Six Park Rangers Killed In DRC Protecting Mountain Gorillas

Five wildlife rangers and a driver guarding one of the world's most important refuges for mountain gorillas and other critically endangered species have been killed in an ambush. 

Authorities in the Virunga National Park, the Democratic Republic of Congo's famed haven for gorillas, said the men were gunned down by militia men early on Monday near the border with Uganda.

"Virunga National Park is deeply saddened to confirm reports of an attack on our staff today," the park said in a statement. 

More than 150 rangers have been killed protecting the Virunga national park, which covers an area three times the size of Luxembourg, over the past twenty years. 

Virunga was established established in 1925 and describes itself as Africa's oldest national park. 

Covering more than 3000 square miles of wilderness on the Rwandan and Ugandan border, it is one of Africa's most diverse habitats and is home to about a quarter of the world's surviving 880 mountain gorillas. 

This attack demonstrated the incredible pressure our African wildlife continues to be under, without greater protection from our governments and a national effort to preserve our heritage it will be lost to greed and human recklessness.