Gunmen have killed two rangers in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the latest deadly attack in a region roiled by militia violence.

Park sources said a heavily armed group opened fire on a control post at Kamuhororo, on the southern shore of Lake Edward inside Virunga, early on May 21. Kasereka Valyathire Baraka, 35, and Munguakonkwa Mihigo Jacques, 34, the rangers on duty at the time, were both killed, according to national park officials.

The killings underscore the extreme risks facing conservation personnel in the eastern DRC. Instability here stems from overlapping conflicts between rebel groups including M23, Mai-Mai and scores of militias. Virunga has recorded more ranger deaths than any other protected area in the DRC, making it one of the world’s most dangerous conservation posts.

It’s also a UNESCO World Heritage Site and biodiversity hotspot, home to two species of great apes: eastern gorillas (Gorilla beringei) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes).

Park officials said they haven’t yet identified the attackers. The provincial office of the Congolese Institute for Nature Conservation (ICCN), the government agency that manages the DRC’s national parks, described the attack as “odious and unacceptable.”

“We call for a thorough and urgent investigation to bring the perpetrators and their sponsors to justice,” Emmanuel de Merode, director of Virunga National Park, said in a statement obtained by Mongabay.

More than 200 rangers have been killed in Virunga National Park in the last century. Rangers are often outnumbered by armed groups in the region.

There’s also hostility toward the park among some segments of the local population. Officials say Virunga and other protected areas can only be successful if they can create a better conservation-based economy than the war-based economy, which many armed groups depend on.

“If conservation creates hardships, it won’t work,” De Merode told Mongabay recently. “We cannot tell people not to use natural resources without offering them an alternative,” he added, referring to efforts by the park to support alternative livelihoods for surrounding communities.

Mongabay has been documenting violence in and around Virunga National Park for more than a decade.

• He survived a deadly attack, now he is calling for better working conditions for rangers in DRC
• Twelve rangers killed in latest Virunga park incident
• Six rangers killed in deadly militia attack in DRC’s Virunga National Park
• Eight rangers, soldiers killed in Virunga National Park
• Six staff killed in deadliest attack at Congo’s Virunga National Park

Despite the latest deaths, officials have reiterated their determination to continue protecting Virunga. In the statement obtained by Mongabay, officials said the park management “reaffirms its unwavering determination to continue its mission of conserving and preserving the Congolese natural heritage, whatever the threats and trials.”

Banner image: Kasereka Valyathire Baraka, left, and Munguakonkwa Mihigo Jacques were the latest Virunga rangers killed in the line of duty. Images courtesy of Virunga National Park.

The Ecuadorian National Police arrested three Thai nationals on May 19, 2026, at the José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport in Guayaquil on suspicion of wildlife trafficking.

They seized 12 marine iguanas (Amblyrhynchus cristatus), endemic to the Galápagos. The reptiles were found stuffed in handbags with their legs tightly bound. One was dead and those that survived had numbness in their limbs, the Ministry of Environment and Energy said in a social media post. The reptiles are now under specialized care.  

All four species of endemic Galápagos iguanas, including marine iguanas, are protected under Ecuadorian laws and have the highest level of protections under CITES, the global wildlife trade treaty. Both protections prohibit removing the iguanas from the wild or selling them.

“The illegal extraction and trade of Galápagos species poses a threat to one of Ecuador’s and the world’s most important natural heritage sites,” the Ministry of Environment and Energy said in a press release. It added the government is monitoring and coordinating efforts to “prevent and punish wildlife crimes.”

The operation was carried out by the national police, in coordination with the Environmental Authority, the Galápagos National Park Directorate and the Governing Council of the Galápagos Special Regime. Further investigations are ongoing.

In the last week, four separate cases of marine iguanas, discarded on sidewalks in Guayaquil, were also reported, indicating trafficking. That brings the total to 16 suspected smuggled iguanas in about a week.

