FYI -- Chad is a Former French Colony situated in North Central Africa.
Many Years Back, Chad was home to more than 22,000 Bush Elephants. Sadly, That is not the case any more all because of "Rampant Poaching".
At Present, There are 800-900 Bush Elephants all over Chad.
Zakouma National Park in Chad is home to more than 500 Bush Elephants.
What pleases me the most about this particular story is the birth of a large number of Baby Ellies.
Here is the Story.
The visitors had been in Chad’s Zakouma's National Park for nearly a week, delighting in the wildlife they’d traveled thousands of miles to see: hoary buffalos; towering giraffes; cartoonish hartebeests; storks, eagles, pelicans, and songbirds galore; even a leopard prowling at dusk. But so far no elephants.
Now with less than a day left in their stay, luck was finally on their side: Signals from radio-collared elephants indicated that Zakouma’s herd of more than 500—likely Africa’s largest—was in the vicinity. A trail of beach ball-size footprints, fresh dung piles, and snapped saplings confirmed it, as did trumpeting and deep, growl-like noises that resonated from the opposite bank of a crocodile-infested river.
No matter—the visitors took off their shoes and waded across the knee-deep water.
Rian Labuschagne, the park’s manager, quietly led the group through thick brush and tall grass. Abruptly he stopped, raised a hand and pointed: elephants, about 50 of them. Using their dexterous trunks, the adults were munching on the bushy ends of branches like broccoli. Babies at play scuttled here and there.
Suddenly a large bull stepped out from behind a thicket a mere 30 feet away, ears flared, head held high, tusks gleaming in the afternoon sun. Some members of the tour group instinctively took a step back, others eagerly raised their cameras. “Don’t make a sound,” Labuschagne said under his breath. The standoff lasted a heart-pounding minute until the bull, satisfied that the intruders posed no threat, turned to rejoin his family.
“I’ve seen a lot of elephants, but that was one of the most incredible walking experiences I’ve ever had,” Josh Iremonger, a private safari guide from Botswana, said later. “The hairs on my arms are still standing up.”
That Iremonger and the others were able to enjoy such an encounter in this remote corner of central Africa seemed impossible as little as five years ago. Impossible because by now Zakouma’s elephants were all supposed to be dead.
Poaching has ravaged Africa’s elephants, largely to feed the appetite for ivory in China and elsewhere in Asia. In Zakouma the killing began earlier than in most places, and the losses were more terrible. In 2002 the park was home to more than 4,000 elephants, but by 2010 that figure had plummeted to a mere 400—a 90 percent drop. There were predictions that Zakouma’s remaining elephants would be gone within two or three years if the situation stayed unchanged.
Desperate for a solution, in 2010 the Chadian government called in African Parks, a South Africa-based nonprofit that specializes in rehabilitating failing protected areas around the continent. Relying on a mix of expertise, luck, and trial and error, Rian and Lorna Labuschagne, the South African husband-and-wife team who took over management of the park, have turned things around. Under their watch poaching has been dramatically reduced, and the elephant population is growing for the first time in years.
“Zakouma’s recovery is extraordinary,” says Chris Thouless, a strategic advisor at Save the Elephants, a Kenya-based nonprofit. “The elephant population was definitely on the way out, and African Parks has saved it.”
Remarkably, Zakouma has gone just over a year without a known poaching incident, and for the first time in years the elephant population is growing again.
From 2010 to 2013 there were virtually no new births; the terrorized animals were likely too stressed to reproduce. But in 2014 and 2015, about 50 babies were born, followed by another 70 last year.
The population now totals more than 500 and will likely continue to grow if protections stay strong—not only in Zakouma but beyond. Proposals are now in the works to create a new national park in Siniaka-Minia, a nearly one-million-acre reserve that historically served as a wet season home for Zakouma’s migrating elephants.
Upgrading the area to a national park would bring formal protections, including ground patrols. “Currently it’s a reserve, but only on paper,” Lorna Labuschagne says.
Next month the Labuschagnes will leave Chad for Tanzania. “Both of us think the time is right to allow someone with different ideas and strengths to come in,” Rian says. He’s confident that Zakouma will continue to thrive without them.
“If you get the local people to take ownership and believe in the value of a park, then that is the strongest conservation system you can put in place,” he says. “Even if you leave, even if there’s political turmoil—whatever happens—that management team will go forward.”
Credits : National Geographic Online, January 2018.
Note : My Birthday is on the 18th of September 2018.
On that special day, I will be publishing a Blog Post that is very special to me.
It is all about a Bull Tusker who is probably still living in the Wilds of North East Botswana.
I need to say this right here and now that "African Elephants" mean everything to me. I just cannot live without them.
It should be the endeavour of all African Elephant Lovers no matter where in the world they are to promote the Conservation and Safety of these Iconic Gentle Giants. I say this simply because there are less than 350,000 left in the wilds of Africa today.
