Virunga

Protect us, and help us to account

for each day of our lives.

Oh, Congo.

Our dear Ranger Kasereka died

trying to rebuild this country.

Charlie 5 says that

the enemy is moving your way.

If you listen carefully,

they're shooting to show their presence.

This is an illegal settlement.

Some rebels.

Where are the people who were with you?

I don't know.

Quiet! Keep your voice down.

I don't know.

So where are they?

They've gone away.

Isn't this poaching?

It wasn't me.

The one who ran away

is the one who killed it.

Just as I'd finished primary school,

we were recruited secretly in our town.

They told us, "You're leaving...

We're sending you to university.

To the best university in the world!"

You have to follow

all orders given to you.

If you attempt to escape,

they'll kill you.

My little brother Dona

was 15 years old.

Among many dead bodies I found his.

There was nothing I could do.

After we buried him,

we went on with the war.

But my mother insisted,

"You must leave the army

while you're still alive."

So I then escaped the army

to dedicate my life to the National Park.

They are the only mountain gorillas

in captivity in the world.

Ndakasi likes to play so much.

I have my human family.

I always tell them,

"You are my family...

but we have another family

in Rumangabo...

which is made up of four children."

There is Maisha, Kaboko,

Ndeze and Ndakasi.

You know that until now

we've had a big problem with poaching.

Poachers believe...

they can kill the parents

and take the baby away for sale.

This is the way we got Maisha.

Maisha was taken from poachers

who wanted to sell her.

She was rescued

when she was three years old.

Today, she is about

10 years and six months.

Kaboko is the one-handed male.

He lost the other hand

because of poaching.

Kaboko is a bit aggressive.

Maisha!

But they have

great affection for each other.

It is love.

When there was

the massacre of our gorillas,

I was out in the field.

I was among the rangers

who discovered their bodies.

It was a great tragedy.

We had a total of

nine gorillas killed.

The logic was that

once the gorillas were killed,

there would be no reason

to protect the park anymore.

Many people came to see

what had happened to the gorillas.

They helped to transport their bodies.

It was like

members of the family had died.

SB SENKWEKWE:

AGE:
BORN IN 1987

MOTHER:
UNKNOWN

FATHER:
RUGENDO

KILLED JULY 22, 2007

Ndeze and Ndakasi are the two gorillas

that survived from that family.

Their mother and the rest

were killed in 2007.

When I met her...

she was really

so weak, weak, weak!

It's truly an unbelievable thing...

to see that she is alive,

and this is the reason why I say,

"I am not only a father..."

You know that these gorillas

as you see them here,

we're not keeping them

just for the sake of keeping them.

We take care of them in order

to one day release them

back into the forest in good health.

The vowel "E."

Yes, good. Carry on.

This one, which vowel is it?

Underneath the vowel "E,"

which vowel is it?

I may die at any time in an ambush by

people against the protection of the park.

Rangers commit to protect the park,

under very dangerous conditions

to their last breath.

130 rangers have died protecting Virunga.

I may die...

though I don't know when.

Our child is called Josue.

He is a small child

in whom I see lots of hope.

I think he can become a scientist.

After he has studied...

You said he needs

to study mathematics.

He can be like me for example,

you know I am a biologist.

Since you're a biologist,

he shouldn't become one, too.

He can be a geologist.

Yes, but it's still

in the sciences.

Change is good!

We don't want

people of his generation

to inherit a world or a country

as broken as ours.

WELCOME TO:

RUMANGABO STATION

The Provincial Director of

Virunga National Park.

Good morning, everyone.

I was anxious to drop by the station

at morning roll-call.

Firstly, to greet you...

but also because you will all have heard

about the new troubles for the army.

We all hope it is a temporary situation

that will be sorted out.

The army will manage the situation

and activities will continue normally.

It's important to hope for the best,

but also be ready for the worst.

It's far, right?

I was appointed Station Chief in June 2006

by the Kinshasa office

to assume management of

Virunga's central sector.

We are at the heart of

the Rwindi Hotel here...

it is here that

the late President Mobutu Sese Seko's

distinguished guests stayed,

and that is where the President himself

spent the night whenever he came here.

BECAUSE OF WILD ANIMALS,

DON'T LEAVE YOUR BUNGALOW AT NIGHT!

War has ruined everything.

When I see it destroyed like this,

I am deeply unhappy.

When we started managing this sector

in May 2010,

there was almost nothing

because there were soldiers everywhere.

However, now there are antelopes,

warthogs, elephants, lions,

and a significant number of hippos.

So there is hope,

and even buffalos are coming back.

We are sure that in the next five years

the animal population

will re-establish itself as before.

Kaboko!

Kaboko!

Maisha!

You know that the gorillas we have here

at the Senkwekwe Center,

as they grow,

they become more intelligent.

They also gain weight

and become stronger and stronger.

Even stronger than us.

So you need to know their psychology

to care for them.

You cannot force them to do something

because if they

decide to be stubborn,

you will have difficulties.

Maisha!

She wants everything for herself.

That is the reason

we use Pringles

to deal with them.

Ndakasi.

When you give them

something they like,

they realize that you're their friend.

We do not give it to them as food...

but rather as

a tactic to handle them.

And then,

you will always have good results.

This is the only

region in the world

where you can

still find mountain gorillas.

There are only about 800

left in the whole world.

Now if we lose them,

we will have lost

something very important for humanity.

It is thanks to the animals,

especially these gorillas,

that our forest

continues to be protected.

Tourism brings in money

to help us sustain

the conservation of nature.

There are many projects

being implemented around the park

because of our gorillas.

Virunga National Park is really important

because it contributes to

the development of our country.

VIRUNGA NATIONAL PARK

WWW.GORILLA.CD

People are really optimistic that

the park will make things better.

We always feel proud

to stay in this forest

and do this work.

You think there are 60,000 people here?

I think there are more and more

because people keep arriving.

Why do people keep coming?

It's because of the M23 rebels.

How do you feel about what has been

happening to you over the last few months?

When I look at my children,

I keep asking myself,

"My God, how will they grow up

under such conditions?"

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes