From December 19th, 4 men have been arrested after investigations showed that they had captured a baby gorilla from the Democratic Republic of Congo in an area called BUKIMA and were selling it for 3,000,000 Rwandan Frws.

Following information by the local population that a baby gorilla was in captivity and being sold, the Office of Tourism and National Parks contacted the police to follow up on this matter. The investigation which took about a week showed that 4 men had captured a baby gorilla from the Parc National of Virunga in the DRC.

The Baby gorilla was found in a bag when the poachers were arrested. It was immediately transferred to MGVP (mountain Gorrilla Veterinary Project) to check out its health state before a decision is made.

The Rwandan Office of Tourism and National Parks would like to thank the local population the army and the police for their support in preserving these endangered species. We also take this opportunity to condemn these illegal activities and those who perpetrate them as they constitute a major threat towards conservation of these endangered species.

To date no mountain gorilla has been found to be able to survive outside its habitat that is in the Virungas in Rwanda, DRC, UGANDA and in Bwindi National Park. The mountain gorilla is under the greatest threat with around 650 existing in the wild.