Efforts to track endangered mountain gorillas in the Democratic Republic Congo have been stalled by renewed fighting in the volatile east, an official said Monday.
Since fighting erupted last month between the army and forces loyal to cashiered general Laurent Nkunda, rangers' efforts to track the rare species have been paralysed, said Samantha Newport, spokeswoman for Wildlife Direct.
So far, the rangers managed to find 18 of the 75 gorillas being tracked in Virunga National Park, a major tourist attraction, where poaching is endemic, she said.
"One half of the gorilla sector is under control of the army and the other half is under the renegade troops. Rangers are being blocked and cannot access both areas which is very annoying," she told AFP.
"They have totally lost control of the gorillas. As every day passes, the risks for the gorillas become greater because nobody can track them," Newport said.
Local and foreign militias as well as Congolese soldiers, poachers and illegal miners regularly cross this area of the Virunga park, one of Africa's largest and a UNESCO world heritage site. Sometimes they occupy parts of it.
The mountain gorillas are a major tourist attraction in the Virunga park, but poaching of wildlife there is endemic.
Only about 700 critically endangered mountain gorillas remain in the wild, all of them living in the mountains of Rwanda, Uganda and the eastern DRC.
Nkunda's rebels and other armed groups are accused of poaching there and encroaching on their habitats.
Newport expressed worry that the fresh clashes Monday, which ruptured the 18-day truce in the volatile region could further endanger the gorillas.
