Bonn, 26 January 2011 - The CMS Secretariat has learned with deep regret of another lethal attack on rangers and government soldiers in the Virunga National Park in the Eastern DRC. Three park rangers and five Congolese soldiers were killed when their patrol was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade just inside the park’s perimeter, making this the worst such attack in over a year.

These rangers and soldiers are on the frontline of conservation efforts for gorillas and the numerous other valuable species inhabiting this park, and their efforts and sacrifice cannot be praised enough. Further details of this tragic incident are contained in the attached press release issued by the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN) [click here].

CMS will hold a technical meeting on gorilla conservation in late March in neighbouring Rwanda. Among other topics, improving the situation of rangers through better monitoring techniques and law enforcement will be on the meeting agenda.