Wildlife decline in African national parks

Antelope in Moremi Game Reserve, Aquarap 2000

Dr Paul Scholte has alerted us to a recent article in the African Journal of Ecology, When protection falters, that discusses the loss of large mammal species from many of Africa’s national parks. Crediting new methods of mining long-term datasets and increased tracing of population changes within a single reserve across considerable time frames, the article claims that it is now possible to have a much more detailed picture of what is happening to these animal populations. What the new data show, according to researchers Tim Caro and Dr Scholte, is that even relatively well-organized protected areas cannot be relied on as long-lasting conservation tools, at least for antelopes and their predators. You can find the article in HOORC's Library and more about the issue in the context of southern and eastern Africa from the Large Herbivore Research Network.