Losing gorilla in Rwanda's civil war

1993/05/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Ekologia

As in all wars, many people have died in Rwanda and that is the greatest tragedy of first order. In addition, the Rwandan civil war has forced researchers investigating gorillas to abandon investigations initiated 25 years ago by researcher Dian Fossey.

On 18 February the soldiers of the Patriotic Front of Rwanda destroyed the Karisoke Research Center and the Volcano Veterinary Center in the Volcano National Park, so the researchers there had to leave their place.

Almost 300 gorillas live in the park, and according to Dieter Steklis, director of the Karisoke center, the gorilla population in case several females die would be very important. This center is promoted by the Gorillas Dian Fossey Foundation, where two groups of 36 and 18 units are analyzed. The data collected over so many years can go bankrupt and be facing a scientific tragedy.