Are nature reserves working? Take a look outside

Abstract

[Extract] You couldn't have witnessed the recent massacre of elephants at Bouba N'Djida National Park and not be worried about the future of biodiversity.

The park, in northern Cameroon, is supposed to be a refuge for rare wildlife such as the African forest elephant and painted hunting dog. But earlier this year, armed poachers invaded the park and began slaughtering its elephants, hacking off their valuable ivory tusks, which are mostly smuggled to China. In the following months, over half of the parks' elephant population - some 350 individuals - was gunned down.