In response to a request by the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN) and the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund, peacekeepers from the UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) recently airlifted four baby eastern lowland gorillas to a sanctuary for their safety.

Travel by air was chosen as being less traumatic than transport by car for the gorillas whose parents had perished due to illegal poaching.

The young primates will now reside at the Gorilla Rehabilitation and Conservation Education Center (GRACE), where they will be joined by another six gorillas being flown in June, with all being prepared for their return to nature.

Speaking of the UN Mission’s decision to airlift the gorillas, MONUC’s head, Alan Doss, said, “Caring for the Earth we all share is not just the job of governments.

It requires us to reach across boundaries and do things we would not normally expect to do.” A report released by the UN Environment Program and the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) has stated that gorillas may disappear from the Greater Congo Basin in a little over a decade without urgent conservation measures to restore their habitats and halt illegal trafficking for meat, one of the primary threats to the primates’ survival.

Our sincere gratitude, Chief Doss, United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation and Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund for your dedicated efforts to safeguard the eastern lowland and other gorillas. May they soon be respected by all humans to continue gracing our Earth in their natural freedom and dignity.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=34531&Cr=monuc&Cr1=
http://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/unifeed/d/15083.html
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10641754