Karl and Mary Noren, and their three children, remain safe and sound in Youlande, Cameroon, and in fact are staying in the same apartment as when they both taught at Rain Forest Academy. As the situation with the rebel army has stabilized somewhat, Karl has been able to cross over into Central African Republic to visit the safari camps for which he is responsible. The rebels have moved to the northern and

some key positions is beginning to reassert itself.

Poachers, however, have entered CAR on the heels of the rebels. A reported hundred of them are now operating in the West where they have already killed five or six elephants in Karl's region. One group is even using one of Karl's outlying camps as a base. This is the heaviest wave of elephant poaching that Karl has ever witnessed, and the poachers are operating with impunity because of the temporary collapse of the Central African government. Karl's boss in fact put together an anti-poaching squad, but when he offered it to the government, he was told that since there is no sitting Minister of Forestry, the squad can not be authorized. Karl also senses that the World Wildlife Fund has also inexplicably given up. The poachers reportedly possess machine guns, high caliber weapons, and even rocket launchers. These weapons are meant