Keepers for Africa's Wildlife Conservation

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Myspace LayoutsWe are a group of zookeepers here in the United States dedicated to the mission stated below: Keepers for Africa's Wildlife Conservation's MISSION STATEMENT: To promote and support the work of the Advance Force Rangers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who are protecting the community of wildlife and people surrounding Virunga National Park. The Advance Force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)are the frontline of protection for the last remaining populations of Mountain Gorillas in Virunga National Park and most recently, the last remaining populations of hippos in the Congo. The 49 Park Rangers that make up the Advance Force are poorly supplied and paid (they actually haven’t been paid a salary in years), yet they continue to do their best to defend the Virunga National Park, the last home to the highly endangered mountain gorillas. There are approximately 700 mountain gorillas left in the world. Rangers are pitted against well-armed professional poachers hunting for ivory and bushmeat, bands of rebel insurgents and local subsistence poachers. Over the last 10 years, 97 Rangers have died in the line of duty........................................................ ............................................There are approximately 700 Mountain Gorillas remaining in the world, located in Virunga National Park and Bwindi National Park in Uganda. Less than two decades ago, the hippo count was over 22 thousand hippos, mostly along Lake Edward (see map). A new aerial count has shown that years of poaching and the recent frenzied slaughter of hippos have decimated one of the most important hippo populations in the world to 315 animals. The local communities around Lake Edward and the Virunga are also being affected by the decimation of the hippos – hippo dung helps to sustain the lake’s fish and in recent years, as the hippos have declined, so have the tilapia fish populations and fisherman’s catches have plummeted. The reality of the situation in the Virunga is that the Advance Force is the only protection for the world’s last remaining populations of mountain gorillas and Congolese hippo population from extinction – and they don’t have the basic equipment to do it! The Advance Force is without a doubt the most important and effective conservation effort in the Congo at the moment...................................................... ........................................... Why do they do this dangerous work?The Democratic Republic of Congo has the oldest tradition of national park management in Africa – Virunga is Africa’s first National Park (second in the world after Yellowstone National Park). ICCN is an extremely established institution made up of extremely committed wardens and rangers. While their work is extremely dangerous (97 rangers have been killed in Virunga since 1996), and very poorly paid (they received no salary for 7 of the 9 previous years), very few have abandoned their posts. I think this is a combination of commitment to the institution and what it stands for, and not having many options in the Congo of today. We (Wildlife Direct) have started paying them a monthly salary supplement ($50 per month), and providing them with equipment and uniforms, which has strengthened the commitment quite a lot.Myspace Backgrounds
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