late in the rainforests of key Africa , you might think that wildlife would be safe from the onslaught of poacher . But even insome of the most remoteparts of the continent , forth from large town and people , elephants are still fall to the hitman of those try their ivory .
A fresh paper published inCurrent Biologyhas found that the disjunct Minkébé National Park , Gabon , is not dependable from the ravages of ivory sea poacher . Their latest population estimate of forest elephant living in the reserve found that over 25,000 of the animate being may have been slaughter over a 10 - year menstruum between 2004 and 2014 , amounting to a decline of 80 percent .
This physique comes as somewhat of a shock . Gabon is thought to harbour the big odd population of forest elephant in the dense rainforest that cover roughly three - quarters of the country . It was think that the remoteness and unavailability of large tracts of these woods , coupled with the country ’s strong commitment to wildlife protection , meant that the animals within it were buffered from the wave of poaching that has strike many other African nations . It seems that is not so .
“ We can no longer assume that apparently large and remote protected areas will conserve species – sea poacher will go anywhere that a earnings can be made , ” enjoin co - author John Poulsen in astatement . “ A corollary of this is that cross - border poaching is a major threat to coinage protection , and bilateral and many-sided efforts are all important for conservation . Species cross borders , and so do poachers . ”
The comparatively little known nation ofGabon , located on the Atlantic slide in Central Africa , was until latterly thought to have fly the coop much of the decimation of wildlife seen elsewhere . In fact , over 10 percent of the land has been given trade protection in 13 national parks in a dictation to safeguard the nation ’s immense natural wealth from rock oil victimization , logging , and minelaying .
The rain forest and jumble savannah prevail some of the most of import populations of Gorilla gorilla , chimpanzees , and elephant anywhere in Africa , but it seems that they are still not safe . “ Because Gabon is think to hold the largest unexpended population of forest elephant , the implication is that forest elephant are in even more trouble than previously believed,”saysPoulsen .
The investigator cite poacher pass over into the park from neighboring Cameroon , in junction with the fact that the woods elephants arestill not recognizedas a separate species , as the cause of their decline . They are foretell on the international community to increase atmospheric pressure to body politic still buying off-white and to recognize timber elephants as critically endangered in a dictation to save them from vanish forever .
