Keeping Gorillas Away From Crops
Since a 2007 massacre of gorillas in Virunga National Park, one Congolese family has adopted a nomadic lifestyle. Recently, they moved close to the edge of the park, sometimes moving into people’s fields and eating their crops.
This is a real problem because it creates a lot of tension with local farmers–who lose their valued crops–and it puts the critically endangered gorillas at risk. Another family also has a bad habit of leaving the park, and still others were found in a field in mid-February.
We are fighting to find a solution. In the past, a local association guarded the crops by pushing the gorillas back into the forest using drums. It seems the technique doesn’t work anymore; the gorillas are no longer scared of the drums. In fact, I’m told they enjoy the sound and allegedly start dancing when the drums appear.
