Gorilla Journal Journal of Berggorilla & Regenwald Direkthilfe No. 39, December 2009 Surveys for Itom- Exclusion of Go- Trip to Uganda and Bushmeat Inves- bwe and Protec- rillas from their Initiation of an Aid tigation in Log- tion of Great Apes Ranges in Saram- Project ging Concessions bwe BERGGORILLA & REGENWALD DIREKTHILFE Authors of this Issue and his passion for travelling led him CONTENTS to initiate the project “Mountains of the D. R. Congo 3 Fidele Amsini is the Wildlife Con- Moon”. The Groups Mufanzala and Birindwa servation Society (WCS) project man- Deo Kujirakwinja is currently study- after the Death of their Silverbacks 3 ager for the Kahuzi-Biega National ing for a Masters in Conservation Biol- Surveys for Itombwe and Protection Park and the Itombwe Massif. He has ogy at the University of Cape Town. He of Great Apes 4 been undertaking surveys of wildlife in manages WCS’s Albertine Rift work in Death of another Gorilla at Mt. eastern Congo for over 15 years. eastern Congo and is one of Congo’s Tshiaberimu 5 Dr. Thomas Breuer has been work- leading ornithologists. Exclusion of Gorillas from their ing for WCS as the principal investiga- Eddy Mbuyi studied biochemistry Ranges in the Sarambwe Reserve 5 tor of the Mbeli Bai Study in the Noua- and IT. Currently he is working with the Gorilla Visits in Virunga National Park 8 balé-Ndoki National Park since 2002, rangers of Virunga National Park and Uganda 9 studying the social organisation and with the team running its website, www. Trip to Uganda and the Initiation of behaviour of western gorillas. He has gorilla.cd. an Aid Project 9 also been leading the local conserva- Aaron Nicholas is the Director of Rwanda 10 tion education program Club Ebobo in the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Death of Titus 10 the villages surrounding the park. Takamanda-Mone Landscape Project, Cross River 11 Prof. Dr. Montserrat Colell works with the core focus of conserving the Reforming 28 Gorilla Hunters in at the Department of Psychiatry and Cross River gorilla in Cameroon. Cross River National Park – Nigeria 11 Psychobiology of the University of Bar- Radar Birhashirwa Nishuli has Gorilla Guardians Gain Momentum 12 celona (Spain). She conducted fi eld re- been working in the Kahuzi-Biega Na- Gorillas 14 search on the ethology and ecology of tional Park since 1985. He was the Life History Patterns of Western Go- bonobos and forest cercopithecines in Head of the Environmental Education rillas – Insights from Mbeli Bai 14 the Democratic Republic of the Congo Unit and is now Provincial Director, and Bushmeat-Investigation Trip to and Equatorial Guinea. Presently she responsible for the Kahuzi-Biega Na- Congo and Central African Republic 15 directs a line of research on the cogni- tional Park. Pygmies in Logging Concessions tive skills of nonhuman primates. Louis Nkonyu is WCS’s Conserva- and Reserves 17 Andrew Dunn has been Project tion Education Coordinator in Okwang- Obituary: Jordi Sabater Pí 20 Manager for the WCS biodiversity re- wo. Reading 22 search program in southeastern Niger- Dr. Andrew Plumptre is the Direc- New on the Internet 22 ia since 2004. He has been working tor of the Albertine Rift Programme of Berggorilla & Regenwald on biological survey and conservation WCS. He has been working in this re- Direkthilfe 23 projects in Africa since 1989. gion for more than 20 years support- Andreas Klotz is owner and man- ing conservation research and man- ager of the company TiPP 4 Medien- agement. Organization Address: produktion. For more than 25 years Papy Shamavu is WCS’s project Berggorilla & Regenwald Direkthilfe photography has been his hobby. This manager for Goma, with oversight of c/o Rolf Brunner activities in Virunga National Park as Lerchenstr. 5 well in eastern Congo. He is oversee- 45473 Muelheim, Germany Gorilla Journal 39, December 2009 ing projects that address confl ict reso- E-mail [email protected] Editor: Dr. Angela Meder lution between local communities and Augustenstr. 122, 70197 Stuttgart, park staff as well as establishing moni- Website: Germany toring programs. http://www.berggorilla.org Fax +49-711-6159919 Claude Sikubwabo Kiyengo con- E-mail [email protected] ducted a gorilla survey in the Maiko Bank Account: Translation and Proofreading: Ann National Park from 1989 to 1992. He Account number 353 344 315 DeVoy, Bettina and Andrew Grieser worked for the ICCN and the IUCN in Stadtsparkasse Muelheim, Germany Johns, Colin Groves Goma. Since 2004 he has been the co- Bank code number 362 500 00 Cover: A gorilla in Bwindi Impenetra- ordinator of the NGO VONA, and since IBAN DE06 3625 0000 0353 3443 15 ble National Park, Uganda 2008 he he has been our assistant in SWIFT-BIC SPMHDE3E Photo: www.mondberge.com the region. 