africatodayonline.blogspot.com -
DAR ES SALAAM, Oct 4 (Bernama) -- Tanzanian authorities said no incidents of elephant poaching were reported in the Selous Game Reserve in the last three months, Xinhua news agency reported.
Poaching in the 50,000-sq. km. reserve -- one of the largest protected areas in Africa -- was rampant throughout the 2000s, forcing UNESCO's World Heritage Committee to place the reserve in the List of World Heritage in Danger in June.
Natural Resources and Tourism Minister Lazaro Nyalandu said the fight against poaching in the East African nation has begun bearing fruits.
Nyalandu commended game rangers and other stakeholders for their efforts to protect wild animals in the area.
Non-governmental organisation Tanzania Elephant Protection Society said in 2013 that about 30 elephants were killed daily in Tanzania and the elephant population could be wiped out by 2020.
Rampant poaching at the Selous Game Reserve has caused a dramatic decline in elephant and rhino populations, whose numbers have dropped by almost 90 percent since 1982.
-- BERNAMA
