There are up to 260 gorillas that are taken care of by Rwanda wildlife authorities out of an estimated several hundreds living in the mountainous area referred to as the Virungas, which includes Mgahinga Gorilla National Park (Uganda), Volcanoes National Park (Rwanda) and Virunga National Park (Democratic Republic of Congo).
The fired that mysteriously started burning on Saturday are said to have been lit by arsonists but there have not been any arrests. Other indications are pointing to natural
causes as the region continues to experience an unusually dry season.According to the Chief Park Warden, Prosper Uwingeri, the fire was sparked off by a farmer extracting honey at the edge of the volcanoes national park in Cyanika sector, Nyagahinga cell.
The burnt area is 20Km away from the closest gorilla habitat, tourism officials said on Monday in a statement. “The area gutted by the fires is not in proximity of the gorilla habitat so Tourism activities are going on as usual without any interruptions at all”, said Rosette Rugamba, the Deputy CEO in Charge of Tourism at the Rwanda Development Board.
However, media reports from Uganda say officials there have been told that the fire was started deliberately to ‘smoke out’ FDLR/Interahamwe rebels, who had been seen in the mountains. However, Rwanda Defense Forces spokesmen Maj. Jill Rutaremara dismissed the claims as “just rumours”.”With interahamwes if the try to come close to our borders, we should them with bullets not fire”, he said. “It makes no sense suggesting that we light the fire and again use our helicopters to put it off.”He added:
“There is no way we can destroy out environment for a small threat like the interahamwe”. The area was previously occupied by rebels loyal to former DR Congo rebel General Laurent Nkunda – whose forces are no more. Concerted efforts are underway involving the Army, Fire brigade; Police used Air force helicopters with aerial water pumping system. Locals in the area also reported to be taking part using anything at their disposal
