ARUSHA, Tanzania, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Elephant poaching
in northern Tanzania's wildlife sanctuary, Tarangire National Park, has
gone down for the past two years, a senior park official said on Sunday.
Park tourism officer Geoffrey Mboma said that killing of
elephants in the park for their tusks has been largely contained, and
between July 2014 to early this year, only four elephants were killed by
suspected poachers.
Located in the southeast of Lake Manyara on the Tarangire River, the park is home to nearly 5,000 elephants.
"Indiscriminate killing of animals for their trophies has also
been contained due to intensified patrol and involvement of the local
communities in conservation," said Mboma.
Stephano Qolli, chief park warden, however, expressed concern
that increased human activities may affect the wildlife migration, and
result in the drop of animals in the park.
He said the animal pathways, mainly linking Tarangire and Lake
Manyara National Park, have been turned into human settlements while
livestock grazing inside the park is now common despite being
prohibited.
"Once there is an ecological disturbance increase in human
activities, the animals would simply migrate to other areas or get
killed when they wonder into the villages," he said.
He called on the Tanzania National Parks (Tanapa) and the
relevant ministries to coordinate to address invasion of protected areas
by livestock keepers and farmers, saying it defeated the whole purpose
of conservation.
Tarangire is the sixth largest national park in Tanzania. The
name of the park originates from the Tarangire River that crosses
through the park, the only source of water for wild animals during dry
seasons.
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