Gorilla Seizures
October 8th, 2007The Congo conflict, which I mentioned in the previous post, has a new dimension to it this morning:
Rebels have seized an area in eastern Congo that serves as a wildlife habitat for endangered mountain gorillas, threatening one of the last known populations of the animals, conservationists said Sunday. Shelling and heavy gunfire could be heard from the headquarters of the Virunga National Park, and rangers were forced to flee over the weekend, said the international conservation group WildlifeDirect.
Only 700 mountain gorillas exist in the world, of which more than half live in the Virunga conservation area, a huge swath of territory at the intersection of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. Rebels loyal to warlord Laurent Nkunda have frequently battled over the park in their clashes with the army. Caught in the crossfire are the rare gorillas, 10 of which have been killed this year. “This is a human conflict that is involving the mountain gorillas. They are not a target, but can so easily get caught in crossfire and shelling,” said Emmanuel de Merode, the director of the international conservation group WildlifeDirect.
“We still cannot protect our gorillas. This conflict has no place in the park, least of all in the habitat of these animals. We hope they will be unharmed,” said Norbert Mushenzi, director of the southern section of the park for the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature.
It always blows my mind to read about the things men do in war, from the abhorrent rapes that occur in all conflict to the pillaging of towns to the abuse of animal life. Worst of all is that many of these men will escape the conflict with their lives, assuming this ends in their lifetime, and resume a normal life. I ask, How can you live a normal life when you’ve raped a three year old girl? How can you live a normal life after you’ve destroyed a village, or held a zoo hostage? How can you live a normal life after you’ve committed atrocities like these?
It just baffles me that most foot soldiers in combat who do all the destruction can 1. live with themselves, 2. live with others, 3. be allowed to re-enter society as if their actions can and should be forgotten, whether that be by themselves or by society.