Poaching (偷猎) is a major cause of decline for elephants, with a total decrease to about 415,000, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

The research team found that poaching occurred more frequently in Central Africa and near the Mozambique-Tanzania border. In recent years, Garamba National Park, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, saw more than 860 elephants die at the hands of poachers, and Selous Game Reserve, in Tanzania, more than 750. Researchers discovered that the household wealth of those surrounding areas was relatively low and they hold a mid-level health.

Researchers said, “Illegal killings are driven by criminal networks who recruit poachers rather than by opportunistic hunters. When a lot of Africa’s national parks were established, people were often forced to be evicted from the land that was now designated a protected area. Local people who had been lived on hunting suddenly became described as poachers.”

“People living within about five miles of wildlife protected area in Tanzania also reported losing up to half their income. A local survey showed the destruction of their crops by elephants and killings of their livestock by lions.” Someone added, “If you’re closest to the park, you really do suffer more cost than benefit of the protected area.”

Researchers also noted, “When local communities enjoy the benefits of conservation, it will reduce incentives (诱因) to poach. When governments ensure that local communities are not subject to carrying the burden of the costs associated with this wildlife, they will have more access to income-generating opportunities that can help to lift communities out of poverty.”

Conservationists have to think creatively, carrying out strategies such as reducing demand in ivory-consuming countries, improving educational standards and medical facilities, and increasing support for wildlife rangers. “When we are looking to protect wildlife, we can’t do that without thinking about the well-being of people,” researchers said.

Acting as an art form has changed a great deal over the centuries. It’s no longer just about entertaining an audience in a stylised way to depict (刻画) characters and events that everyone is familiar with. Nowadays, acting has moved into a world of hyper realism. Audiences often expect to be challenged by a performance, and acting asks sometimes difficult questions about the world around us.

Given this change in emphasis, what kind of toll (损害) might acting take on somebody’s well-being? The idea that there is a psychological price to pay for good acting is nothing new, yet there is surprisingly little scientific research that examines the issue. Many scientists have been unwilling to examine the relationship in depth. This is changing, however, with academics now starting to investigate it further.

Actors often agree that performing can come with risks. Deborah Margolin, an award-winning actor, found the line between her stage self and her real personality started to blur (变模糊) the deeper into the character she went. She felt a real emotional impact especially when she played difficult or unpleasant roles. Margolin explains, “It was depressing...my character would cry, and I would cry.” She recalls the impact on her fellow actors: “Everybody backed away from me. These were lovely people—I loved them dearly—but my character was unattractive and somehow, so was I.”

These feelings are easy to understand, and would seem to be a natural outcome of acting styles such as “method acting”, which encourages actors to use their real-life experiences to fuel a role. There are some, however, who disagree. Actor Sanford Meisner felt that an actor’s most important tool is their imagination and that psychology has no place in performance. In fact, many performers mix these different methods and keep in touch with family to reconnect with the person beyond their character.

There’s no doubt that walking a tightrope between personalities can be a difficult task, however. As drama student Naomi Lorrain explains, “It can be hard. Offstage, you have to remember that it’s unreal and onstage you have to forget...”