Glowing lava and strong tremors not only shake hundreds of thousands of people in East Africa, they can also be felt by the animals in one of the oldest nature parks on the continent.
Kampala (dpa) – After the first horror of the recent eruption of the Nyiragongo volcano, Andrew Seguya sighed deeply. “Our gorillas are safe, but they felt the tremors in a similar way to humans,” said the Secretary General of the cross-border Virunga protected area of the German Press Agency.
The eruption occurred far away in the east of the national park, which lies in the triangle of Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There was a similar relief from the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund: “Fortunately, the gorillas and their important habitat are safe.”
The lava flows mainly flowed through parts of the reserve, explained the head of the volcanological observatory of the border town of Goma, Celestin Mahinda. It is located in a crisis-ridden region and is considered to be Africa’s oldest and most biodiverse national park. The area the size of Schleswig-Holstein with its combination of rainforests, savannas and volcanoes is part of the Unesco World Heritage Site and is also home to the endangered mountain gorillas.
In the globally unique biotope, tourists from all over the world are now again on their way to admire the impressive flora and fauna. Trekking to the top of the active volcano is also a special highlight. Four tourists who were initially stuck on the mountain peak after the eruption of the Nyiragongo were safely escorted into the valley by a team from the National Institute for Nature Conservation. They were lucky that the glowing lava made its way to the surface, especially on the mountain slopes.
Uganda in particular is allowing tourists to enter the country again after the corona-related entry restrictions have been relaxed. The mountain gorillas are a trump card. According to the IUCN, there are only a little more than 1,000 mountain gorillas worldwide. They live in only two areas of East Africa: in the Virunga massif and the Bwindi-Sarambwe region.
When it comes to gorilla tourism, Uganda treads a fine line: On the one hand, nature conservation needs income from tourism, on the other hand, the gorilla genetic makeup is similar to that of humans. In order to prevent corona infection of the rare animals, the rangers of the national park were therefore instructed to pay close attention to hygiene measures. The minimum distance to the great apes is now ten meters, protective masks are mandatory, vaccinations are recommended. In addition, the faeces of the animals are regularly checked for possible infections by an institute in the capital Kampala.
“This is done to protect the gorillas from infections that are being transmitted by humans in the face of the current pandemic,” says Gladys Kalema of the animal welfare organization Conservation Through Public Health (CTPH). The animals in the politically unstable region are threatened not only with volcanic eruptions and infections, but also with rebels.
According to human rights activists, at least 170 people have been kidnapped near the park in three years. The victims – many of them women – were beaten, tortured, raped and blackmailed into paying money, the human rights organization Human Rights Watch reported last year. Rangers and gorillas are also killed again and again.
In addition, the recovery of the great ape population has raised a new problem, according to a study published last year. Scientists had analyzed data on the development of a mountain gorilla population in the Virunga massif over five decades.
Thereafter, the original groups split several times when younger silverbacks – that is, adult male gorillas – began to challenge the older leaders. The three groups in 2006 have become eleven smaller ones in the same area. However, newly emerging groups could not move to other areas.
And now the volcano: Even days after its eruption, it continued to rumble ominously and terrified people and animals.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210527-99-757050 / 2
