Gorillias pose with Anti-Poaching Officers

[soryang]

18. Ranger killed weeks after reopening of Virunga national park

Last edited Sat Apr 20, 2019, 06:33 PM - Edit history (1)

Ranger killed weeks after reopening of Virunga national park
March 8, 2019

Park in DRC was shut last year for more than eight months after series of attacks on staff

A statement from the park said the ranger, Freddy Mahamba Muliro, died during an attack on a ranger position in its central sector. It gave no further details.
“We are in deep mourning for Ranger Freddy. It is a tragedy that his young life has been cut short in dedicated service to Virunga. Now more than ever, Ranger Freddy’s death highlights the very real threats to our rangers in their protection of Virunga national park,” said Emmanuel de Merode, the park’s director. More than 170 rangers have been killed in Virunga in recent decades. At least 12 died in clashes with militia and smugglers in Virunga in the months before the closure, one of the bloodiest periods in the park’s history.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/08/ranger-killed-weeks-after-reopening-of-virunga-national-park

I recall having seen a documentary about this park a fews years ago, that proposed that it wasn't just poachers who were a threat to the environment, animals and staff there but also the militia forces who were secretly supported by outside commercial interests who see the preserve as an obstacle to resource exploitation in the region.