Congo rebels kill and eat two endangered mountain gorillas

Rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have killed and eaten two silverback mountain gorillas, conservationists said today, sparking fears more of the endangered animals may have been slaughtered in the lawless region.

Only about 700 mountain gorillas remain in the world, 380 of them spread across a range of volcanic mountains that straddle the borders of the DRC, Rwanda and Uganda in Central Africa.

One dismembered gorilla corpse was found yesterday in a pit latrine in the Virunga National Park, a few hundred yards from a park patrol post at Bikenge that was recently abandoned because of rebel attacks, according to the London-based Africa Conservation Fund.

Another silverback was slaughtered in the same area on January 5, said the group, which based its report on the word of conservationists in the field.

The conservation group blamed rebels loyal to a local warlord, Laurent Nkunda, for the killings, saying the animals were slaughtered for food.

Nkunda is a renegade army soldier who commands thousands of fighters in the vast country’s lawless east who have assaulted major cities and clashed sporadically with government forces.