Tourists as Cash Cows?

Virunga National Park, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is home to impressive groups of gorillas who live on the, not easily cultivated, mountain slopes. These animals attract relatively wealthy tourists who become the focus of armed groups operating in the area. The armed groups not only kill animals and local people but often kidnap the tourists to ransom them for money. The latest event involves the seizing of two British tourists along with the killing of their guide (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-44092592). The difficulty is that any extorted money is used to fuel further violence in the area. If, however, tourists were to entirely cease visiting the park, the gorillas would have no commercial value (making their continued conservation even less likely).