Volcanic eruption relents

Lava from Mount Nyamuragira in the Democratic Republic of Congo, located about 25 km north of Lake Kivu, which has been flowing since last week, has finally subsided posing no threat to wildlife in the Virunga National Park. The mountain has been spewing lava that also spread into Rwanda’s Virunga National Park since Tuesday last week. Mt. Nyamuragira is Africa’s and one of the world’s most active volcanoes which erupts approximately after every two years. According to Dr Jean Felix Kinani, a wildlife veterinary officer in the area, lava is receding and that they anticipate that by next week, it might completely stop. “It’s just getting slower and slower by the day, and since it started, no animals have been affected,” he told The New Times by phone yesterday. The vet observed that lava is now only visible in rift valleys unlike previously where it had besieged the Virunga National Park. Virunga National Park in DRC is one of the three national parks that form the Virunga Massif together with the Volcanoes National Park in Rwanda and the Mgahinga Gorilla National Park in Uganda. The Virunga Massif is the only habitat for the endangered mountain gorillas in the whole world. A 2010 census reports that the population of mountain gorillas in the Virunga Massif was 480 individuals at the time data was collected. Recently, a team from the park was dispatched to the affected area to monitor the situation of all animals and ensure their safety. Faustin Karasira, acting Head of Tourism and Conservation at Rwanda Development Board, said the tourism sector remained unaffected despite the eruption. Ends