The endangered mountain gorilla resides in central Africa which is often a politically unstable region. Mountain gorillas don't have much interest in politics, but for nations like the Democratic Republic of the Congo or Rwanda, instability can impact the country's ability to support the conservation and protection of these apes. Currently, there are approximately 790 mountain gorillas with over half of them living in the Virunga National Park in DR Congo. Unfortunately, rebel activity in May forced the evacuation of the park rangers and without the rangers presence the location of the six known families of mountain gorillas that move, eat, and sleep within the park becomes a question mark. And it leaves the gorillas exposed to poachers who will kill the gorillas for black market trophies of head, hands, or feet. While the rebel unrest has been ongoing since April, recently the rebel forces and the opposing government forces both agreed to allow the rangers into the area to search for the gorilla families. With some unexpected shelling taking place, it was touch-and-go, but eventually the rangers were allowed today to begin conducting their search. No results are known just yet. "We have had to delay 24 hours because of the shelling that took place this morning," park director Emmanuel de Merode told...
