[32] Omissions? Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. However, another creature is arguably Virungas (and Africas) most peculiar offering. [8][9], There have been plans to drill for oil in the Congo Basin since the 2000s. / 2.000S 30.000E / -2.000; 30.000. The okapi is the closest known relative to the giraffe and looks very much as though someone crossed a zebra, antelope, and giraffe. It is founded primarily to protect the mountain gorillas living in the forests of the Virunga Massif. One of Africas most spectacular protected areas. Virungas most prominent mammals include forest and savanna elephants, hippos, okapis, lions and mountain gorillas. 689 men and women standing fearlessly to protect Virunga, Critical training and support for widows and children of fallen Virunga Rangers, The world's only facility caring for mountain gorilla orphans. Virunga is the continents most biologically diverse protected area and a national park embarking on an ambitious development programme known as the Virunga Alliance. The first maps resulted from the major expedition of Adolf Friedrich, duke of Mecklenburg, which was undertaken in 190708. The mountain range is a branch of the Albertine Rift Mountains, which border the western branch of the East African Rift. This may also be done to protect the highly susceptible apes from human diseases like Covid-19. Established 1991, BEST SAFARI PRICES In contrast to the relatively sedate gorilla trekking, chimp habituation more often than not involves an adrenaline-filled race through the forest to keep up with our arboreal relatives. They are located between Lake Edward and Lake Kivu. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Ten years later in 1979, Virunga was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Great blues are shy and rarely descend to the ground except for drinking and bathing. app@africageographic.com The mountain gorillas have increased from fewer than 70 to over 300 in ten years and hippos from 300 to over 2,000, while elephant and lion sightings are now a fairly regular occurrence. The park also encompasses savannas, peat bogs, marshes, lava plains, eastern steppe vegetation, and various types of forests, including tropical rainforest and bamboo. [13], In the early 1920s, several proponents of the European conservation movement championed the idea of creating a protected area in northeastern Belgian Congo, among them Victor van Straelen, Jean Massart and Jean-Marie Derscheid. Okapis are shy and solitary animals that resemble zebras but are more closely related to the giraffe and are endemic to the DRC. Furthermore, a substantial number of these are Albertine Rift and Congolese endemics. Only one mountain of the 8 is an active volcano that is Mount Nyiragongo found in DRCongo. [45][54], Virunga National Park together with the adjacent Queen Elizabeth National Park forms a "Lion Conservation Unit". Average temperatures in lower altitudes vary from 2328C (7382F), and in higher altitudes from 1624C (6175F), rarely dropping below 14C (57F). The Virunga Mountains also popularly known as the Virunga Volcanoes range are a chain of eight volcanoes created by violent eruptions in the Albertine Rift region. Adult African fish eagles have mostly brown bodies with a white head and yellow face and large, powerful, black wings. The rapid population surge causes environmental damage, and Virungas Rangers struggle to protect the forests. There are four recognised subspecies of the African buffalo in Africa and two of these the Cape and forest are found in Virunga. Individual volcanoes bear Rwandan descriptive names, such as Sabinio (Sabinyo; Old Man with Large Teeth) and Muhavura (Landmark, or Guide). It is an extraordinary park steeped in a history of tragedy and heroism: primordial and viscerally wild. It reopened in February 2019. national park, Democratic Republic of the Congo. In addition to buffalo, the plains support several ungulates, including topi, Ugandan kob, waterbuck, warthog, and red river and giant forest hog. Disorder spreads across the Park's Southern Sector. The past 14 years have been far from plain sailing, and the park has suffered its fair share of losses, particularly of the brave rangers dedicated to protecting the park. The six volcanoes of the centre and east are extinct. Fortunately, stalwart sightseers can rest assured that the volcanos moods are carefully monitored lest it decides to let loose its fury of molten lava. Later in the Pleistocene (about 900,000 to 130,000 years ago), Karisimbi, Visoke, Mgahinga, and Muhavura appeared, all but Karisimbi possessing a crater summit. Harnessed bushbuck (T. scriptus) and giant forest hog (Hylochoerus meinertzhageni) are present in the southern sector. Virunga National Park is placed on the list of endangered World Heritage sites. In direct response to the massacres, the Senkwekwe Centre is established to care for the orphans of the massacre.
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