Sandra Altherr, a co-founder of German NGO Pro Wildlife who has been monitoring the illegal trade in Galápagos iguanas for over a decade, told Mongabay this case shows “just how cruel wildlife trafficking is.” She added that “the buyers of such stolen animals are just as unscrupulous as the poachers.”

“The whole operation is firmly in the hands of an organised criminal network operating on a global scale,” Altherr said.

Traffickers have been caught in the past attempting to smuggle iguanas out of Ecuador. They are a prized possession for reptile collectors and private zoo owners and can fetch top dollar on the black market.

Uganda is the hub of international iguana trade. Traders there claim the reptiles are captive bred and can be legally traded. However, questions remain about the actual origin of those “captive-bred” animals.

Altherr said she found evidence that four marine iguanas were exported by a Ugandan company owned by a man with a history of international wildlife smuggling. The iguanas were sold to a private zoo owned by a billionaire in India.

“Ecuador has already done a fantastic job: it has placed its Galápagos iguanas under the highest possible level of global protection and has called on all other countries to stop authorising exports and imports,” Altherr said. She added import countries must “confiscate any animals found there and return them to Ecuador.”

 Banner Image: The arrested individuals and seized iguanas Image courtesy of the Ministry of Environment and Energy, Ecuador. 

The Ebola hemorrhagic fever virus outbreak that began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo was officially confirmed by the World Health Organization (WHO) on May 15. Less than a week later, the death toll is rising with at least 600 suspected cases and 139 suspected deaths linked to the disease, as well as 51 laboratory-confirmed cases, WHO has reported.

The confirmed figures differ from the suspected cases because samples must be analyzed in Kinshasa, around 1,700 kilometers (1,050 miles) by plane from the outbreak area in Ituri province, before cases can be officially confirmed. In addition, the initial symptoms of the virus are very similar to those of malaria, a disease that is widespread in the region.

“We expect those numbers to keep increasing given the amount of time the virus was circulating before the outbreak was detected,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters in Geneva. “I have decided that urgent action is needed to prevent further deaths and to mobilize an effective international response.” He also noted the scale of the outbreak could in fact be “much larger” than current estimates, as the epidemic likely began “a couple of months ago.”

Faced with the growing number of cases and its international spread, the WHO declared a public health emergency of international concern on May 17, 2026.

The disease, which emerged in rural Ituri province in eastern DRC, now appears to have spread to major cities including Kinshasa and Kampala, the capital of Uganda, as well as Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, which is currently under the control of the AFC/M23 armed group.

“The province of Ituri is highly insecure. Conflict has intensified since late 2025, and fighting has escalated significantly over the past two months, with over 100,000 people newly displaced. The area is also a mining zone, with high levels of population movement that increase the risk of further spread,” Ghebreyesus said during the press conference.

Although the situation has not yet reached the level of a global pandemic, the disease risks spreading further. An American citizen working in the DRC tested positive and was transferred to Berlin, Germany, for treatment, where family members are expected to join him. Since May 17, the U.S. State Department has also raised the entire DRC to a Level 4 “Do Not Travel” advisory because of the virus.

The current Ebola outbreak is caused by the Bundibugyo strain, a variant for which there are currently no approved vaccines or treatments.

However, during the Ebola briefing WHO doctor Vasee Moorthy, acting lead for the R&D Blueprint for Action to Prevent Epidemics, said several vaccine candidates are currently under study. In the best-case scenario, according to him, one of these candidates could be available for clinical trials within two to three months, although uncertainties remain.

Banner image: Medical staff carry an Ebola patient to a treatment center. Image by Moses Sawasawa via Associated Press

A new study has shed light on the scale of wild meat consumption across Central Africa. According to research led by CIFOR-ICRAF, a roughly 50% increase in the amount of wild meat being consumed is driven largely by growing demand from rapidly expanding urban populations.

