[新聞] Baby Gorilla Rescued in Armed Sting Operation

netaccess

Path to Recovery

Ranger Christian Shamavu carries a baby eastern lowland gorilla, which he and his team from Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) rescued from poachers in a dramatic undercover operation last week.

Posing  as black market gorilla buyers, the rangers recovered the infant male  unharmed inside a backpack and arrested three poachers, who were seeking  to sell the gorilla—now named Shamavu after his rescuer-for as much as  U.S. $40,000, according to park authorities.
Shamavu  is the fourth baby gorilla Virunga rangers have recovered from poachers  in 2011—the highest number on record in a single year, suggesting that  baby-gorilla trafficking may be on the rise in the region.

"We  are very concerned about a growing market for baby gorillas that is  feeding a dangerous trafficking activity in rebel-controlled areas of  eastern DRC," Virunga National Park Warden Emmanuel de Merode said in a statement.

"We  are powerless to control the international trade in baby gorillas, but  our rangers are doing everything they can to stamp it out on the  ground."


Calm After Storm

Acting  on a tip, Christian Shamavu (pictured holding his namesake) and three  rangers executed the sting operation in the town of Kirumba (map), near the western border of Virunga National Park, last week.

Two  weeks earlier, they had been thwarted in their pursuit of the same  gorilla traffickers after the suspects failed to show up for a meeting  in another remote town.

This  time, Christian and another ranger, dressed in civilian clothes, made  contact with the three poachers, who were hiding the baby gorilla in a  backpack.
After  negotiating a selling price of U.S. $15,000, the disguised rangers  lured the poachers into a waiting vehicle to make the exchange.

"I  knew we were on dangerous ground and a single mistake could be fatal,"  Christian, who didn't know whether the poachers were armed, said via  email.
Once  inside the car, the poachers were surprised to find the other two  rangers pointing their guns at them. The driver locked the doors and  sped off down a dirt road at high speed with the poachers and baby  gorilla in the car.



Reaching Out

When the rangers first let the baby gorilla (pictured with veterinarian Jan Ramer)  out of the backpack, he was extremely stressed and tense, holding his  arms tightly against his body. The following day, after Christian had  given the gorilla bananas and other food, he calmed down.
"We've  had infants come to us after confiscation with gunshot wounds, severe  pneumonia, deep cuts in their sides from rope leashes," Ramer, regional  vet manager for the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project, said via email.

"They really go through a lot of horrible stress before the lucky ones are confiscated."
Christian believes the baby's mother, and possibly other gorillas, were killed by the poachers who snatched him.
Because  gorillas will defend their infants to the death, "it's almost  impossible to take a baby gorilla from its family," he said.




Say "Ah"
After an examination, Jan Ramer and other doctors estimated Shamavu to be about a year and a half old.
His  condition has improved dramatically since the rescue last week. "He is  eating well and has come out of his shell," said Ramer.

Still,  the vets are taking no chances. For the first month, the baby gorilla  will be quarantined at Virunga National Park headquarters in Rumangabo (map).  It may be several months before Shamavu is able to be moved to the  GRACE Center, an orphan-gorilla sanctuary run by the gorilla doctors.

Gorillas  are extremely susceptible to human diseases, especially respiratory  diseases. Two young gorillas died recently at the GRACE facility from an  unknown illness.

"He will also need to join a large group of other orphan gorillas of various ages and adjust to that new living situation," LuAnne Cadd, Virunga's communications officer, said via email.

"It's  very unlikely that he will go back to the forest anytime soon, as past  experience shows that they can't survive when they are young and  reintroduced."



Helping Hands
Christian holds Shamavu for Jan Ramer to examine. (Watch video of Shamavu being examined.)
Though  heartening, the rescue raises troubling questions about  gorilla  smuggling for Virunga's LuAnne Cadd. "If four have been caught  since  April, the question is, how many have been missed?" Cadd said.

Gorillas  are among the most protected species in the DRC, and it's  illegal to  kill or take an individual. The punishment ranges from 1 to  10 years in  prison, with tougher punishments imposed if it can be  established, for  example, that poachers have killed the gorilla mother.  Rarely can such  killings be proven, however.
End  buyers are thought to include disreputable zoos or wealthy  people who  have personal menageries of exotic animals. But rangers have  yet to  arrest a single buyer.



Looking Up

Eddy Kamable, a vet with the Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project, holds Shamavu, the rescued baby gorilla.
For  now, Shamavu requires 24-hour care, because he's too young and  vulnerable to be left alone. Two caretakers will take turns caring for  the young gorilla, even sleeping in the same bed with him.

Virunga's  Cadd said, "If you can imagine a human one and a half year old, this  baby is in a similar stage of life, and he needs some consistency in  care in order to bond and feel safe.

"He's lost his entire gorilla family and the world that he knew in the forest. It will take some time to adjust."