So Stay tuned for my next Blog Post on the 18th of September 2018.
Many Years Back, Chad was home to more than 22,000 Bush Elephants. Sadly, That is not the case any more all because of "Rampant Poaching".
At Present, There are 800-900 Bush Elephants all over Chad.
Zakouma National Park in Chad is home to more than 500 Bush Elephants.
What pleases me the most about this particular story is the birth of a large number of Baby Ellies.
Here is the Story.
The visitors had been in Chad’s Zakouma's National Park for nearly a week, delighting in the wildlife they’d traveled thousands of miles to see: hoary buffalos; towering giraffes; cartoonish hartebeests; storks, eagles, pelicans, and songbirds galore; even a leopard prowling at dusk. But so far no elephants.
Now with less than a day left in their stay, luck was finally on their side: Signals from radio-collared elephants indicated that Zakouma’s herd of more than 500—likely Africa’s largest—was in the vicinity. A trail of beach ball-size footprints, fresh dung piles, and snapped saplings confirmed it, as did trumpeting and deep, growl-like noises that resonated from the opposite bank of a crocodile-infested river.
No matter—the visitors took off their shoes and waded across the knee-deep water.
Rian Labuschagne, the park’s manager, quietly led the group through thick brush and tall grass. Abruptly he stopped, raised a hand and pointed: elephants, about 50 of them. Using their dexterous trunks, the adults were munching on the bushy ends of branches like broccoli. Babies at play scuttled here and there.
Suddenly a large bull stepped out from behind a thicket a mere 30 feet away, ears flared, head held high, tusks gleaming in the afternoon sun. Some members of the tour group instinctively took a step back, others eagerly raised their cameras. “Don’t make a sound,” Labuschagne said under his breath. The standoff lasted a heart-pounding minute until the bull, satisfied that the intruders posed no threat, turned to rejoin his family.
“I’ve seen a lot of elephants, but that was one of the most incredible walking experiences I’ve ever had,” Josh Iremonger, a private safari guide from Botswana, said later. “The hairs on my arms are still standing up.”
That Iremonger and the others were able to enjoy such an encounter in this remote corner of central Africa seemed impossible as little as five years ago. Impossible because by now Zakouma’s elephants were all supposed to be dead.
Poaching has ravaged Africa’s elephants, largely to feed the appetite for ivory in China and elsewhere in Asia. In Zakouma the killing began earlier than in most places, and the losses were more terrible. In 2002 the park was home to more than 4,000 elephants, but by 2010 that figure had plummeted to a mere 400—a 90 percent drop. There were predictions that Zakouma’s remaining elephants would be gone within two or three years if the situation stayed unchanged.
Desperate for a solution, in 2010 the Chadian government called in African Parks, a South Africa-based nonprofit that specializes in rehabilitating failing protected areas around the continent. Relying on a mix of expertise, luck, and trial and error, Rian and Lorna Labuschagne, the South African husband-and-wife team who took over management of the park, have turned things around. Under their watch poaching has been dramatically reduced, and the elephant population is growing for the first time in years.
“Zakouma’s recovery is extraordinary,” says Chris Thouless, a strategic advisor at Save the Elephants, a Kenya-based nonprofit. “The elephant population was definitely on the way out, and African Parks has saved it.”
Remarkably, Zakouma has gone just over a year without a known poaching incident, and for the first time in years the elephant population is growing again.
From 2010 to 2013 there were virtually no new births; the terrorized animals were likely too stressed to reproduce. But in 2014 and 2015, about 50 babies were born, followed by another 70 last year.
The population now totals more than 500 and will likely continue to grow if protections stay strong—not only in Zakouma but beyond. Proposals are now in the works to create a new national park in Siniaka-Minia, a nearly one-million-acre reserve that historically served as a wet season home for Zakouma’s migrating elephants.
Upgrading the area to a national park would bring formal protections, including ground patrols. “Currently it’s a reserve, but only on paper,” Lorna Labuschagne says.
Next month the Labuschagnes will leave Chad for Tanzania. “Both of us think the time is right to allow someone with different ideas and strengths to come in,” Rian says. He’s confident that Zakouma will continue to thrive without them.
“If you get the local people to take ownership and believe in the value of a park, then that is the strongest conservation system you can put in place,” he says. “Even if you leave, even if there’s political turmoil—whatever happens—that management team will go forward.”
Credits : National Geographic Online, January 2018.
Note : My Birthday is on the 18th of September 2018.
On that special day, I will be publishing a Blog Post that is very special to me.
It is all about a Bull Tusker who is probably still living in the Wilds of North East Botswana.
I need to say this right here and now that "African Elephants" mean everything to me. I just cannot live without them.
It should be the endeavour of all African Elephant Lovers no matter where in the world they are to promote the Conservation and Safety of these Iconic Gentle Giants. I say this simply because there are less than 350,000 left in the wilds of Africa today.
So Stay tuned for my next Blog Post on the 18th of September 2018.
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