Africa's National Parks Hit By Mammal Declines
Reports state that African national parks
like Masai Mara and the Serengeti
shows a decline of populations of large mammals,
species have been declining by 59 per cent, according to a study published in Biological Conservation.
Reports further states that population of lions, elephants, buffalos, leopards and rhinos have been declined inside the national parks.
It also shows that urgent efforts are needed to secure the future of the parks and their role in tourism. The index revealed an average decline of almost 60 per cent in the population abundance of 69 key species including lion, wildebeest, giraffe, buffalo and zebra between 1970 and 2005 inside the national parks visited by millions of tourists each year.
There is great variation by region with populations increasing in southern Africa, declining by more than half in East Africa and 85 percent declines in West Africa. The massive declines in West Africa are likely due to the lack of financial and personnel resources, high rates of habitat degradation and the growing bush meat trade.
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