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Mountain Gorilla Update
Mountain Gorilla Update
The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund was established in 1978 by Dr. Dian Fossey to preserve and protect the world�s Mountain Gorillas, which survive in Rwanda, Zaire and Uganda. The Fossey Fund continues to administer Karisoke, after the death of Dr. Fossey in 1985, as the sole site for Mountain Gorilla study in the Rwandan rain forest and for daily anti-poaching protection. The following is a field report by Karisoke administrator Jim Cogswell, distributed by the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund. Jim Cogswell visited a Mountain Gorilla group known as �Pablo�s group� in August, 1995, and wrote:
We heard from the ORTPN staff that the Pablo and Susa groups had met earlier that week and it seemed five females had been �stolen� by Pablo�s group. To confirm this story we joined two RPA soldiers and our tracker Antoine, Fidele and Vincent. In the midst of a hard rain we learned Pablo�s group was now near the Zaire border, and we must cross the raging Susa river. Antoine believed the river uncrossable and suggested walking some three kilometers to a bridge. Peter however, remembered another higher crossing. After some time we located a small opening in the river bank where three thin, spindly trees lay across the water. The next thing I knew Peter was straddling a tree and inching along over the roaring river. Antoine and I followed gingerly. Across the river was an obstacle course of logs, vines, bogs and small ponds. Knee deep in water and mud we pushed on finally arriving at the place Antoine had left Pablo the day before. The trail now led down a cliff into an incredible valley of thick green vegetation, and back up again! When we finally located the group Peter quickly identified each gorilla by nose print and name as they moved away from us, clearly uneasy with our entourage. Asking the soldiers to remain with a tracker we slowly followed the group down to the valley once more. We sensed they were still excited from the Susa encounter and Peter and I hung back to let Francois get a closer look at the new females to confirm the numbers and identify them for Antoine and Fidele. There were indeed five new gorilla females from the Susa group: Mudakama and Umuyaga, both 8 years old, Gitebe, age 7, Gutangara age 11, and Nzeli, age 9. All five were in close proximity to Cantsbee, the other silverback in the group who is subordinate to Pablo. According to our men it had been Cantsbee who had been involved in most of the interaction between the two groups. He had done most of the fighting with a little help from the young blackback Umurava. Twenty-year-old dominant silverback Pablo had made an impressive showing but had left the actual fighting to his subordinate, Cantsbee. With the addition of these Susa females and three new births, Pablo�s group is now an impressive 30-members strong. Additional observations include the following:
AAL Approved for Code Share with SAA
American Airlines received Transportation Department clearance to add Miami and Cape Town, South Africa, as coterminal points under a code-share deal with South African Airways. American and SAA already hold authority for code-share rights between New York and Johannesburg. Under the expanded arrangement, SAA will operate the service between the U.S. and South Africa displaying American�s code, and SAA�s code will be placed on American�s domestic New York-Los Angeles, New York-Miami and Miami-Los Angeles flights in conjunction with SAA�s transatlantic service, the DOT said.
Savuti Camp in Botswana Re-opens in May
Savuti Camp, Gametracker�s northernmost safari camp situated in Botswana�s Chobe National Park will reopen in May with a brand new look. The camp is a favorite haunt of wild-life film-makers. SA international award-winning photographer, Gerald Hinde, shot �Royal Blood� here which gained top honors at the wildlife version of the �Oscars� in 1995. The video documentary about a lion pride has been snapped up by global television.
