Gorillas: Kings Of Congo

CNN's Anderson Cooper Visits Endangered Mountain Gorillas

(CBS)  You can see the fires from the air. Robert Muir of the Frankfurt Zoological Society took 60 Minutes and Cooper for a tour.

"They’re cutting down the forest. And they’re smoking it out basically," Muir explains. "And they will continue to move further and deeper into the forest cutting down prime habitat."

It's being carried away bag by bag, step by step.

Women carry huge bags of charcoal for miles on their shoulders. Men wheel bigger loads to market on wooden bikes. It's a multi-million dollar business, illegal but backed by powerful interests -- businessmen, soldiers, and corrupt government officials -- a charcoal mafia. When rangers tried to stop the destruction of the forest, Rob Muir says the charcoal mafia killed the gorillas. It was a warning to the rangers to back off.

"First, in June, a female gorilla was found, killed, a bullet to the back of her heart execution style," Muir says. "They want to intimidate and scare the Congolese wildlife authority."

"The message was if you don’t stop we can kill all the gorillas," he adds.

But the rangers refused to stop. "Determined not to give in to this kind of blackmail, if you like, continued, even upped their campaign to try and dismantle the charcoal production," Muir tells Cooper. "And then a month later the Rugendo family was decimated. I'm sure that the charcoal mafia were behind this."

Asked how one could solve the charcoal problem, considering it's used by everyone and they have no other source, Muir says, "Provide alternative fuel, butane, for example."

But butane requires special stoves and buying that equipment for every family would cost tens of millions of dollars.

"So it would need to be subsidized. I mean, we desperately need donors, the EU, the World Bank, someone like that to really come in and say, 'Hey we've got some money here,' you know, we appreciate this is urgent, you know, if we don’t act now, we could lose the gorillas,'" Muir says.

Muir says two babies were orphaned this summer when charcoal makers killed their mothers. One baby was found clinging to its dead mother's corpse; the other had been pulled to safety by an older brother, but was starving without its mother's milk. Rangers rescued both orphans, and vets are still trying to nurse them back to health.

"Have you ever seen these mountain gorillas as under threat as they are now?" Cooper asks Muir.

"Never. I don't think I don't think they have ever been as threatened as they are currently today," he replies.

Just how threatened? No one knows, because the rangers haven't been able to see Congo's gorillas for more than three months.

Almost 200 mountain gorillas live in the Congo along the forested slopes of a volcano. The problem is there’re more than a half dozen armed rebel groups fighting government forces in and around those forests, and the rangers who protect the gorillas have had to flee. That means Congo’s entire population of mountain gorillas is now left unprotected and they’re caught in the middle of a civil war.

Rangers tell Cooper that because they are cut off from the gorillas and cannot get to them, they don't know what is happening to the remaining population.

Congo may be a dangerous county for gorillas, but it's even deadlier for people. There's been fighting for more than ten years and more than a hundred rangers have been killed. At a rangers' post outside the park, their sign is pockmarked with bullet holes.

"Over 300 rebels would surround a patrol post during the night and just shoot it to hell. Heavy artillery, bombing," Muir tells Cooper.

Asked why, Muir says, "With no care for human life and they’re after the rangers' equipment. Ammunition, rifles, they see the rangers as a soft target."

Muir says the rangers are outnumbered and outgunned. "This is probably the most dangerous park on the planet," he says.

So dangerous that all the rangers can do now is gaze at the forest from afar and hope for a ceasefire. But in that same forest, just a few miles from the fighting, across the borders in Rwanda and Uganda the rest of the mountain gorillas are safe for the moment, though they face yet another threat. There are so few of them, that Ebola or some other deadly virus could wipe them out. It's a tough trek to get to Rwanda's gorillas, but it is an extraordinary experience.

[huntley42]

Couldn''t the same governments that fund study of mountain gorrilas also fund a project to remove the remaining Gorillas and put them in a safer park to give them a chance to survive in the wild. After the area stablizes within it''s human population and they realize what they have lost maybe retransplant them back into the area.

[ansall-2009]

Re the Congo gorillas - my heart breaks when I watch a story about innocent, defenseless creatures (child or animal)who are destroyed by the cruelties of man. But we have also done these magnificent creatures a disservice by allowing humans so close to them so often that the gorillas no long fear them. These gentle giants can''t tell the difference between a 2 legged creature with a camera and one with a gun. We are as much to blame for their deaths as the horrible people who pulled the triggers.

