UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are using their aircraft to help protect endangered chimpanzees and other wildlife following a volcanic eruption in Virunga National Park.
Nyamulagira, one of two active volcanoes inside the park, started erupting early on 2 January (PDF). The lava has since moved 4 kilometres in three days. Luckily it has gone south, away from major human settlements and Virunga's famous mountain gorillas, which are further east.
But another endangered ape, the 40 eastern chimpanzees that live on Nyamulagira itself, could still be at risk if they are surrounded by lava, and as the plants they rely on for food become coated by abrasive volcanic ash. Park officials hope animals in the lava's path will simply move away from it. "Our rangers say birds and animals in the area are behaving in a disturbed way," boosting hopes that they will move, says park spokesperson Samantha Newport.
The UN multinational force MONUC is stationed in the DRC to protect civilians in a war that has so far claimed the lives of at least 5 million people. On Saturday it offered Congolese authorities monitoring the volcano the use of its Indian planes and helicopters.
But Congolese conservation authorities were unaware of the offer, and on Tuesday staff at Virunga were still trying to arrange a flight over park to assess the damage. After being contacted by New Scientist, staff were able to arrange for Innocent Mburanumwe, the chief warden for the southern sector of the park, to take a MONUC overflight. "We are very happy about that," says Newport. "It has also allowed us to check on deforestation."
New threat
Eastern chimpanzees, a subspecies of the common chimp, are classed as endangered because their numbers are dropping steadily, mainly due to deforestation, although the Ebola virus poses an added threat. In total they may number as few as 76,000, all living in east and central Africa.
Richard Carroll, head of African programmes for the WWF, fears that if the eruption destroys people's livelihoods, they will be more likely to hunt or cut wood for charcoal in Virunga, increasing the threat to wildlife.
"This also shows how dangerous it is to rely on a few fragmented reserves for entire species," he says. The eruption is not currently threatening mountain gorillas, but it could be disastrous if it did: around 200 of the 700-odd mountain gorillas left in the wild live in Virunga.
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