Bronx Zoo operator hauled to court over violence against indigenous people in the Congo
The operator of the Bronx Zoo is being asked to account for its involvement in violence against indigenous people in Congo.
Nearly 300 people who say they’ve endured rape, arson and had their loved ones murdered have asked a New York court to force the nonprofit Wildlife Conservation Society to open its records on the Kahuzi-Biega National Park, a 2,300-square-mile protected space in Central Africa.
The society — a nonprofit which also operates the Central Park Zoo and others in the Big Apple — has for more than 20 years been in a public-private partnership with the Congolese government’s Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature, which oversees the park.
The park was created from the ancestral lands of indigenous tribes such as the Batwa, whose people were forced out in the 1970s, according to court papers.
After decades of living on the fringes of the park, the indigenous inhabitants began to resettle the area in October 2018 and were met with unimaginable brutality, they alleged.
“In July 2019, July 2021, November and December 2021, and early 2022, park guards and soldiers allegedly murdered, tortured, and raped civilians, and burned villagers’ homes with inhabitants inside, including children,” according to Manhattan Federal Court papers.
The victims believe the WCS has information on the activities of the guards, who are employed by the Institut.
The Wildlife Conservation Society did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
