After years of conflict, Chad’s revitalised Zakouma National Park is welcoming back elephants and a rare subspecies of giraffe
By DANIEL ALLEN
They say elephants forgive but never forget. Those that approach Naftali Honig’s house to drink and bathe each day certainly display a humbling capacity to rekindle trust. Here, in Chad’s Zakouma National Park, the narrative is all about healing and human-wildlife coexistence after years of conflict and exploitation.
Between 2002 and 2010, poachers on horseback ransacked Zakouma, decimating its natural resources and striking fear into the heart of local communities. Honig, who works as general manager of the Greater Zakouma Ecosystem for African Parks (a non-profit organisation that operates 22 parks across the continent), points to what look like bullet holes in the ears of a big bull, showering himself nonchalantly nearby.
“For years, ongoing civil wars and regional instability in Chad allowed heavily armed groups to penetrate the park and wreak havoc on the animals,” explains the American. “Zakouma’s elephant population, for example, declined dramatically, from 22,000 in the 1970s to 4,500 in 2002. Then, over the next eight years, 95 per cent – almost 4,000 individuals – were killed. Many of the elephants you see in the park experienced that slaughter first-hand. On some level, they remember what happened.”
In 2010, Zakouma’s fortunes took a massive turn for the better when the Chadian government invited African Parks to restore and manage the park on a long-term basis – before its wildlife was totally wiped out. The highly successful NGO began ramping up law enforcement, providing expert training and creating high-tech communications networks. Instances of poaching dropped rapidly and wildlife numbers started to bounce back.
Zakouma’s elephant population is now on the rise, with newborn calves observed for the first time in many years. While still occasionally nervous, the park’s pachyderms are sufficiently at ease in the presence of humans to allow intimate glimpses into their world, as matriarch-led families shield young calves and solitary bulls wander the landscape in search of females.
And it’s not only elephants for which Zakouma is developing a growing reputation. Those that are lucky enough to visit the park today are all but guaranteed a sighting of majestic Kordofan giraffes – towering over shimmering plains, ears
