I answer to the name of Jean Bosco Matabaro Kwiriha. I was born in 1960 in Kibati in North Kivu. I am a Park Ranger attached to the station of Rumangabo. I am married to Rwamucho Feza Narerimana and we have eight children.

I joined the Park Rangers when Dr Conrad came here to work on the habituation of chimpanzees. At first it was all quite strange and we wondered if we would be any good at it. Dr Conrad took the time to explain it all to us and helped to make us much more effective than we were at first. It was much harder with the baboons because we were terribly afraid of them. We had heard stories in our villages that baboons eat people. After several lessons with the doctor we got used to the idea that baboons are not as malicious as local legend had it. This period passed and I was transferred to the base at Rumangabo where I am currently.

I went to reinforce the team charged with destroying the means of illegal production of charcoal. In my opinion being a Park Ranger is a privilege because it puts me in direct contact with the animals. It was love of nature which led me to work in the park, that and a relative who wanted me to be a Ranger.