Leading elephant conservationist shot dead in Tanzania

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 64%. (I'm a bot)

The head of an animal conservation NGO who had received numerous death threats has been shot and killed by an unknown gunman in Tanzania.

Since starting the organisation in Tanzania in 2009, he had received numerous death threats relating to his work.

In a previous interview, Lotter said he believed its work had helped to reduce poaching rates in Tanzania by at least 50%. The latest elephant census data suggests that elephant populations fell by 30% in Africa between 2007 and 2014.

Tanzania experienced one of the biggest declines in elephant numbers, where the census documented a 60% decrease in the population.

Lotter rarely took credit for PAMS' success in helping reduce poaching rates in Tanzania, and was always quick to credit the work of the communities and agencies he worked with.

"Wayne devoted his life to Africa's wildlife. From working as a ranger in his native South Africa as a young man to leading the charge against poaching in Tanzania, Wayne cared deeply about the people and animals that populate this world," read a statement released by the PAMS Foundation team.

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