the plight of families forced to flee the fighting, among an estimated 1.3 million displaced people in Congo, according to the U.N. […]
Jenny, a 55 year old gorilla has died at Dallas Zoo in early September. She was an old gorilla, and died of a stomach tumor (actually she was euthanized because the tumor was inoperable). In the wild gorillas don’t live much beyond 30 so Jenny had along life, yet it still feels sad and this story is getting wide coverage. […]