Earlier this year, a group of mountain gorillas living in Virunga National Park in the Congo were discovered murdered. National Geographic Magazine ran a feature about it in July’s issue which brought attention to the issue but hasn’t slowed the turmoil in the corrupted nation. In April, conservationists counted 17 elephants were butchered. The number has skyrocketed since then. Last week, NatGeo published a story online reporting that 10% of Virunga’s elephants were murdered because of Chinese demand for ivory.
Since the beginning of this year, armed groups, soldiers, and poachers have killed 10 percent of the elephants in Congo’s troubled Virunga National Park—allegedly driven by rising Chinese demand for ivory—park officials say. The announcement raises fears that elephants could disappear forever from Africa’s oldest and largest national park, which has recently made headlines for its gorilla murders.
Rangers plying the lawless central sector of Virunga have discovered the bodies of seven elephants in the past two weeks alone.
In one case they came upon Rwandan militia members hovering over the bodies of two elephants. The rangers managed to drive the men away before they could remove the animals’ tusks.
In all, 24 elephants are known to have been killed in Virunga so far this year.
“We believe that less than ten were killed last year,” said Samantha Newport, spokesperson for Virunga National Park. “Undoubtedly this year is a lot, lot worse. It’s catastrophic.”
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