But as Alan Rabinowitz trudges through the foothills of the mountain range, the forests' very beauty is a cruel reminder of what's been lost. According to hunters and naturalists of the early 1900s, parts of the region offered a wildlife spectacle rivaled only by that of East Africa, a stunning display of elephants, rhinos, wild pigs, exotic deer, leopards and mighty tigers. But in weeks of work, he's caught only a few glimpses of deer and pigs-and has found the track of just one tiger. A few hundred yards up the rough trail, Rabinowitz comes across the telltale evidence. It's a low wall, hurriedly built of sticks and bamboo.
Most animals can easily jump over or pass through the obstruction.
But they don't. Instead, seeking the path of least resistance, they trot along the wall until they come to periodic, doorwaylike openings. When they dart through, they're caught in a trap. Today, walking along the fence to the first opening, Rabinowitz finds the rotting carcass of a barking deer. Whether by trap or net, by poison dart or spear, by shotgun or rifle, humans are decimating wildlife populations from the Congo to the Amazon, from Indonesia to India.