[pdinoia]

Get the UN large corporations and our government eradicate poverty and ignorance. That will be the day!
There is so much coal in other countries not exploited, France for example, put people back to work produce wealth and jobs and export to our human brothers in need such as the Congolese who will stop burning trees for charcoal and consequently kill innocent Gorillas. I see that many citizens found so many common sense solutions to these serious problems , I do not think our leaders or emerging countries are interested at all at a better human management and earth preserving policies. It seems so obvious for the rest of us maybe what we need is a revolution of the mind where the entire humanity is taking out of ignorance and brought back to light.

[pdinoia]

After watching your story report and reflecting upon it. It seems to me that our governments can solve these problems easily if they would want to. The Congolese want Charcoal so they burn trees and kill Gorillas to do that. They basically need the basic that life requires to survive. Certain Countries in Europe such as France have stopped the coal production production. Let the governments of these various countries get in touch with each other ( The UN for example) and resolve these issues. Start the coal production again in France create Jobs and wealth, export the coal to Africa stop the killing and create decent living. Get involved or maybe it is too simple? we all know that our governments and large corporation often the same do not like simple common sense solutions but rather explotation of our natural reserve , our earth until it is too late.
But who is listening to? "we the People"

[pdinoia]

After watching your story report and reflecting upon it. It seems to me that our governments can solve these problems easily if they would want to. The Congolese want Charcoal so they burn trees and kill Gorillas to do that. They basically need the basic that life requires to survive. Certain Countries in Europe such as France have stopped the coal production production. Let the governments of these various countries get in touch with each other ( The UN for example) and resolve these issues. Start the coal production again in France create Jobs and wealth, export the coal to Africa stop the killing and create decent living. Get involved or maybe it is too simple? we all know that our governments and large corporation often the same do not like simple common sense solutions but rather explotation of our natural reserve , our earth until it is too late.
But who is listening to? "we the People"

[pdinoia]

After watching your story report and reflecting upon it. It seems to me that our governments can solve these problems easily if they would want to. The Congolese want Charcoal so they burn trees and kill Gorillas to do that. They basically need the basic that life requires to survive. Certain Countries in Europe such as France have stopped the coal production production. Let the governments of these various countries get in touch with each other ( The UN for example) and resolve these issues. Start the coal production again in France create Jobs and wealth, export the coal to Africa stop the killing and create decent living. Get involved or maybe it is too simple? we all know that our governments and large corporation often the same do not like simple common sense solutions but rather explotation of our natural reserve , our earth until it is too late.
But who is listening to? "we the People"

[wonderfulyfe]

%u201CUntil we have the courage to recognize cruelty for what it is, whether its victim is human or animal, we cannot expect things to be much better in this world. We cannot have peace among men whose hearts delight in killing any living creature. By every act that glorifies or even tolerates such moronic delight in killing we set back the progress of humanity.%u201D Rachel Carson

%u201CThe greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.%u201D Mohandas Gandhi

%u201CIt ill becomes us to invoke in our daily prayers the blessings of God, the Compassionate, if we in turn will not practice elementary compassion towards our fellow creatures.%u201D Mohandas Gandhi

[wonderfulyfe]

Thank you Anderson Cooper and %u201C60 Minutes%u201D for taking your viewers on such an amazing journey. It was truly touching and amusing to observe the lovable antics of the adorable Mountain Gorillas, to behold their intelligence, sensitivity and vulnerability. And the sights and sounds of the mysterious jungles were breathtaking. Although the trek there was obviously arduous!

It is appalling to realize that a Park Ranger enlisted to protect these gorgeous creatures betrayed them. Heartbreaking, especially as the Mountain Gorillas are one of the most critically endangered creatures on our planet.

Thank you for speaking up for them and for the continued attention given to these magnificent creatures, National Treasures, so they can live in peace to be enjoyed by many. This in turn would also help the dear Congolese people, many of whom have either experienced trauma or live with grief because of the horrific violence that has ripped apart their fellow citizens lives. Many have suffered so much. And continue to suffer for so many reasons. It is beyond heartbreaking.

This outstanding report gave evidence of the possibilities for them. They desperately need hope.

We are deeply grateful for the hard work of those involved. Thank you again Anderson Cooper and %u201C60 Minutes.%u201D Wishing you all blessings. I especially prayerfully wish the dear Congolese people peace and love, along with these magnificent creatures sharing our beautiful earth.