2 Gorilla Journal 39, December 2009 D. R. CONGO The Groups Mufanzala and Birindwa after the Death of their Silverbacks After the death of the two silverbacks of these gorilla groups on March 26th and May 30th 2009, respectively, several friends of the gorillas of the Kahuzi-Biega National Park (KBNP) expressed interest in knowing how these groups have been doing since they lost their leading males. While Mufanzala died from a liver abscess, Birindwa seemingly died of old age: his autopsy did not indicate any disease. Members of gorilla groups transfer to other groups either during the inter- action of two males, when the weaker silverback may lose members of his group to the stronger male, or after the death of a silverback. In this case, the leaderless group is fragile and is sus- Vice Governor Jean Claude Kibala and Minister Sebastien Ngomirakiza ceptible to splitting up when they come during the unveiling of the gorilla statue at Tshivanga into contact with another group, be it Photo: Radar Nishuli/Kahuzi-Biega National Park habituated or un-habituated. In the case of Mufanzala, the team the economy of Kivu Province. As part peal to their conscience, such that of guides and trackers continues to fol- of this process, the Kahuzi-Biega Na- they adopt a positive attitude towards low the now leaderless group, which tional Park is preparing to participate the protection of their heritage. It also continues to range through the same in the economic upturn through the de- serves to raise awareness of the fact forest sectors as during the time when velopment and promotion of responsi- that tourism is an income-generating their silverback was still with them. A ble tourism. With this in mind, the park industry invaluable for the reconstruc- young silverback is trying to keep the approached the political, administrative tion and the development of the Demo- group together, despite the fact that a and traditional authorities – as well as cratic Republic of the Congo in general, number of females tend to split off for a all those responsible for state services – and Kivu Province in particular. Their duration of 3 or 4 days at a time. to Tshivanga on the occasion of Inter- involvement in the conservation of the As far as the Birindwa group is con- national Tourism Day (which is cele- KBNP is an absolute requirement for cerned, a young silverback joined the brated on September 27th each year). this. The event was also an appropriate group after the death of Birindwa. He The authorities were invited to visit the opportunity for the unveiling of the stat- now seems to have taken charge of the different tourism attractions and expe- ue that the park managers have erect- females. However, even those group rience the wonders of Kahuzi-Biega. ed at the park entrance on the occasion members who had begun to tolerate The attendance of Jean Claude Kibala, of the International Year of the Gorilla. the presence of humans a few months Vice Governor of the Province and the Radar Nishuli ago no longer do so because the new head of the delegation, encouraged the male does not tolerate people’s pres- park authorities and rangers, as did his We are very grateful to all the people ence. During contacts with guides and promises to spare no effort to perse- who assist us in the protection of the trackers he charges and drives the fe- cute any persons violating the territory gorillas and their habitat in the Kahuzi- males into vegetation cover to hide. of the park. Biega National Park, whether they do The Government of the Democratic The objective of this event was not so from near or from afar. Republic of the Congo is making efforts only to show the decision-makers the to pacify the region and to stimulate wonders of the park but also to ap- 3 Gorilla Journal 39, December 2009 D. R. CONGO Surveys for Itombwe and Its unique range of habitats includes ocratic Republic of the Congo’s great various highland forest formations, apes and the endemic biodiversity of Protection of Great Apes bamboo, moorland heath, miombo- the Albertine Rift. A properly gazetted The Wildlife Conservation Society moist forest transitions, and a high el- and managed protected area, encom- (WCS) has been undertaking biological evation forest savanna ecotone. It con- passing the massif and surrounding inventories in the Itombwe Massif since tains important populations of both the ecotones, is one of the most important 1995. This area holds the largest and eastern chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes conservation priorities for Congo. most remote block of intact montane schweinfurthii or marungensis) and the In 2006, WCS teams discovered two forest in Africa. The entire massif, an endangered Grauer’s gorilla (Gorilla new sub-populations of gorillas that area of about 12,000 km2, includes an beringei graueri). were not identifi ed in the 1996 surveys unbroken block of forest; the central The Itombwe Massif represents one of the massif.