The headquarters at Zakouma National Park,

in southeastern Chad, is a sand-colored struc-

ture with a crenellated parapet that gives it the

look of an old desert fortress. Outside the door

to the central control room on the second floor

hangs an image of a Kalashnikov rifle, circled

in red, with a slash: No weapons allowed inside.

Kalashnikovs are ubiquitous in Zakouma. All the

rangers carry them. So do the intruders who

come to kill wildlife.

Acacias shade the compound, Land Cruisers

arrive and depart, and not many steps away,

several elephants drink from a pool. Although

the animals seem relaxed here, so close to the

headquarters hubbub, they aren’t tame; they are

wary but thirsty. Zakouma, a national park since

1963, has at times been a war zone for elephants.

Fifty years ago, Chad as a whole may have had

as many as 300,000, but from the mid-1980s

that number declined catastrophically due to

Garamba National Park
DEMOCRATIC
REPUBLIC OF
THE CONGO
In a war-wracked region,
Garamba attracts rebels
keen to poach elephants
because tusks can pay
for munitions. A ranger—
part of a force trained
and equipped by AP—
stands guard over
recovered tusks.

T

LAST WILD PLACES

African Parks is a conservation

partner of the National

Geographic Society’s Last Wild

Places initiative.

SAVING AFRICA’S PARKS 115