They killed Rafiki, one of the last mountain gorillas in Uganda The fishermen claimed it was “self-defense.”

Ugandan poachers have killed Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park My companionone of the last famous mountain gorillas in Ugandafor whom The species is in serious danger of extinction Because there are only a thousand copies left, according to the country’s authorities, today, Saturday.

The Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) has arrested four suspects in the same park as Bwindi, which is located in the southwest of the country on the border with Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The only area in the world where this type of gorilla lives.

One of them, a resident of the town of Moruli, who was arrested on June 4, was in possession of butamukuero (a type of wild boar) meat and several hunting weapons. AndThis Ugandan admitted to killing the known primates in self-defenseThis happened after – according to his claim – the animal tried to attack him and three other suspects, who are in police custody awaiting trial.

Rafiki, which means “friend” in Swahili, was the silver male of the Nkuringo family of 17, and a highly regarded figure among Ugandans and visitors to the park. The University of Western Australia said in a statement that according to the autopsy, he died after a sharp object passed through the upper left part of his abdomen until it reached his organs. My companion had been missing since the first of last June, and tracking teams in the park found his body in the same nature reserve.

Bwindi Forest is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site It is a refuge for nearly half of the remaining mountain gorillas on the planetAccording to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). According to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the mountain gorilla population is a critically endangered species that lives in three parks in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda.

In just eight years, the population of this species – “Biringi Beringi” – in Congo's Virunga Park has increased from 480 specimens in 2010 to 604 today (41 kits and 14 males). If we add gorillas on the Ugandan side, it comes to a total estimate of 1,004 specimens.