On May 12, a judge in Uganda’s specialized court for wildlife crimes sentenced Bob Mbaya Kabongo to a seven year jail term for smuggling 122 African grey parrots into the country from the Democratic Republic of Congo. His arrest and swift prosecution and sentencing has been welcomed by conservation organizations as well as the Uganda […]
Tag: democratic republic of congo
Uganda fails to enforce laws against wildlife crime by allowing bailed Ivory traffickers to disappear
Authorities in Uganda intercepted a shipment of roughly 4 tons of elephant ivory and pangolin scales from the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo on its way to the city, Kampala, in January 2019. What has happened in the three years since then reveals flaws in the country’s enforcement of wildlife-crime legislation. The Uganda Revenue Authority […]
Organizations aim to block funds for East African oil pipeline
National and international NGOs from around the world have asked more than two dozen banks not to finance a 1,445-kilometer (898-mile) pipeline to shuttle oil from fields in Uganda to a port on Tanzania’s coast. The groups contend that the project is already impinging on communities and exacerbating poverty in the region. Their representatives also […]
Rafiki, Uganda’s rare silverback mountain gorilla, killed by hunters
One of Uganda’s best known mountain gorillas, Rafiki, has been killed. Four men have been arrested, and they face a life sentence or a fine of $5.4m (£4.3m) if found guilty of killing an endangered species. Investigations showed that Rafiki was killed by a sharp object that penetrated his internal organs. There are just over […]
Mountain gorilla census reveals further increase in numbers
The outlook for eastern Africa’s mountain gorillas is growing brighter, as a recent census released on Dec. 16 shows that the subspecies’ numbers have risen since 2011. Scientists believe there are now at least 1,063 mountain gorillas living in the wild. Tara Stoinski, the CEO and chief scientific officer of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, […]
POLL: Should African Grey Parrots be protected from illegal trafficking?
African grey parrots are gorgeous birds who are well-known for their incredible intelligence that’s considered to be on the same level as a small child, and for their amazing ability to learn and mimic human speech. Unfortunately, the qualities that make us want them are also causing major problems for them. The demand for African […]
Southern Ground Hornbills in the Serengeti
After spending some time on the eastern side of the Grumeti river in the Western Corridorof the Serengeti, we decided to venture on the western side between the Grumeti river and the Kirawari range of hills. We crossed the swollen Grumeti river across the bridge near the Grumeti Tented camp. Other than a few hippo […]
Reserve with rare gorillas finally protected
The calamitous civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has killed more than five million people. It has also nearly wiped out populations of the world’s largest primate — the Grauer’s gorilla. From an estimated 17,000 individuals in 1995, Grauer’s numbers have fallen to less than 4,000 today, thanks to prolonged civil unrest, […]