An eco-guard has been killed in Cameroon’s North region after troops and forest and wildlife guards clashed with poachers, according to the country’s Minister of Forestry and Wildlife, Jules Doret Ndongo.
The guard identified as Saoulhoul Blaise was shot dead as troops struggled to push back heavily armed poachers at Bouba Ndjidda National Park on Wednesday, Ndongo said in a statement issued on Friday.
He said poaching activities have been on the rise in the park which is home to several species.
Poachers are known to regularly attack elephants in the park which borders Chad.
In 2012, heavily armed poachers from Chad and Sudan while on horseback massacred some 200 savannah elephants, wiping out more than half of the elephant population of the Bouba Ndjidda National Park, according to the Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife.