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UN team probes mountain gorilla shooting deaths in DRC
Kinshasa (AFP) Aug 18, 2007 A joint mission of several UN agencies is conducting an emergency investigation into the shooting of endangered mountain gorillas in a Democratic Republic of Congo national park, UNESCO said Saturday. In the last two months, seven of the primates have been killed in separate incidents in the Virunga park in northeastern DRC, a World Heritage site and tourist attraction, the United Nations cultural agency said. The mission is being mounted by UNESCO, the World Conservation Union (IUCN), the UN Environmental Programme and the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN). "Working with local authorities and partners in the field, the members of the mission will investigate the reasons for the targeting of the mountain gorillas whose population in the park is estimated at 370 (out of a total of 700 mountain gorillas worldwide)," UNESCO said. It called the "apparently senseless slaughter" of gorillas in Virunga "a blow for the preservation of mountain gorillas and a setback for conservation efforts at the World Heritage site." On the basis of its findings, the mission will propose measures for the protection of the mountain gorillas and for the improvement of the conservation of the site. "There is grave concern for the mountain gorillas as the latest killings are inexplicable: they do not correspond to traditional poaching where animals are killed for commercial purposes," UNESCO said. "Furthermore the killings have taken place despite the increased guard patrols and the presence of military forces in the area." The UN mission in the DRC, known as MONUC, says the preservation of the country's natural resources are vital for the economy and the income of local people, thanks in particular to tourism. UNESCO said that "in view of the fact that the five World Heritage sites of the DRC have had to be placed on the World Heritage in Danger List, and of the recent deterioration in Virunga," it plans a high-level meeting in the autumn to examine ways to improve the situation. bbos/mb/jj Related Links Democracy in the 21st century at TerraDaily.com
DARPA Completes Autonomous Airborne Refueling Demonstration
Edwards AFB CA (SPX) Aug 13, 2007The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) completed its Autonomous Airborne Refueling Demonstration program this month, showing that unmanned aircraft can autonomously perform in-flight refueling under operational conditions. These recent flights built on the first-ever fully autonomous refueling, conducted under controlled test conditions last August. Since then, the Autonomous Airborne Refueling Demonstration (AARD) has completed 10 additional flights. |
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