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 little conflict, as much as one conflict in about 20 years, for the average wildlife population to be declining," Daskin said.
In this 2014 photo provided by Joshua Daskin, a hippopotamus charges into the waters of Lake Urema, in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique. Although some animals are killed in the crossfire or by mines, war primarily changes social and economic conditions in a way that make it tough on animals, said study co-author Rob Pringle, an ecologist at Princeton University. (Joshua Daskin via AP)
The areas with the most frequent battles — not necessarily the bloodiest — lose 35 percent of their mammal populations each year there's fighting, he said.
Although some animals are killed in the crossfire or by land mines, war primarily changes social and economic conditions in a way that make it tough on animals, said study co-author Rob Pringle, an ecologist at Princeton University.
People in and near war zones are poorer and hungrier. So they poach more often for valuable tusks or hunt protected animals to eat, Pringle said. Conservation programs don't have much money, power or even the ability to protect animals during wartime, Pringle said.
Most of the time, some animals do survive wars. Researchers found animal populations completely wiped out only in six instances — including a large group of giraffes in a Ugandan park between 1983 and 1995 during two civil wars.
Other studies have looked at individual war zones and found animal populations that shrink and others that grow. For example, the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea is great for wildlife because it has "acted almost as a de facto park for almost seven decades," Daskin said.
The new study covered the entire continent over 65 years. The researchers looked at 10 different factors that could change population numbers, including war, drought, animal size, protected areas and human population density.
The number of wars had the biggest effect on population while the intensity of the wars — measured in human deaths — had the least.
In this 2016 photo provided by Robert Pringle, elephants feed at sunset in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique. Although some animals are killed in the crossfire or by mines, war primarily changes social and economic conditions in a way that make it tough on animals, said study co-author Pringle, an ecologist at Princeton University. (Robert Pringle via AP)
By looking at the big picture, the research supports what many experts figured, that "war is a major driver of wildlife population declines across Africa," said Kaitlyn Gaynor, an ecology researcher on war and wildlife at the University of California, Berkeley. She was not part of the study.
Greg Carr, an American philanthropist and head of a nonprofit group working in and around Mozambique's Gorongosa National Park , said the findings are not surprising. The park's wildlife populations plunged during the country's civil war, but Carr attributes it more to poverty than war.
"With or without war, poverty is the threat to wildlife in Africa going forward," Carr said in an email.
Gorongosa is an example of how bad war is for wildlife, but also how quickly animals can recover, the researchers said.
The civil war that ended in 1992 decimated the area with both rebel and government soldiers hunting "their way through the wildlife in the park," Daskin said. Species came close to "blinking out," but not quite. Now wildlife is back to 80 percent of prewar levels, Daskin said.
"The effect of war on wildlife is bad," Pringle said. "But it's not apocalyptic."
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Even amid war, Ukraine finds time for the glittery, pop-filled Eurovision Song Contest. Perhaps now even more than ever.
Ukraine’s entrants in the pan-continental music competition — the female duo of rapper alyona alyona and singer Jerry Heil — set off from Kyiv for the competition on Thursday. In wartime, that means a long train journey to Poland, from where they will travel on to next month’s competition in Malmö, Sweden.
“We need to be visible for the world,” Heil told The Associated Press at Kyiv train station before her departure. “We need to show that even now, during the war, our culture is developing, and that Ukrainian music is something waiting for the world” to discover.
“We have to spread it and share it and show people how strong (Ukrainian) women and men are in our country,” added alyona, who spells her name with all lower case letters.
Ukraine has long used Eurovision as a form of cultural diplomacy, a way of showing the world the country’s unique sound and style. That mission became more urgent after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied that Ukraine existed as a distinct country and people before Soviet times.
Ukrainian singer Jamala won the contest in 2016 — two years after Russia illegally seized the Crimean Peninsula — with a song about the expulsion of Crimea’s Tatars by Stalin in 1944. Folk-rap band Kalush Orchestra took the Eurovision title in 2022 with “Stefania,” a song about the frontman’s mother that became an anthem to the war-ravaged motherland, with a haunting refrain on a traditional Ukrainian wind instrument.
Alyona and Heil will perform “Maria & Teresa,” an anthemic ode to inspiring women. The title refers to Mother Theresa and the Virgin Mary, and the lyrics include the refrain, in English: “All the divas were born as the human beings” — people we regard as saints were once flawed and human like the rest of us.
Heil said the message is that “we all make mistakes, but your actions are what define you.”
And, alyona added: “with enough energy you can win the war, you can change the world.”
The song blends alyona’s punchy rap style with Heil’s soaring melody and distinctly Ukrainian vocal style.
