After European explorers began telling of the wealth of wildlife in the Serengeti, large game hunters flooded the region. They brought with them weapons as well as prejudices. Some assigned human attributes to animals which led to destructive and systematic campaigns against some species.
The "blood-thirsty" lions and leopards were killed to protect the "harmless, useful" [G 22 / herbivores]. [L3 421 / Wild dogs] were detested for their killing method and slaughtered by hunters and conservationists alike. Hyenas were killed because they were perceived as having an "evil" appearance by the locals and Europeans.
Once the protected areas were establish, hunting was prohibited. However, the slaughter of some commodity species continued. [L3 422 / Elephants] were poached until the world-wide ban on ivory was implemented in 1989. The [L3 423 / black rhinoceros], which was also legally protected under the ban, was poached to extinction in the Serengeti. Poaching of other animals for meat, such as the wildebeest, continues today.
