October 20, 2011

Young Gorilla Caught in Snare Rope

This morning an infant in Bwenge's group was found with a snare rope around his leg. The infant, Gasore (son of Maggie), must have gotten caught in the snare either last night or earlier this morning, because when our Karisoke trackers arrived in the morning, he was already dragging the rope along, which is attached to his right ankle.

Luckily, the rope is not yet tightly wound onto Gasore's leg, and the group was calm and everybody is fine. However, this type of human-caused incident usually requires an intervention, so tomorrow veterinarians from MGVP and Rwandan park authorities will join our staff to assess the situation and plan for a possible snare-removal intervention.

This incident occurred in the area of Cundura hill, a place commonly used by the gorilla groups we monitor at Karisoke. Anti-poaching staff will go there for further control of the area.

Veronica