African Ministers Pledge Support for Wildlife

African environment ministers pledged to set up an international research body to study and protect the continent's wildlife, aiming to reverse the loss of its biodiversity.  Africa is famed for the lions, elephants, rhinoceroses and leopards that attract millions of tourists each year, but its wildlife is threatened by population pressure, poaching and deforestation.

The declaration would draw on scientists from around Africa.  The United Nations environment program says Africa houses 1,229 species of mammals, a quarter of all mammals on earth, and about 2,000 bird species, a fifth of the world total.

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