Green Daily

There have been many frightening and sad stories about the the civil war raging in the Congo, but recently some good news came to light. Rangers returning to Virunga National Park were astonished -- and thrilled -- to find five baby gorillas had been born to one of the family groups that lives on the slopes of Mount Mikeno.

The five babies are a boom for the beleaguered group of endangered mountain gorillas, who have been living literally in the middle of the war zone since the CNDP took control of Virunga National Park in September of 2007, eventually forcing out the rangers.

Emmanuel de Merode, the park director, managed to negotiate a deal with the CNDP rebels to allow the rangers back into the park to check on the well being of the gorillas.

It was a happy surprise to find the new babies, although the rangers are cautiously optimistic because they have yet to complete the census of the estimated 200 gorillas who live in the park. Still, if the rest of the gorillas survived, then it's a 15% increase in the population, up from approximately 2% annually in past years.

No one thinks that the war is good for these gentle and thoughtful creatures, but it's good news if they're finding a way to thrive despite the turmoil around them.