Africa’s first national park threatened by oil prospectors
Found within the Democratic Republic of Congo, Virunga national park was established in 1925 and is the oldest park within the continent. The park was first established to protect a thriving community of mountain gorillas, which are now an critically endangered species with only 880 left in the wild. Virungas national park is home to over half of the worlds population so it is extremely important that something is done to conserve the species. But now animal conservationists are outraged by the proposed plans to exploit oil from within the park. The WWF has filed a complaint which has led to an international agency reviewing the plans, the complaint is based on allegations of environmental protection and human rights violation.
Home to a variety of important species, not just the mountain gorillas
Africa is home to a vast variety of species as across the continent there is a range of environments from the desert to the savannah, but within Virunga National Park there are more species that need to be protected from the oil prospectors.
The following species are mostly unique to Virungas national park and are under a constant threat from not only oil prospectors but also poachers.
The Common Hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibious) is a key element of the Virunga Park. There are approximately 20,000 left within the park which is the largest population of hippos within Africa
The owl-faced monkey (Cercopithecus hamlyni) is found mainly within the tropical forests of the park. This monkey is now classed as vulnerable due to loss of habitat within the area and due to them been caught within a crossfire of a civil war.
The Okapi (Okapia johnstoni) is unique to the high canopy forests of the park and is now classed as endangered as its population numbers were halved between 1995 and 2013, leaving no more than 4400 left in the park.
Could become extinct due to oil dangers
The Young Scientist 