[urbro]

Well there''s no simple answer to this issue, if you take away the demand of charcoal you open the door to other elements to be abuse

[jewishamy]

After viewing last night''s story, "Gorillas: Kings of Congo," as much as I wished, I could not delete the story and footage from my mind and heart. I continued to re-visit the horrific pictures in a nightmare last night. A hopeless and helpless feeling continues to engulf my reality given the deplorable living conditions of the people in the region, civil war, and the majestic gorillas in the middle. If everyone were given Butane and compatible stoves, how long would it take for change to occur? People are getting paid to chop down trees and burn them for fuel. My first thought was to capture and re-locate the Gorillas to a safe sanctuary. Then, call Oprah!!! "Hey Oprah, how bout funding fuel and stoves for all!" The gruesome images still invade my thoughts today. I wish I could just wish them away. I am grateful officials carried them out of the forest like kings, but really want to see Gorillas live like kings safe and sound. Soon, we will only cherish these gentle giants in books. Kings of the Congo? I think not. More like Victims of Humankind.
Heartbreaking and so very sad.

[clancy01]

send in seal team six.

[rg21426]

Bio-Digester from Latrines can be used to generate Methane gas. Here is a link of it being done in Kenya. Another solution would be to give the Rebels free fuel to sell to in place of Charcoal.

http://playgreen.org/Wiki/BioLatrinesKenya

[jerrygrow]

Several people have mentioned the obvious solution -- solar stoves. They are cheap to make, easy to maintain, and require only the sun for fuel. Giving every villager a solar stove would virtually eliminate the need for charcoal, and, hence, the need to cut trees in gorilla habitat. The charcoal mafia would have to find another line of "work."

[bhamkaren]

Anderson, I missed the original broadcast of this story but was deeply moved when I saw Kings of the Congo when it aired tonight. Are there organizations we can support or actions we can take as individuals to help protect these magnificent animals? Thanks for your fine work. Best Regards.

[motherearth4]

Thank you for the Kings of the Congo. One solution to one aspect of the problem is to replace charcoal for cooking with solar cookers. This is alternative is successfully making its way into Somalia and Darfur. See the link:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=edg8KPb6SS4&feature=related
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Yz_a6sCP0Ww&feature=related

It may not solve the problem of greed but we can pray.

[judytravis]

Cooper please follow up with a solutions oriented segment! An African company named Chardust Ltd. is making charcoal briquettes from sugarcane waste (bagassee). Director is Matthew Owen, PO Box 24371, Karen 00502, Nairobi,Kenya. Tel: [phone]. They are in need of funds and supportive regulation to make their operation more cost effective in order to compete with the illegal charcoal mafia who trade without tarifs. 50-60 million people worldwide use this low tech fuel. Imagine the positive impact on Gorilla habitat and humans by substituting sugarcane waste for fuel instead of trees! Please take action to help the Mountain Gorillas now-time is of the essence!!!

[netlady33]

The story that you reported is heart breaking. The gorillas in Africa is in danger of been extirpation. We are human often think how speciall we are, but the animals like gorillas, dolphin, and penguins, dogs and all are the real soul that we all searching for. We need to do something about it to save as much as we can, we can''t just sits there and watching they are been slaughted. What will the planet look like when one day we don''t have any animals around. That will be the end of the world. Don''t that sound scared? Animals are part of the human society, and we are part of them. Now, this is the time we can give back for what we took.

[grimmartist]

Thank you for your coverage of the Mountain Gorilla''s plight. Your story reminded me of an article in the fall Special Edition of "Smithsonian" magazine (page 16). A young engineer, Christina Galitsky and a team from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have invented a portable, very efficient cookstove for women in Darfur. Would this stove help reduce the need for charcoal in the gorilla''s homeland?

[burtonway]

Great story to open our eyes.

BUT: what about Blood Diamonds?

What about Tower #7 during 9/11? Google Tower #7 and see for yourself, it is coverup and concealment of human massacre (American Massacre).
So for all CNN and Cooper and CBS report, they leave SO much more covered up as the human race continues to suffer in bondage. Gorilla''s have a better fate than the greedy humans (including media) that exploit other humans. IN the end we all reap what we sow, and humans are trapped in greed and hunger and confusion. I will pray for the deceased Gorilla''s and pray that the truth will come out.

CNN: Half the truth, All the time.

[simonerey]

Why not use solar ovens in the jungle so people are not destroying the gorilla habitat to create charcoal to cook with. This seems more natural than using butane or propane.