Published in the journal Nature, the study analyzed data from more than 12,000 households across 252 locations in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo between 2000 and 2022.

Meat from wild animals continues to serve as a primary source of food for millions of people in the region, particularly traditional hunter-gatherers. According to the study, population growth in Central Africa — from 25 million to 140 million people — has sharply increased demand for both food and income, placing additional pressure on wildlife populations.

The study determined 31% of mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians in the region are currently at risk of extinction. Researchers found annual wild meat consumption rose from about 730,000 tons in 2000 to 1.1 million tons in 2022.

“Wild meat is a fundamental component of diets of rural populations, accounting for 20% of the recommended daily protein intake,” the study noted.

The report concluded that ensuring the availability of wild meat in rural areas will require reducing its consumption in large urban centers.

The study was co-authored by several researchers affiliated with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). In a press statement obtained by Mongabay, Germain Mavah of WCS said the findings reflect a growing threat to wildlife in both rural and urban areas.

With the ongoing Ebola outbreak in eastern DRC, the study is also likely to raise renewed questions about the relationship between humans and wild animals, which can cause the spread of zoonotic diseases including COVID and Ebola. The 2014 Ebola outbreak in West Africa was linked to interactions with wild animals.

“Wild meat consumption is a major part of Central Africa’s socio-economic fabric,” said the study’s lead author, Mattia Bessone, an ecologist at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior at the University of Konstanz in Germany. “Measures should be enacted to ensure rural populations can sustainably use this food source.”

The report acknowledged that wild meat consumption is deeply rooted in the region’s culture. However, it recommended strengthening alternative protein sectors like poultry and fisheries, while also creating alternative livelihoods and employment opportunities for people currently involved in the wild meat trade. The study further argued that reducing dependence on wild meat within the food system will require greater regional production, importation and distribution of healthy, safe and culturally acceptable alternatives.

Banner image: According to WCS, dwarf crocodiles, among the most intensely hunted species in the Congo Basin, are often transported alive from remote rainforest areas to urban wild meat markets to keep the meat fresh during transit. Image courtesy of Thomas Nicolon/WCS

Mangrove forests could help sequester more than five million metric tons of nitrogen pollution from coastal ecosystems across the Earth if they are restored and protected, a recent study found.

Nitrogen pollution typically comes from synthetic fertilizers largely used in agriculture or from human waste seeping into water sources. Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for life, but in excess it fuels algal blooms, leaving water murky and with a foul smell. In the worst cases, the death of the algal blooms can starve ecosystems of oxygen, leaving large dead zones that can kill fish and other aquatic life.

Researchers analyzed data on nitrogen removal by mangroves across the world and estimated mangroves currently sequester around 870,000 metric tons of nitrogen every year. The study found that if mangroves are protected and restored, this number could increase to more than 5 million metric tons a year. This ecosystem service mangroves provide is worth over $8 billion annually, the researchers estimated.

“Mangrove forests represent a powerful and undervalued natural mitigation solution for nitrogen pollution,” study co-authors Ziyan Wang and Benoit Thibodeau wrote.

Wang and Thibodeau argued nitrogen removal should be treated similarly to carbon storage and suggested creating a market for blue nitrogen credits to help finance the climate solution. They estimated nitrogen credits would be priced at around $10,000 per metric ton, based on previous projects. The total value of a nitrogen removal market would far exceed that of carbon storage in mangrove ecosystems, according to the study.

In lakes and rivers where too much nitrogen is introduced, the resulting algal blooms and their death create an anoxic environment that in some cases leads to mass fish death.

The process, called eutrophication, can also create underwater “dead zones” in more extreme cases, where marine life struggles to survive and ecosystems collapse. For mangroves to work as a solution for nitrogen capture, the study said nitrogen levels in water cannot exceed the wetland forests’ capacity for removal.

“As coastal eutrophication worsens, this vital purification service by mangroves could fail precisely where it is most needed,” the authors added.

