Mountain Gorillas

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo - Rebels have seized an area in eastern Congo that serves as a wildlife habitat for endangered mountain gorillas, threatening one of the last known populations of the animals, conservationists said yesterday. Shelling and heavy gunfire could be heard from the headquarters of the Virunga National Park, and rangers were forced to flee during the weekend, the international conservation group WildlifeDirect said. Only 700 mountain gorillas exist in the world, of which more than half live in the Virunga conservation area, a huge swath of territory at...

BRONCO BILLY (Encore on Comcast) Clint Eastwood fashions a most entertaining film from the fabric of a modern day, flea-bitten Wild West Show. Sondra Locke (above, with Eastwood) and Scatman Crothers head a terrific supporting cast. One thing’s for sure, ole Clint would never give us any mechanical bull. (PG; runs through Dec. 24) GORILLAS IN THE MIST (Encore on Comcast) Sigourney Weaver attacks the role of primatologist Dian Fossey with the high-mindedness of a Hepburn.

DAKAR, Senegal -- Rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have killed and eaten two silverback mountain gorillas, conservationists said yesterday, warning that they fear more of the endangered animals may have been slaughtered in the lawless region. Only about 700 mountain gorillas remain in the world, 380 of them spread across a range of volcanic mountains straddling the borders of Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda in Central Africa. One dismembered gorilla corpse was found Tuesday in a pit latrine in Congo's Virunga National Park, a few hundred yards from a park patrol post that was...

VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK - It's before dawn when we rise and sleepwalk to the bus that will take us from our hotel in the capital, Kigali, to this northwest corner of Rwanda. But we are pumped: We are going to see the world-famous, highly endangered mountain gorillas, the ones featured in the 1988 hit movie "Gorillas in the Mist. " It is, without hyperbole, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Worldwide, there are only 700 mountain gorillas remaining in their natural habitat and 400 of them are in Rwanda.

BRONCO BILLY (Encore on Comcast) Clint Eastwood fashions a most entertaining film from the fabric of a modern day, flea-bitten Wild West Show. Sondra Locke (above, with Eastwood) and Scatman Crothers head a terrific supporting cast. One thing’s for sure, ole Clint would never give us any mechanical bull. (PG; runs through Dec. 24) GORILLAS IN THE MIST (Encore on Comcast) Sigourney Weaver attacks the role of primatologist Dian Fossey with the high-mindedness of a Hepburn.

VIRUNGA NATIONAL PARK, Democratic Republic of Congo - Not far from a hillside where several mountain gorillas shot dead last summer lie buried, park ranger Innocent Mburanumwe peered across a primordial canopy of treetops into what may be the most dangerous game reserve on earth. The lush sanctuary - home to some of the world's last mountain gorillas - was thrust onto the front lines of Congo's latest war in September. Since then, the fragile habitat in the Central African highlands has been overrun by rebels and soldiers, transformed into an off-limits war...

VOLCANOES NATIONAL PARK - It's before dawn when we rise and sleepwalk to the bus that will take us from our hotel in the capital, Kigali, to this northwest corner of Rwanda. But we are pumped: We are going to see the world-famous, highly endangered mountain gorillas, the ones featured in the 1988 hit movie "Gorillas in the Mist. " It is, without hyperbole, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Worldwide, there are only 700 mountain gorillas remaining in their natural habitat and 400 of them are in Rwanda.

KINSHASA, Congo - A national park in Congo best known for its endangered mountain gorillas is now inviting tourists to go on overnight treks to see a volcano spurting fountains of lava nearly 1,000 feet into the air. Mount Nyamulagira began erupting Nov. 6 and could continue to do so for days, or even months. "Last night's was the most spectacular yet," spokeswoman LuAnne Chad said yesterday from Virunga National Park. Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano attracted tourists this year when a fissure had lava spurting 65 feet high.

LONDON - Zoologists have captured the first photos of the okapi in the wild, saying yesterday they offered evidence that the animal once mistaken for a unicorn has managed to survive war and poaching in a park in a lawless swath of Congo. The doe-eyed animal, which can be found in zoos worldwide, is a relative of the giraffe but has zebra-like stripes on its legs and rear. The species was unknown to European scientists until a century ago. It is thought to have inspired claims of unicorn sightings by Victorian-era explorers, said Noelle Kumpel, a conservationist...

online....

VIRUNGA NATIONAL PARK, Democratic Republic of Congo - Not far from a hillside where several mountain gorillas shot dead last summer lie buried, park ranger Innocent Mburanumwe peered across a primordial canopy of treetops into what may be the most dangerous game reserve on earth. The lush sanctuary - home to some of the world's last mountain gorillas - was thrust onto the front lines of Congo's latest war in September. Since then, the fragile habitat in the Central African highlands has been overrun by rebels and soldiers, transformed into an off-limits war...

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo - Rebels have seized an area in eastern Congo that serves as a wildlife habitat for endangered mountain gorillas, threatening one of the last known populations of the animals, conservationists said yesterday. Shelling and heavy gunfire could be heard from the headquarters of the Virunga National Park, and rangers were forced to flee during the weekend, the international conservation group WildlifeDirect said. Only 700 mountain gorillas exist in the world, of which more than half live in the Virunga conservation area, a...

DAKAR, Senegal -- Rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have killed and eaten two silverback mountain gorillas, conservationists said yesterday, warning that they fear more of the endangered animals may have been slaughtered in the lawless region. Only about 700 mountain gorillas remain in the world, 380 of them spread across a range of volcanic mountains straddling the borders of Congo, Rwanda, and Uganda in Central Africa. One dismembered gorilla corpse was found Tuesday in a pit latrine in Congo's Virunga National Park, a few hundred yards from a...

KIGALI, Rwanda - Though tourists generally come to Rwanda to see the mountain gorillas, there's another attraction that is both incredibly gruesome and incredibly moving: memorials to the 1994 genocide in which at least 800,000 people were slaughtered in 100 days. The radical Hutu government targeted the minority Tutsis and moderate Hutus, literally decimating the country's population with machetes and clubs, guns and grenades, while the world turned its back. The main genocide site is the Kigali Memorial Centre, which opened on the 10th anniversary of the beginning of the...