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Two stray elephants in the famous Virunga Wildlife Reserve in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo have killed two farm workers, the park said on Friday.
“The Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature confirms that two elephants from Virunga National Park (PNVi) yesterday (Thursday) caused the death of two farmers in Rutshuru territory,” he said in a statement. .
“The elephants (…) were prowling” in the fields outside the reserve, Olivier Mukisya, PNVi communications manager, told AFP.
“The injured were elderly and could not escape,” he said.
“We hope to find a permanent solution by installing an electric fence so that the animals cannot leave the park.”
Angry local populations tried to march against the park authorities but their protest “was stopped”, according to Alphonse Kambale, a delegate of the governor of the province of North Kivu, who called on the authorities to find “a lasting solution. “.
PNVi says it plans to extend an electric fence that is already operational along 156 kilometers (97 miles) of the park’s perimeter, ensuring the safety of farming communities bordering it.
Established in 1925, the park covers some 7,800 square kilometers (3,000 square miles) and is home to about a quarter of the world’s critically endangered mountain gorilla population.
Its diverse range of habitats – from swamps to savannah and forests – is home to more than 400 species of mammals, reptiles and amphibians, with 700 species of birds, according to the United Nations World Heritage Center.
Tourists remain eager to visit this natural treasure, even though the province of North Kivu has for 25 years been an epicenter of war and more recent clashes between armed groups vying for control of mineral wealth.
On January 10, six rangers were killed in Rutshuru when they were ambushed by a group of militiamen, who lost two men, local officials said.
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