*3.4.1 Loss of wildlife habitat*

The farmers of the area have observed a drastic reduction and loss of wildlife in the Asunafo Forest area. An indicator of forest reserve degradation is the absence of traces of some wildlife notably elephants and chimpanzees as well as a drastic reduction in the tortoise and snails population. In addition, forest guards have not encountered buffalos for a long time. There is a drastic reduction in the population of deer, waterbucks, antelopes, and other wildlife species. There was a deliberate attempt to remove elephants from the Asunafo forest to allow cocoa farms to flourish. By so doing, forest guards were invited from Damongo Game Reserve to kill the elephants at Asunafo. **Figure 14** displays the destruction of the elephant population for 39 years

**Figure 13.** *A section of a cocoa farm at Asunafo with no tree cover.*

**Figure 14.** *Deliberate killing of elephants.*

(1960–1999). Elephants and chimpanzees have migrated from the Asunafo forest due to the destruction of their habitat. Habitat destruction is an indication of forest reserve degradation. Presently, elephants and chimpanzees are no longer encountered directly or their traces are not found in the forest [34].
