Zeldzame groep van zo'n 40 chimpansees in Virunga National Park (Congo) bedreigd door lava vulkaan Mount Nyamulagira

DR Congo volcano eruption threatens rare

chimpanzees

03-01-2010 Angola Press, Angola


Kinshasa - Lava from a volcano in a sparsely populated area of the Democratic Republic of Congo is threatening rare chimpanzees, wildlife officials say.

Mount Nyamulagira, 25km (16 miles) from the eastern city of Goma, erupted at dawn on Saturday, sending lava into the surrounding Virunga National Park.
About 40 endangered chimpanzees and other animals live in the area.

Rangers were deployed to the area to monitor the flow of lava and were due to report back hourly, he added.

A government official, Feller Lutahichirwa, said observers were monitoring the situation with help from UN helicopters, the Associated Press reports.

Virunga, a Unesco World Heritage Site since 1979, is home to 200 of the world's 720 remaining mountain gorillas but they live on the flanks of the Mikeno volcano further east from Nyamulagira.

Previous eruptions of the volcano have threatened the city of Goma, which has a population of at least 200,000 as well as tens of thousands of refugees.

(Bron: http://www.portalangop.co.ao/)
(Bron Google Earth: archief Kraaijer / Bron foto: http://www.surfbirds.com/sbirdsnews/archives/world_wildlife_fund/)