Two rare gorillas killed
The African Wildlife Foundation, a major contributor to the Virunga National Park where the gorillas live, said the poachers killed a juvenile male and a three-year-old female, on September 3, apparently while hunting monkeys.
``The deaths represent a devastating setback in our fight against extinction,'' said foundation president Michael Wright.
Just more than 600 of the gorillas survive, in the forests around the point where Congo, Uganda and Rwanda meet. Strife has disrupted the operations of the parks set up to save them.
Four gorillas were killed in cross fire in May 1997, during the fighting that led to Kabila's taking power in Kinshasa.
A spokeswoman for the African Wildlife Foundation said there was a loose link between the fighting and the latest gorilla killings, since most of the armed men in the area belong to rebel groups.
