DOHA: The World Heritage Committee yesterday inscribed the Selous Game Reserve in Tanzania on the List of World Heritage in Danger because widespread poaching is decimating wildlife populations on the property. The panel called on the international community, including ivory transit and destination countries, to support Tanzania in the fight against this criminal activity.
Covering 50,000 square km, the reserve is one of the largest protected areas in Africa. It is renowned for its elephant, black rhinoceros, cheetah, giraffe, hippopotamus and crocodile, among other species.
It also has high variety of habitats, including Miombo woodlands, open grasslands, riverine forests and swamps, making it a valuable laboratory for on-going ecological and biological processes.
However, rampant poaching has caused a dramatic decline in the wildlife populations, especially elephants and rhino, whose numbers have dropped by almost 90 percent since 1982, when the property was inscribed on the World Heritage List. The Peninsula
