Published By VCP
On Monday 9 April 2018, the Democratic of Congo (DRC) was shocked when a group of five rangers together with their driver were killed in an ambush in the Virunga National Park, the famed haven for the gorillas and other endangered species.According to Joel Malembe, the park’s spokesman when talking to AFP, he said they sadly lost six rangers, adding the team was ambushed while driving between the sectors of Lulimba and Ishasha, near the border with Uganda. A seventh ranger, the team’s leader, was wounded during the attack.
On April 2, a park ranger died in an attack by armed men. He was guarding the site of a hydroelectric plant that is under construction.
The park's director, Emmanuel de Merode, a Belgian national, was himself wounded in a road ambush between the park and Goma, the capital of North Kivu, in May 2014.
All these tragic incidents should raise our own consciousness about the value of human life, while at the same time those of the animals. The rangers ironically died in the line of duty trying to protect wildlife.
These rangers have left their families behind, meeting tragic death at the hands of fellow human beings. Even though not unprecedented, it’s the magnitude of the killing at this age, when everybody should know the value of the wildlife and conservation that rankles.
Every life is sacrosanct. That the six rangers had to lose their lives when going about their normal duty is unfathomable. And since this is not the first time such heinous crime is happening is inexcusable. We should go into deep introspection as human beings and ask ourselves some intelligent questions: what are we doing as individuals to make sure that such kind of bloodbath is consigned to the annals of history? At this age, how do we still let poachers to roam our valued forests and indiscriminately kill man and wildlife? What can be done to prevent such kind of future occurrences?
Virunga is home to about a quarter of the world's population of critically-endangered mountain gorillas, as well as to eastern lowland gorillas, chimpanzees, okapis, lions, and elephants among others.
On April 2, a park ranger died in an attack by armed men. He was guarding the site of a hydroelectric plant that is under construction.
The park's director, Emmanuel de Merode, a Belgian national, was himself wounded in a road ambush between the park and Goma, the capital of North Kivu, in May 2014.
All these tragic incidents should raise our own consciousness about the value of human life, while at the same time those of the animals. The rangers ironically died in the line of duty trying to protect wildlife.
These rangers have left their families behind, meeting tragic death at the hands of fellow human beings. Even though not unprecedented, it’s the magnitude of the killing at this age, when everybody should know the value of the wildlife and conservation that rankles.
Every life is sacrosanct. That the six rangers had to lose their lives when going about their normal duty is unfathomable. And since this is not the first time such heinous crime is happening is inexcusable. We should go into deep introspection as human beings and ask ourselves some intelligent questions: what are we doing as individuals to make sure that such kind of bloodbath is consigned to the annals of history? At this age, how do we still let poachers to roam our valued forests and indiscriminately kill man and wildlife? What can be done to prevent such kind of future occurrences?
Virunga is home to about a quarter of the world's population of critically-endangered mountain gorillas, as well as to eastern lowland gorillas, chimpanzees, okapis, lions, and elephants among others.
One of the most important conservation sites in the world, it covers 7,800 square kilometers (3,011 miles), or three times the size of Luxembourg, along a swathe of eastern DR Congo abutting the border with Uganda and Rwanda.
For many years, the park has been hostage to marauding poachers that has brought a lot of suffering to the same people who have put their lives on the line to protect the wildlife. Virunga Community Programs believe that no life should be lost.
We train rangers and guides that protect our environment, and make sure conservation efforts around the Virunga is realized. Furthermore, knowing that the poachers also need sustainable source of income, we make sure we integrate them in income generating programs so that we have a win-win situation for both human and wildlife.
You too can be part of the solution. Just click our website www.virungaprograms.com and you can know the level of support we do so that you also can help us to completely wipe out this menace that is affecting both human and wildlife.
For many years, the park has been hostage to marauding poachers that has brought a lot of suffering to the same people who have put their lives on the line to protect the wildlife. Virunga Community Programs believe that no life should be lost.
We train rangers and guides that protect our environment, and make sure conservation efforts around the Virunga is realized. Furthermore, knowing that the poachers also need sustainable source of income, we make sure we integrate them in income generating programs so that we have a win-win situation for both human and wildlife.
You too can be part of the solution. Just click our website www.virungaprograms.com and you can know the level of support we do so that you also can help us to completely wipe out this menace that is affecting both human and wildlife.
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