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in the park in 2007. Images of the dead gorillas were shown in
news media worldwide and caused an outcry – not least because
of the betrayal of trust involved in slaying gorillas who had come
to regard human visitors as benign.
The DRC government has made genuine efforts and had some
progress in 2009 in terms of organisation of summits of the
Economic Community of Central African States (CEEAC) and
the Southern African Development Coordination Conference
(SADCC), and the normalized relations with Belgium and
Rwanda. Of major importance in early 2009 was the arrest
of Laurent Nkunda and the attempts to destabilize the Hutu
The FDLR or Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda
is represented mainly by Hutus after the Rwanda genocide,
and have been operating in both North and South Kivu. They
have, like the other militias, also been actively involved in
atrocities and looting, including minerals, poaching and char-
coal. Both the FADRC and the Rwandan military have fought
against the FDLR. Their number shave been estimated at
6,000–15,000 militias.
FDLR
The Mai-Mai militia is an active community based militia group
operating particularly in North and South Kivu provinces of
the DRC, fighting many of the other militias and particular the
Rwanda based FDLR. They include tribal leaders, warlords and
village leaders and thus cover a range of smaller guerilla and
militia groups in the region, some formed to fight off invading
militia groups, others active also in the looting and in char-
coal production. Their numbers have been estimated at around
20,000–30,000 militia troops. They have generally been most
active in the region north of Goma in North Kivu, but also
around Walungu, Bunyakiri, Uvira, Mwenaga, Fizi and Shabun-
da, but their actvities, like that of most militias guerillas, varies
across the regions. The Mai-Mai have generally fought all other
militias and military present, including MONUC. Some Mai-
Mai groups have, like all the other militias, been involved in
both charcoal production, poaching and killing of park rangers
and gorillas, including in Virunga in the early 2000’s.
Mai-Mai militia
The rangers confiscated truckloads of charcoal, some of it directly
originating from park forests. The smugglers, from both FDLR
and CNDP at various times, responded by issuing a warning that
they would target gorillas if the rangers interfered with the char-
coal business, Around July 22, 2007, militia hunted down the
twelve-member Rugendo gorilla family and killed three female
gorillas – Mburanumwe, Neza, and Safari, with Safari’s infant
hiding nearby. Also Senkwekwe, a 250 kg silverback, was shot.
One of the females had been shot in the back of the head; and
the infant was found still clinging to the dead mother. A total of
ten habituated gorillas were shot in direct repercussion for the
work of the rangers in hindering illegal logging and smuggling