Conservation Activities in Rwanda
Following improvements in security in northwestern Rwanda
and the reopening of the Parc National des Volcans for gorilla tourism
in July 1999, field activities of the Karisoke Research Centre greatly
increased and two new assistants were recruited to the DFGF-I (Dian
Fossey Gorilla Fund International) project. Since undergoing paramilitary
training, the Karisoke trackers have been able to work full-time and each
gorilla group is visited daily. Karisoke researchers have been allocated
military escorts 4 days per week since September (gorilla tourism is operational
7 days per week on demand).
During 1999 there was a total of 8 births, and 8
deaths or disappearances in the 3 groups studied at Karisoke, a population
of 87 gorillas. Pantsy, a 33-year-old adult female, was last seen on February
10, and probably died of old age. Pantsy, two juveniles and 3 infants
disappeared while we were unable to monitor the gorillas on a daily basis.
Arusha, a juvenile male, died in the presence of
Karisoke trackers in September and we await results of advanced laboratory
analyses. Simba seems to have died of natural causes aged 31, and was
found dead close to her night nest 2 months after giving birth to a stillborn
infant in September. One young silverback became solitary, so the study
population has decreased by one since the end of 1998.
We are currently witnessing high levels of aggression
between adult male gorillas. Three silverbacks in the 40-strong Pablo
group have been seen to fight violently with lone silverbacks and with
silverbacks of Beetsme's group. All have sustained extensive wounds, and
14-year old Ndatwa died from septicemia following an interaction. A young
silverback from group 13 also died, and he too is thought to have been
wounded in a fight.
Competition between males influences many aspects
of gorilla biology, and we hope soon to better understand competition
and male reproductive success through paternity determination in the Rwandan
gorilla population. Park staff are collecting hair and faecal samples
from known individual gorillas for genetic analysis.
During the first 8 months of 1999, anti-poachers
had to stay with the gorilla trackers whilst in the park, and thus collected
snares visible from their route but could not deviate from the main paths.
Although full patrols were not possible before September, the Karisoke
anti-poaching patrols removed and destroyed 770 antelope and buffalo snares
from the park during the year. Many hyrax snares were also collected in
September. These are not typically encountered by Karisoke anti-poaching
patrols, and it is believed that poachers from Congo entered the Rwandan
portion of the Virungas to hunt hyrax and bushbuck.
An estimated 20 elephants came out of the park in
September and trampled crops. The sightings were made at night by the
local population and were the first in Rwanda for many years. There was
a similar reappearance of elephants and buffalo in Mgahinga Gorilla National
Park in Uganda, and these movements were attributed to a deteriorating
situation in parts of the Parc National des Virunga.
Despite the vigilance of the anti-poaching patrols
and the gorilla trackers, a juvenile gorilla was trapped during an interaction
between Pablo's group and a solitary male in February 2000. The Mountain
Gorilla Veterinary Center team was alerted immediately and able to intervene
to remove the wire snare within 24 hours.
Karisoke was represented on a Technical Commission
for the Protection and Restoration of the Parc National des Volcans, which
spent several days in the field determining the location of the park boundary
in areas that have been cultivated, and where the Eucalyptus boundary
markers had been uprooted. The length of the park boundary was measured
prior to CARE-International and IGCP (International Gorilla Conservation
Programme) implementing a tree-planting program to demarcate the boundary.
A GIS program has begun as part of a collaboration
between DFGF-I, the National University of Rwanda and Georgia Institute
of Technology. In September 1999, newly developed technology belonging
to Earth Search Sciences Inc. was tested in Rwanda, and high-resolution
maps will be created using "hyperspectral image data" collected
during flights over the Virunga Conservation Area. Remote sensing will
facilitate monitoring of the ecosystem and an assessment of degradation
of the montain forest following almost two years of insecurity and human
settlement in the park.
The extent of human occupation was revealed by the
amount of waste removed during a "park clean-up" organised by
IGCP, and funded by the Dutch Government. Local people who had taken refuge
in the park in 1997 to 1998 were employed to locate sites and remove refuse
such as clothing and cooking utensils. The operation was carried out around
the volcanoes Visoke, Sabinyo and Muhavura. The team dug up and burned
several tonnes of tobacco, wheat, cabbages and other crops which had been
planted in the forest. The clean-up will continue sporadically as more
sites, particularly latrines, are discovered.
Liz Williamson, Jessica Cantlon and Chloé Wilson
Dr. Liz Williamson studied gorillas in Gabon from
1984 until 1990, when she became the Director of the Nyungwe Forest Conservation
Project, Rwanda. She was involved in gorilla surveys in Congo/Zaire and
Cameroon in 1994 and 1995. Until the end of 2001 she was the Director
of the Karisoke Research Centre.
Jessica Cantlon is working as an assistant for Karisoke. She graduated
in Anthropology. She was spending one year carrying out behavioural research
on the gorillas and assisting the Director of Karisoke.
Chloé Wilson is working as an assistant for Karisoke. She graduated
with a BA Honours in Classical Studies. She was spending one year carrying
out behavioural research on the gorillas and assisting the Director of
Karisoke, Rwanda.
Photo: Cyril Grüter
Gorilla in Rwanda