https://popups.lib.uliege.be/2984-0317/index.php?id=1552 Entrées d’index fr 0 https://popups.lib.uliege.be/2984-0317/index.php?id=1550 Created in 1934 in Eastern Rwanda, the Akagera National Park (ANP) has been the scene o f two introductions and one reintroduction of large ungulates. Two male and four female black rhinoceros, a species which never lived before in the ANP but was present in Tanzania, beyond the river Akagera matching approximately the international border and working as a biogeographical barrier, were introduced in 1957 ; these animals reproduced and spread over the whole savanna. Their real number was never accurately known as the y were regularly poached by Rwandeses and Tanzanians. About ten specimens were still living before the Rwandese war and at least four at the end of 1996. The last elephants living in the ANP were noticed in 1960-61 before the species was reintroduced in 1975. The government had decided to eradicate a population of some 150 individuals causing trouble to peasants in the Bugesera ; all large, aged animais were shot whereas 25 young ones were transferred into the ANP, where they settled in the lakes border zone. There were 45 individuals before the war and these seem to have escaped from damages. The giraffe is considered a species never living for historical times in the area presently known as ANP. A personal deal between the president of Kenya and the former president of Rwanda resulted in the introduction in 1986 of six young animals – two males and four females - in order to improve the park diversity and attractiveness. Scientists were reluctant. The animals reproduced, extended their home range, and their numbers grow up : they resisted the war and some 20 individuals were still living in December 1997. The reintroduction in the ANP of the elephant from a Rwandese population was legitimous. The introduction of the black rhinoceros was questionable. The introduction of giraffes had no biological justification and was opposed by scientists : they were sure that the operation would be a wreckage. Paradoxically, it is thanks to the presence of giraffes that the new governmental authorities decided it was worth preserving 100 000 ha of the park, considering that the giraffe investment had to be saved. Non-scientific arguments succeeded where biological ones had not… Thu, 01 Feb 2024 16:42:50 +0100 Tue, 19 Mar 2024 15:49:37 +0100 https://popups.lib.uliege.be/2984-0317/index.php?id=1550 https://popups.lib.uliege.be/2984-0317/index.php?id=1513 Le Parc National de l'Akagera (PNA) et le Parc National des Volcans (PNV) constituent les principales aires protégées du Rwanda. A la suite de la guerre civile qui ensanglante ce pays depuis le début des années quatre-vingt dix, le destin des deux parcs a divergé. Le PNV, voué à la conservation d'une des dernières populations de gorilles de montagne et de leur habitat avait retrouvé début 1996 une situation équivalente à celle d'avant-guerre malgré la perte de quelques gorilles. Le PNA par contre fut envahi par,d'immenses troupeaux de bovins domestiques, entraînant une sérieuse atteinte à son intégrité. li est à craindre que les deux tiers du parc soient sacrifiés, tandis que le tiers restant demeure menacé. L'âge d'or de cette aire protégée semble toucher à sa fin, 63 ans après sa création. Mais c'est le devoir des conservationnistes de ne jamais laisser tomber les bras… The Akagera National Park (ANP) and the Volcano National Park (VNP) are the main protected areas in Rwanda. Following civil war that bloodstained the country since 1990, the destiny of these two parks diverged. The VNP, dedicated to the conservation of one of the last population of mountain gorillas and of their habitat, recovered somehow the same situation as before the war despite some gorillas were lost. The ANP, on the other hand, has been invaded by large herds of domestic cattle, which resulted in serious injuries at its integrity. It seems that two-thirds of the park are on the way to be sacrificed and will be devoted to human and cattle settlement. The fate of the remaining third is still undecided. About 63 years after the park was created. the golden era of this protected area of international reputation seems close to an end. But it is the conservationists' duty to carry on. Thu, 01 Feb 2024 16:27:38 +0100 Wed, 13 Mar 2024 12:06:48 +0100 https://popups.lib.uliege.be/2984-0317/index.php?id=1513