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ELEPHANT POACHING AT ZAKOUMA

I regret to inform you of bad news concerning elephant poaching at Zakouma. After nearly a year without any loss of elephant, late last week the carcasses of five elephant were found in the north of the park. It is thought that they were killed by armed horsemen early in the week. The elephants had had their tusks removed and were covered with branches in order to disguise their appearance from the air. None of the five elephants had satellite collars.

This weekend more bad news followed when two more elephant were separately found dead, presumably from injuries sustained during the poaching attack. Both had their tusks intact and one of the elephants was collared. Our park team had been monitoring the collared elephant, a young female who had separated from the herd, and grew alarmed when her movement became slow and erratic. On Friday when they located her it was obvious she was ailing and by Sunday she had died.

Since the satellite collaring of ten elephant in Zakouma early this year, park management has been able to obtain real-time readings of the location of the major elephant herds and despatch patrols on horseback to follow them. Constant monitoring patrols are conducted by air and by horseback on the ground. Despite this vigilance, the poachers were able to enter and flee from the park undetected, aided by the dense foliage in the park at this time of year.

We understand that this attack was the work of experienced poachers – it took place just nine km from the park boundary and seven km away from several ferricks (nomadic communities) who had recently moved into the area. What is particularly tragic is the brutal methods used by these poachers, who ambush the elephants and fire indiscriminately into the herd, resulting in many deaths at a time.

This incident is devastating for our management team who have worked tirelessly to protect Zakouma's elephants and were preparing to celebrate a year without any poaching. Despite this set-back, we would like to thank Rian Labuschagne and his team who have succeeded in arresting the total onslaught on Zakouma's elephants. Elephant numbers had collapsed from 4 000 in 2006 to just 450 when African Parks assumed active management in October 2010. Without the efforts of the Zakouma team, hundreds more elephant would undoubtedly have lost their lives.

Follow up action

The seven elephant deaths have been reported to the regional governor, the Marabout of Amdouma, and central government. Flyers are being printed offering a substantial reward for information that leads to arrests and recovery of the ivory. Zakouma patrols are following the tracks of the poachers on the boundary of the park and are visiting the nearby ferricks to try and obtain information.

There is enormous compassion for Zakouma's elephants within Chad – within local communities as well as within Government. We are prepared to devote whatever resources are necessary to bring the perpetrators to account and to send the message that poachers will not get away with slaughtering elephant at Zakouma.

Update: 16 November 2011

Zakouma elephant poachers caught red-handed

Two weeks after the tragic killing of seven elephants at Zakouma, the two perpetrators have been tracked down and the ivory recovered. Our park management team have reported that information provided by local communities led to the poachers' camp being discovered over the weekend in thick bush 75 km north of where the elephants were shot. The two poachers are not believed to be members of the nomadic community which moves into the Zakouma region at this time of year.

Local community members approached our park personnel last week after a reward was widely publicised for information leading to the poachers' arrest. Acting on information provided, Zakouma game guards and members of the Goz Djérat Nomad Guard (GNNT), employed by government, raided the camp over the weekend. A horse was recovered along with a pre-1950 French military rifle and five sets of tusks belonging to the Zakouma elephants which were shot.

One of the positive outcomes is that Zakouma has received enormous support from surrounding communities and we are hopeful that the community informer network will help us to act in future before a poaching incident occurs. We are also pleased at the tremendous support that we are receiving from the Chadian government, and we commend them on their conservation efforts.

Date: 01 Nov 2011