The #1 source for news about monkeys and apes

["Josh Greenman" <josh.greenman AT gmail.com>]

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/02/gorillas_laga_drori.php

Keeping Gorillas In Our Midst

by Karin Kloosterman, Jerusalem, Israel on 02.11.08

What good is having wildlife protection laws if the government and
police don't enforce them? Taking cues from our personal heroes Dian
Fossey and Jane Goodall is animal conservation hero Ofir Drori from
Tel Aviv.

Based in Africa for nearly a decade, Drori is directing the Last Great
Ape Organization (LAGA for short) in Cameroon. Known by locals as the
"Man in Black" Drori, through a network of spies, is making sure the
police and government are putting animal traffickers and poachers
where they belong – in jail.

The World Wildlife Federation, he says, has a presence in Cameroon but
rife with corruption, they can't stop the locals from hunting bushmeat
or illegally exporting goods such as ivory.

Through LAGA, Drori is hoping to create a "paradigm shift" in animal
conservation and protection in Africa. "LAGA was born out of criticism
against the failure of conservation and the realities of the foreign
aid business in general," he said in an interview with us reporting
for ISRAEL21c.

Some 3,000 gorillas, 4,000 chimps and about 4,000 elephants are killed
each year in Cameroon, says Drori. And before Drori's organization
came into being about 4 years ago no one in Central or West Africa had
been prosecuted for trafficking or poaching animals.

LAGA was founded in Israel by Drori and other Israeli conservation
colleagues including the editor of the Israeli Geographical magazine,
and the manager of the Safari, a safari park near Tel Aviv.

The organization is a small and lean team with just 10 team members.
Their mission is to protect endangered species, such as gorillas,
elephants, chimps and lions. They have been successful, they report,
with a few people being arrested every month.

Looking at Goodall, who devoted a part of her life to saving chimps in
Tanzania, Drori says, "Jane Goodall was predicting the start of ape
extinction within 15 years. This brought me to Cameroon to write about
this crisis. Searching for the heroes fighting to change this
forecast, I found a larger problem instead."

LAGA seeks a volunteer who has experience with Africa, dangerous
missions and who can commit to volunteering for a year. See LAGA for
more.