“Alyona is a great rapper, she has this powerful energy,” Heil said. “And I’m more soft.”
“But great melodies,” alyona added. “So she creates all the melodies and I just jump in.”
Ukraine has been at the forefront of turning Eurovision from a contest dominated by English-language pop songs to a more diverse and multilingual event. Jamala sang part of her song in the Crimean Tatar language, while Kalush Orchestra sang and rapped in Ukrainian.
Ukraine’s Eurovision win in 2022 brought the country the right to host the following year, but because of the war the 2023 contest was held in the English city of Liverpool, which was bedecked in blue and yellow Ukrainian flags for the occasion — a celebration of Ukraine’s spirit and culture.
Thirty-seven countries from across Europe and beyond — including Israel and Australia — will compete in Malmö in two Eurovision semifinals May 7 and 9, followed by a May 11 final. Ukraine currently ranks among bookmakers’ top five favorites alongside the likes of singer Nemo from Switzerland and Croatian singer-songwriter Baby Lasagna.
Russia, a long-time Eurovision competitor, was kicked out of the contest over the invasion.
The Ukrainian duo caught a train after holding a news conference where they announced a fundraising drive for a school destroyed by a Russian strike.
The duo is joining with charity fundraising platform United 24 to raise 10 million hryvnia (about $250,000) to rebuild a school in the village of Velyka Kostromka in southern Ukraine that was destroyed by a Russian rocket in October 2022. The school’s 250 pupils have been unable to attend class since then, relying on online learning.
Teacher Liudmyla Taranovych, whose children and grandchildren went to the school, said its destruction brought feelings of “pain, despair, hopelessness.”
"My grandchildren hugged me and asked, “Grandma, will they rebuild our school? Will it be as beautiful, flourishing, and bright as it was?” she said.
From the rubble, another teacher managed to rescue one of the school’s treasured possessions — a large wooden key traditionally presented to first grade students to symbolize that education is the key to their future. It has become a sign of hope for the school.
Alyona and Heil have also embraced the key as a symbol, wearing T-shirts covered in small metal housekeys.
“It’s a symbol of something which maybe some people in Ukraine won’t have, because so many people lost their homes,” Heil said. “But they’re holding these keys in their pockets, and they're holding the hope.”
Two girls dance as Ukraine's song entrance in the Eurovision contest is played at the main train station, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, April 25, 2024. Ukraine’s entrants in the pan-continental music competition, the female duo of rapper alyona alyona and singer Jerry Heil set off from Kyiv for the competition on Thursday. In wartime, that means a long train journey to Poland, from where they will travel on to next month’s competition in Malmö, Sweden. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Ukrainian singer Jerry Heil, left, and rapper alyona alyona pose for a photograph during an interview with The Associated Press in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, April 25, 2024. Ukraine’s entrants in the pan-continental music competition, the female duo of rapper alyona alyona and singer Jerry Heil set off from Kyiv for the competition on Thursday. In wartime, that means a long train journey to Poland, from where they will travel on to next month’s competition in Malmö, Sweden. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Ukrainian singer Jerry Heil says goodbye to her parents before departing at the main train station, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, April 25, 2024. Ukraine’s entrants in the pan-continental music competition, the female duo of rapper alyona alyona and singer Jerry Heil set off from Kyiv for the competition on Thursday. In wartime, that means a long train journey to Poland, from where they will travel on to next month’s competition in Malmö, Sweden. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Ukrainian singer Jerry Heil, left, and rapper alyona alyona perform a song in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, April 25, 2024. Ukraine’s entrants in the pan-continental music competition, the female duo of rapper alyona alyona and singer Jerry Heil set off from Kyiv for the competition on Thursday. In wartime, that means a long train journey to Poland, from where they will travel on to next month’s competition in Malmö, Sweden. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Ukrainian singers Jerry Heil, right, and rapper alyona alyona arrive to catch a train at the main station, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, April 25, 2024. Ukraine’s entrants in the pan-continental music competition, the female duo of rapper alyona alyona and singer Jerry Heil set off from Kyiv for the competition on Thursday. In wartime, that means a long train journey to Poland, from where they will travel on to next month’s competition in Malmö, Sweden. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Ukrainian rapper alyona alyona, left, and singer Jerry Heil hold the Ukrainian flag as they pose for the media before departing from the main train station in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, April 25, 2024. Ukraine’s entrants in the pan-continental music competition, the female duo of rapper alyona alyona and singer Jerry Heil set off from Kyiv for the competition on Thursday. In wartime, that means a long train journey to Poland, from where they will travel on to next month’s competition in Malmö, Sweden. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
