A recent wildlife census conducted in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) revealed that several species of large mammal are now recovering from a decade of civil war and rampant poaching, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN). Specifically, elephants and other species in the park have increased in number since the park's last census, due in large part to the anti-poaching efforts of park guards who patrol this World Heritage Site at great personal risk.

"The results of the census are encouraging, and proof that protecting the park's wildlife can be done in the most turbulent conditions," said WCS researcher Deo Kujirakwinja. "Poaching is still taking a toll on wildlife and the rate of recovery is being slowed as a result, but it is clear that the efforts of ICCN and its partners are finally leading to a reduction in the level of poaching."

Established in 1925, Virunga National Park remains the most species rich park in Africa. It once boasted the highest density of large mammals in the world before a wave of unrest and poaching descended upon the region. Since the 1960s, the park's populations of elephants, hippos, and buffalos have declined dramatically, with the heaviest levels of poaching occurring in 1980s and during the past 10 years since the beginning of the country's civil war in 1996. For instance, the park's once abundant elephant population--estimated at 4,300 in the 1960s--had been reduced to a few hundred individuals by 2003.

The most recent census--conducted between 9-12 June 2006 and funded by the US Fish and Wildlife Service--found that efforts to protect the park's wildlife seem to be reversing this trend of decline, and that most of the park's large mammals have increased in number since the last census in 2003. Elephants have increased to 340 individuals from 265 in the past three years. The census also found appr
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Contact: John Delaney
jdelaney@wcs.org
718-220-3275
Wildlife Conservation Society
21-Jun-2006

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