A Tragic and Painful Death

If you love animals this story is tough to take, but it has to be told so that more people will come to the aid of wildlife suffering from the onslaught of man's greed and ignorance. Snares left by poachers in the wild are a diabolic way to kill an animal because the death is invariable painful and slow. So was the case with baby mountain gorilla Nsekanabo. Nsekanabo got caught in a snare. Rangers think some of the baby's terrible injuries were sustained as the juvenile tried to free himself in panic. The photo shows the severe wounds to his jaw and face. A heroic ranger named Innocent found Nsekanabo on Friday and disentangled him from the wire. (Innocent wears a mask to prevent infecting the vulnerable gorillas from further infection).

Vets in the field performed emergency aid. They sedated the mother, Tumaini, and the juvenile. Then they sewed his badly damaged face and removed more wire from Nsekanabo's left ankle. Tumaini was still nursing the baby, believed to her first offspring. Despite the intervention, the story does not have a happy ending. Nsekanabo died. His mother is carrying her dead juvenile around and may do so for days, in grief, until she leaves Nsekanabo behind. The body will be recovered and a necropsy performed to determine the exact cause of death.  Support the efforts of rangers and officials at Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo to protect the mountain gorillas from such despicable abuse and senseless death.

[photos: www.gorilla.cd, official website of Virunga National Park]