ABIDJAN (Reuters) - Africa's game parks have lost well over half of their big mammals, such as the lions and buffalos that draw millions of tourists each year, to rampant hunting and farming since 1970, a study has found.
The continent-wide study by specialists, including from the London Zoological Society and U.N. environment program (UNEP), late Monday found big mammal populations inside national parks declined 59 percent between 1970 and 2005.
"These results illustrate that African PAs (protected areas) have generally failed to mitigate human-induced threats to African large mammal populations," the report in Biological Conservation journal said.
