From The "Now What?!?" Dept. - Congo Park, Home Of Rare Gorillas, Hit By Lava Flows - AFP

[hatrack]

Lava flowing from a volcanic eruption in eastern DR Congo was gathering pace and set to destroy up to 10 hectares (25 acres) of forest in Virunga National Park by late Sunday, vulcanologists said. The Goma Vulcanological Observatory, which has been monitoring the eruption of nearby Mount Nyamulagira early Saturday, said the pace of destruction would increase as it hit steeper ground.

"From Monday, the speed will increase because the territory starts to slope whereas it had been flatlands before," the observatory's director Karume Katcho told AFP. He said a 15 metre-wide swathe of lava "is burning the forest. We estimate that up to 10 hectares (25 acres) of the area will be burnt after today."

Officials said the eruption was concentrated in a sparsely populated area, though wildlife habitats were under threat. The volcano stands 22 kilometres (14 miles) from the provincial capital Goma, which it last threatened in 2006.

Virunga National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and located on a chain of active volcanoes including Nyamulagira. It is home to around 200 of the world's last 750 mountain gorillas, but these are located further east of the volcano near the border with Rwanda.

EDIT

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Lava_flows_ravage_national_park_forest_in_DRCongo_999.html

[OnlinePoker]

1. I just checked

The park is 800,000 hectares, so 10 ha destroyed is really a drop in the bucket. As the article mentions, the gorillas are away from the area expected to be destroyed by the lava.

[kestrel91316]

2. 25 acres is TINY.

[hatrack]

3. Yeah, I know . . . but the "Even the damn VOLCANO'S erupting" vibe was just . . .

. . . irresistable.

:toast: