国立公園の人気ゴリラ殺した男に禁錮１１年　ウガンダ

【ＡＦＰ＝時事】東アフリカ・ウガンダの裁判所は30日、国立公園の人気ものだった雄のマウンテンゴリラを殺した罪などで、近隣に住む男に禁錮11年の有罪判決を言い渡した。（写真は資料写真）
　スワヒリ語で「友達」を意味する「ラフィキ」と名付けられ愛されていたゴリラは、背中の毛が白い「シルバーバック」の個体で推定２５歳。ブウィンディ原生国立公園で１７頭の群れを率いていたが、先月、やりで刺されて死んでいるのが見つかった。
　ウガンダ野生生物保護庁によると、この事件で近隣在住のフェリックス・ビャムカマ被告が逮捕され、ゴリラを殺したことを認めた。正当防衛だと主張していたという。
　ビャムカマ被告はこの他、保護区への不法侵入や、ウシ科のほ乳類ダイカーとアカカワイノシシを殺した罪でも有罪を認めた。
　ラフィキはブウィンディ原生国立公園で初めて人間に慣れたゴリラで、観光客が森を歩きながら群れの姿を観察することができた。
　マウンテンゴリラの生息地は、ウガンダ、ルワンダ、コンゴ民主共和国（旧ザイール）にまたがる２つの保護区、広さ約８００平方キロの範囲に限られている。保護活動により、２００８年にはわずか６８０頭だった生息数は１０００頭を超え、国際自然保護連合（ＩＵＣＮ）の「レッドリスト」では２０１８年に「近絶滅種」から「絶滅危惧種」に変更された。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2020/08/03-13:30）

A Ugandan court on Thursday sentenced a man to 11 years in prison for offences including the killing of a beloved mountain gorilla in the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park.
The Silverback gorilla, named Rafiki -- which means friend in Swahili -- was believed to be around 25 years old. He was found dead last month from a spear wound.
Felix Byamukama, a resident of a nearby village, was arrested and admitted to killing the gorilla, saying it was in self-defence, according to the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA).
The authority said Byamukama was given an 11-year jail term for killing Rafiki and other wildlife in the park.
Byamukama had pleaded guilty on three charges including illegally entering the protected area and killing a duiker and a bush pig.
UWA executive director Sam Mwandha said: We are relieved that Rafiki has received justice and this should serve as an example to other people who kill wildlife.
Rafiki headed a family of 17 gorillas, the first to become habituated to humans in the national park, allowing tourists to hike through the forest to see them. Their life expectancy in the wild is about 35 years.
The wildlife authority described the killing of Rafiki as a great blow after intensive conservation efforts saw the mountain gorilla's Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) category upgraded from critically endangered to endangered in 2018.
The population of the gorillas grew from around 680 individuals in 2008 to over 1,000.
The mountain gorilla's habitat is restricted to protected areas covering nearly 800 square kilometres (300 square miles) in two locations -- the Virunga Massif and Bwindi-Sarambwe -- which stretch across the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.
Rafiki's murder came as poaching incidents were on the rise in Uganda, which had imposed a strict lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic, and with tourists yet to return.
We have noticed a rise in incidents of poaching in our national parks following the closure of our tourism hubs because of COVID-19, the UWA's Mwandha told AFP.
What we are investigating is who is behind the cases of poaching. Due to lockdown have the communities near the parks turned against the wildlife as a source of livelihood? Is it a criminal network behind the rise in poaching? Is the absence of tourism in parks facilitating poaching?
Wherever the answer lies, incidents of poaching are a cause for worry and we have intensified patrols in parks, he added.