VIRUNGA, HOME FOR LAST MOUNTAIN GORILLAS

  Deep in the forest of eastern Congo lies VIRUNGA NATIONAL PARK, which is considered as one of the most diverse places on Earth also a home to planet’s last remaining mountain gorillas. Virunga is one of the UNESCO world heritage site. Virunga is the oldest national park and wild reserve in Africa. It was established by the Belgian King Albert I in 1925 under the name ‘Park National Albert’ in order to protect the wildlife from the constantly growing local population.
Today it is managed by Belgian Prins Emmanuel de Merode who grew up in Kenya, is a learned anthropologist and was made director of the Virunga National Park in 2008 by the Congolese government. The director works with a team of 680 rangers and together they protect the park against poachers and rebels. After years of problems, they managed to open the park to the public again in 2014 under safe conditions. Mountain gorillas generally live in groups of several females with their young and usually one dominant adult male – known as a ‘silverback’ because of the patch of silver hair on his back and hips. these great, glorious, fur-coated apes are some of our closest relatives. Sadly we may also be their biggest threat. People have been pushing into the mountain gorilla’s forests in central Africa for decades – now there are only about 880 of these splendid beasts in the wild. The main threat to gorillas is people and the associated increasing pressure on the gorilla's habitat. With so few individuals in the wild the mountain gorilla is listed as critically endangered. The good news is, their numbers have recently been rising. It’s not too late for us to protect our mighty mountain cousins.