http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6918012.stm
I thought I would look at some news from my focus country, the Democratic Republic of Congo. The top story was five gorillas found dead in a wildlife park. The deaths are thought to be caused by people who want to scare the wardens out of the park. With only 380 gorillas in the park, over half the total population in the world, five deaths is a considerable amount and makes the seven total deaths this year seem like a lot. How can this be stopped? I imagine it would be hard to patrol every inch of the park. Until it can be stopped, every gorilla shooting will be a hard hit to the gorilla population.
Yet, I'm amazed that the top story was about gorillas. With all the struggles a 3rd world country faces, I highly doubt that the most important news was about gorillas. True, the gorillas were shot possibly by groups that wanted to use the park for resources (like charcoal) and in a small developing country, every bit of land is considered for its potential. However, the gorillas couldn't be the nations biggest concern at the moment. They just made interesting news. I'm left wondering what the more important, less intriguing news actually was.
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2 comments:
I agree that's it's unfortunate that what gets the attention of news reporters is the death of gorillas, an issue dwindled by the problem DRC face. At the same time DRC is so deep in trouble that an unconventional issue like the use of endangered animals as a form of 'terrorism' probably would make the news.
I wonder if it's the same group who killed rhinoceroses for the same purpose...
I don't know how much the tourism industry brings to the economy of the DRC, but that may be why this news story is big. Tourism that involves sustaining habitat for endangered species is one way to bring money into a country and at the same time help preserve the environment of that country. It can be a win-win situation. Preserving the environment instead of exploiting it for resources, and still making money for the country is great. Of course, I don't know what the conditions are in this country, or what other concerns might be more important for the news...
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