Safeguarding Elephants in Chinko, Central African Republic

In remote and war-torn parts of Central Africa, poverty and conflict often override concerns about the environment and conservation. However, success stories like those from Chinko in the Central African Republic show that attitudes to wildlife are changing. There were believed to be as many as 50,000 elephants in and around Chinko in the 1970s but today, after years of civil war and rampant poaching, only 100 or so remain, closely protected by Elephant Crisis Fund partner African Parks. When four elephants turned up in a local village outside the reserve in July 2020, village authorities turned to Chinko’s rangers and the Government to come and protect the elephants from possible poachers, and to help usher them back to the protection of Chinko. One of the four elephants was a magnificent bull, one of the great survivors from the mass killing that had eliminated almost all of his kin. Now, with the protection provided by African Parks and the support of the local community, he has a chance of living out his natural lifespan.