The BBC reports today that the tragic killing of 10 rare mountain gorillas in Viruna, DRC (on the border with Uganda) in 2007 was in fact accomplished by a senior member of the wildlife protection group, the Congolese Nature Conservation Institute (ICCN). This story in another tragic step in the willful extinction of a species, so akin to our own, that it should bring tears to every human. I can't fathom why it is only an economic motive that will protect other species on our planet and not the basic right that we all share to live on this spinning garden of eden. By the time we awaken to the base stupidity of our own species, it will be too late to protect these wonders for forthcoming generations and perhaps too late to save the eco-system that makes our greedy economies possible.
Below are a series of photographs by the acclaimed South African photographer Brent Stirton and some details from an article today in the BBC about this tragedy.
A senior wildlife park official in Democratic Republic of Congo has been arrested amid claims that he organised the killing of rare mountain gorillas.
The Congolese Nature Conservation Institute (ICCN) is reported to have brought the charges against Honore Mashagiro - one of its members.
Ten gorillas were killed in 2007 in the Virunga National Park, a Unesco world heritage site.
The park is in a volatile region where rebels have set up a base.
Local environment experts told AFP news agency that the killings could be linked to mining and trafficking of a coal-like mineral called makala.
They suggested that the gorillas could have been killed to create a diversion from this illicit trade. The area is also home to more than half of the world's last 700 mountain gorillas living in the wild.
Six other foresters could be questioned over the killings, and their role in trapping and slaughtering the animals on the alleged orders of Mr Mashagiro, reports say.
Precedent
At the time, conservationists described the killings as "executions" because the gorillas' bodies were left at the scene, whereas poachers would have sold the carcasses as either food or trophies.
Local environment experts told AFP news agency that the killings could be linked to mining and trafficking of a coal-like mineral called makala.
They suggested that the gorillas could have been killed to create a diversion from this illicit trade.
BBC