Beloved silverback gorilla killed by poachers in Uganda
The killing of the 25-year-old male, Rafiki, follows a rise in illegal activities as tourism dries up in Uganda.
Poachers have killed a well-known mountain gorilla, delivering a setback to decades-long conservation efforts to pull the subspecies back from the precipice of extinction.
Authorities in Uganda arrested four suspected poachers following the death of Rafiki, a 25-year-old silverback who led a group of 17 gorillas in western Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park since 2008, according to a June 12 statement by the Uganda Wildlife Authority.
The great ape, a favorite of tourists, died after a poacher thrust a spear into his belly, penetrating as deep as his internal organs, according to a post-mortem report. The last time a mountain gorilla died at the hands of humans was in 2011.
Rafiki's family regularly foraged beyond the park boundaries, making
