Klaus-Jürgen Sucker
Klaus-Jürgen Sucker (born November 12, 1956 in Minden ; † June 20, 1994 in Kisoro , Uganda ) was a zoologist and behavioral scientist . He specialized in researching mountain gorillas and founded and directed the Mgahinga Gorilla National Park Project (MGNPP) from 1989 to 1994 .
Live and act
Sucker studied biology at Bielefeld University and carried out an ethological study on lowland gorillas in Apenheul (Netherlands) : behavioral study on the use of space, spatial distribution and spatial dynamics of a gorilla group in a semi-natural posture . The reviewer was Prof. Dr. Klaus Immelmann . He was a co-founder and active in several non-governmental organizations (Working Group Rainforest and Species Protection (ARA), Mountain Gorilla & Rainforest Direct Aid (B&RD) and publisher of the Rainforest News ).
1988 developed Sucker a study on the risk of mountain rainforest area in the border triangle Uganda / Dem. Rep. Of Congo (then Zaire) and Rwanda nearby Mgahinga Forest Reserve . A completely neglected game reserve belonging to the chain of the Virunga volcanoes , which was already badly damaged by illegal clearing, poaching and cattle driving. Especially as a habitat for the endangered mountain gorillas , this area exerted enormous fascination on him.
In December 1989 he became the project manager of the Mgahinga Gorilla National Park Project (MGNPP) in Kisoro on behalf of the German Animal Welfare Association . Since July 1991 he has worked as an integrated specialist at the Center for International Migration and Development (CIM) and as a technical advisor for the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife Uganda and Chief Park Warden. In May 1991, the Ugandan parliament declared the former game reserve a Mgahinga Gorilla National Park .
In June 1992 the national park of only 24.5 km² was expanded under his leadership to 33.7 km². It was the first and so far only time in the history of mountain gorilla protection that the constantly shrinking habitat of the great apes could be enlarged.
Sucker, like Dian Fossey in the neighboring Virunga National Park in Rwanda , introduced strictly regulated gorilla tourism in the Mgahinga Gorilla National Park and successfully prevented poaching and other illegal interventions. The number of mountain gorillas that frequented the area during this period nearly doubled.
In 1994 Sucker lost his post as Chief Park Warden of the national park in connection with disputes over so-called multiple-use projects (Development through Conservation), which the aid organization CARE wanted to establish. The aim was to give the local population access to the national park in order to harvest bamboo (one of the main food sources of the mountain gorillas) or to collect herbs. From now on, Sucker was to work as a primatologist in the Kidepo Valley National Park in northern Uganda .
Mysterious death
On June 20, 1994, Klaus-Jürgen Sucker was found hanged in his home in Kisoro under circumstances that have not yet been clarified . The declaration of suicide spread by official bodies is contradictory to this day and is strongly doubted by companions and friends.
Sucker's work and mysterious death are reminiscent of the fate of his much better-known role model, the American primatologist Dian Fossey , who was murdered in Rwanda in December 1985.
Klaus-Jürgen Sucker was buried in an anonymous urn grave in Bielefeld in 1994 .
See also
Web links
- Mountain Gorilla & Rainforest Direct Aid
- Uganda Wildlife Authority
- For a Fist Full of Dollars ... the Mysterious Death of the Gorilla Conservationist Klaus-Jürgen Sucker (engl.)
- Are USAID Funds Being Used for Covert Operations in Central Africa? (engl.)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Sucker, Klaus-Jürgen |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German primatologist and mountain gorilla researcher |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 12, 1956 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Minden |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 20, 1994 |
| Place of death | Kisoro , Uganda |