FYI -- Chad is a country situated in North - Central Africa.
This is a Unique Conservation Success from the Wilds of Chad.
The Elephants in Chad’s Zakouma National Park were supposed to have been wiped out by now. Instead their numbers are growing.
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.”
Read the whole article here :
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/01/wildlife-watch-chad-zakouma-elephants-poaching/
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.”
Read the whole article here :
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/01/wildlife-watch-chad-zakouma-elephants-poaching/
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