12/09/2005 – A new aerial
survey shows that the hippo population in
Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic
of Congo will soon be extinct due to rampant
poaching for hippo teeth and meat, WWF warned
today.
Once the world's largest hippo population,
with some 29,000 individuals in 1974, it has
now dropped to under 1,000 individuals, the
global conservation organization said.
Hippos are being killed by soldiers and local
militia, as well as local poachers. They can
be bought for around US$50 dollars, and hippo
canine teeth often end up as part of the illegal
ivory trade.
This latest survey and exhaustive count of
hippos in Virunga — carried out last month
by the Congolese Institute for the Conservation
of Nature (ICCN), the EU, and WWF — shows
that only 887 individuals remain, down from
1,309 two years ago.
Soldiers and armed groups are still found
in parts of the park, which is a UNESCO World
Heritage Site. This makes it difficult for
ICCN and WWF to maintain consistent conservation
work in these areas.
"Soldier are left in the park without
being fed nor paid and that’s a recipe for
disaster," said Marc Languy of WWF’s
Eastern Africa Regional Programme.
"The Congolese government must urgently
remove the army from this protected area and
ensure that ICCN staff can continue with their
official mandate to control the park."
The decline of the Virunga hippo population
has also adversely affected the situation
of local people, especially the thousands
of fishermen living around Lake Edward, within
the park. The lake is one of the most productive
in the world, as hippo dung provides vital
nutrients for fish. The dramatic fall of the
hippo population has also resulted in a rapid
decline of the lake's fish stocks.
"If the government does not take the
hippo situation in Virunga seriously, this
will not only lead to an environmental disaster,
but also to an economic crisis for local communities,"
added Languy.