Currently, dead zones are found in the Gulf of Mexico, fed by the Mississippi River in the southern U.S., as well as in Europe’s Baltic Sea and Adriatic Sea, China’s Yellow Sea and the Gulf of Thailand in Southeast Asia.

Banner image: A lake with a large-scale algae outbreak due to excess nutrients. Image courtesy of Brad Busenius via Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0).

Nearly half of permitted small-scale gold mines in a corner of the Brazilian Amazon are likely fronts for laundering gold mined elsewhere, including protected areas and Indigenous territories, a new investigation suggests.

Between 2022 and 2026, 263 of the 540 licensed artisanal mining operations in the Tapajós River Basin, or 49%, reported gold sales not commensurate with the actual mining activity.

Satellite imagery analyzed by investigative outlet InfoAmazonia revealed that most of the mining activity in the Tapajós region was happening outside the permitted mining sites, including inside protected areas and Indigenous territories. Roughly 70% of activity was happening within a 10-kilometer (6-mile) radius of the permitted sites, which suggests illegal mining operations may be using the cover of these permits to launder illegal gold into the formal market.

The findings are consistent with reports of mercury contamination in the region, which has harmed Indigenous and riverine communities who depend on the rivers for water, food and transportation. Mercury is common in both legal and illegal gold mining operations, despite a prohibition on its use.

The investigation also found permits intended for small-scale, low-impact gold mining were being used by larger, industrial-scale operations. The mining permits were originally designed to be a simplified authorization for individual miners, but are increasingly used for industrial mining that uses heavy equipment, dredging and illegal mercury.

• 
  In Daje Kapap village in the Sawré Muybu Indigneous Territory in Pará, a Munduruku woman washes clothes in the Tapajós River. The river has been contaminated with mercury and other toxins from illegal mining operations in the region. Image courtesy of Luis Ushirobira/InfoAmazonia.
• 
  Fish is a staple food in the region, but mercury contamination exceeding the recommended health limits may be causing several illnesses. Image courtesy of Luis Ushirobira/InfoAmazonia.
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  Mercury exposure during pregnancy is a known cause of cerebral palsy and other severe neurological developmental disorders in children. Aleckson, the boy pictured above, was born with this condition. His recent hair tests showed mercury levels three times higher than the safe limit. Image courtesy of Luis Ushirobira/InfoAmazonia.
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  A mining dredger releases sediment into the Tapajós River during gold extraction near the Sawré Muybu Indigenous Territory. Image courtesy of Luis Ushirobira/InfoAmazonia.

For the investigation, InfoAmazonia helped develop a platform called VEIO, or Verification and Investigation of Gold Origin. It cross-references mining and deforestation data with mineral production taxes and gold export figures.

VEIO’s analysis found the volume of gold reported through small-scale mining permits was 10 times higher than extraction estimates gleaned from scientific studies. Those studies estimate small-scale miners extract about 20 grams of gold per hectare (0.26 ounces per acre).

Of around 9,000 mining applications in the Tapajós Environmental Protected Area, which allows limited gold extraction, more than 6,250, or 69%, were for small-scale operations. However, the investigation found just 21 individuals were behind more than half of those requests, suggesting larger operations are happening on the ground.

The report identified one such license holder as José Antunes, a lawyer who chairs the Environmental Law Commission of the Brazilian Bar Association in Itaituba municipality, Pará state. He holds 162 small-scale mining licenses, adding up to more than 8,000 hectares (about 20,000 acres). Between 2022 and 2023, he reported 64 million reais ($13 million) in gold sales from 31 blocks.

There’s no trace of mining in some areas reported as active, while satellite imagery shows mining activity spilling over into other areas outside the licensed zones.

Read the full story by InfoAmazonia here.

Banner image: Fisherman from the Sawré Muybu Indigenous Territory with his catch from the Tapajós River. Image courtesy of Luis Ushirobira/InfoAmazonia.