African elephant, hippo, rhino populations shrink in wartime

WASHINGTON (AP) — War is hell for wildlife, too. A new study finds that wartime is the biggest threat to Africa's elephants, rhinos, hippos and other large animals.

The researchers analyzed how decades of conflict in Africa have affected populations of large animals. More than 70 percent of Africa's protected wildlife areas fell inside a war zone at some point since 1946, many of them repeatedly, they found. The more often the war, the steeper the drop in the mammal population, said Yale University ecologist Josh Daskin, lead author of a study in Wednesday's journal Nature .

"It takes very lit...

 

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