Young eastern mountain gorillas in Virunga National Park. Photo: New York Times It was one of the most confronting wildlife images of our time: weeping villagers carrying the bodies of seven eastern mountain gorillas through the forest, bearing them up as if for a royal burial. The gorillas had been murdered by unknown gunmen, execution-style, in 2007 in the deeply forested mountains of Virunga National Park, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The loss of the Virunga gorillas would be a devastating and potentially fatal blow to the species' prospects of survival. Shock turned to anger when the truth emerged: the killings had been ordered by none other than Honore Mashagiro,...
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