You’ve probably seen the first/top image pop up lately with the caption, “Man gives gorilla a hug after his mum is killed by poachers”. I’ll write why the image of the lady waiting for the Pope is included below. But, the top image is floating around as if the gorilla’s mother was pouched just minutes prior to this shot, and that the man has somehow just “given her the bad news.” Even comedian and animal rights activist Ricky Gervais fell for it on his twitter account a few days ago.
The truth is much more nuanced. The photo was taken in 2012 at a sanctuary for orphaned gorillas in world famous Virunga National Park by a very good photojournalist, Phil Moore who spent time following this young man, a fierce park ranger named Patrick Karabaranga.
Over 160 park rangers have been killed since 1996 trying to protect mountain gorillas, who are prized for their paws, meat, heads, and other body parts. Virunga is located in war-recovering Democratic Republic of Congo (a state still torn by deep poverty and horrible corruption).
Patrick Karabaranga, a warden at the Virunga National Park, plays with an orphaned mountain gorilla in the gorilla sanctuary in the park headquarters at Rumangabo in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo on July 17, 2012. The Virunga park is home to some 210 mountain gorillas, approximately a quarter of the world’s population. The four orphans that live in the sanctuary are the only mountain gorillas in the world not living in the wild, having been brought here after their parents were killed by poachers or as a result of traffickers trying to smuggle them out of the park. ‘They play a critical part in the survival of the species’ says Emmanuel De Merode, Director for Virunga National Park. He adds that the ICCN does not currently have access to the gorilla sector of the park due to the M23 rebellion. AFP PHOTO/PHIL MOORE
See TIME’s great piece on guerillas killing gorillas here, noting in the TIME article, the gorilla in the picture is posing with a colleague of Patrick’s on the same tree.
Also, watch the short, sharp Netflix documentary, Virunga: Gorillas in Peril.
Memes are great, and sometimes they can serve to raise awareness of some social or environmental issue. This one, however, does a deep disservice to the animals and certainly to Mr. Karabaranga. So, while the picture resurfaced and was repackaged to make people have their daily sad, the real issue is that the Congalese need financial assistance and military intervention to protect the park, the rangers, and of course the world’s last remaining, precious mountain gorillas.
Why not take 30 seconds and donate a few bucks to Virunga National Park. Lord knows they could use the funds. They take paypal, and I just sent some money: https://virunga.org/donate/
The old lady in the third/bottom picture is also floating around this week. I believe she is waiting to see the Pope. The other people surrounding her are not waiting for the Pope, they’re waiting to create a false memory.
Let’s slow down - just a bit; maybe a minute or so - and create real memories. Let’s also make an effort to contribute and stop feeling bad for ourselves…
stormborns
annaxmalina
romaincrisis
blakekathryn
dailybridgerton
kaledo-art
tangentwithtanner
