Country Area - 1,284,000 km²
Range Area - 61,490 km² (5%)
Protected Range - 23%
Information Quality Index (IQI) - 0.32
CITES Appendix - I
Listing Year - 1990
The northern part of Chad is desert, and elephants are confined to the south, particularly in the Sudanian zone in the far south. Conservation efforts have been affected by a difficult security situation, including coup attempts in 2006 and 2008, and the presence of Boko Haram in the west of the country. Substantial areas of elephant range are being lost due to expanded settlement and conversion of rangeland to agriculture. However, there are also some areas of increased elephant range, apparently a result of elephants moving to safer areas from Cameroon and Central African Republic (Antonínová et al., 2015).
Zakouma National Park, which holds Chad’s largest elephant population, lost over 3,000 to poaching between 2005 and 2010; the reproductive rate appeared to reduce substantially and the elephants aggregated into a single herd. In 2010 the government of Chad signed a long-term private public partnership agreement with the African Parks Foundation (APF).
for the management of Zakouma NP and its periphery. Law enforcement has improved, poaching has reduced and the reproductive rate has increased (Antonínová et al., 2015).
A National Elephant Action Plan has been written and covers the period 2016-2025 (Antonínová et al., 2015). The National Elephant Protection Centre (NEPC) was established in 2013 with a control room and database on elephant issues. Two toll-free telephone numbers enable people to report information about elephants.
In 2008 Chad introduced the first legislation governing forests, wildlife and fishery resources since independence in 1960. This legislation provides for the creation of Community Wildlife Areas and comanagement of natural resources.
Chad is a major ivory transit area, with ivory from within the country and from other countries in the region being smuggled mainly via Sudan, Cameroon and Nigeria (UNEP et al., 2013).
In February 2014, Chad destroyed 1.1 tonnes of stockpiled ivory (Godard, 2014b).
The estimated number of elephants in areas surveyed in the last ten years in Chad is 794 at the time of the last survey for each area. There may be an additional 273 to 353 elephants in areas not systematically surveyed. These guesses probably represent a minimum number, and actual numbers could be higher than those reported. Together, this estimate and guess apply to 28,561 km², which is 46% of the estimated known and possible elephant range. There remains an additional 54% of the estimated range for which no elephant population estimates are available.
Both estimates and guesses have declined substantially since the AESR 2007. The range map has been substantially modified following data collection for the National Elephant Action Plan, with major changes including the reduction of known range to the west of Zakouma NP and around Lake Fitri.
Zakouma NP holds the largest remaining elephant population in Chad, although the numbers have declined by an order of magnitude in the last ten years due to poaching, which was heaviest between 2005 and 2009 (Poilecot, 2010); the situation has more or less estabilised since 2010. An aerial total countwas conducted in 2014 as part of the Great Elephant Census which gave a count of 443 elephants (Antonínová et al., 2014a) replacing one of 3,885 from 2005 (Fay et al., 2005). A sample count in 2008 gave an estimate of 2,285 carcasses and 939 live elephants. Total counts in 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 showed a small decline in live elephant estimates from 617 to 542 to 454 to 444 (Antonínová et al., 2014a). Carcass ratios decreased from 71% in 2008 to 19% in 2014, indicating a reduction in poaching pressure. There has been a steady reduction in poaching events; from 125 elephants killed in 2008, to 41 in 2009, 32 in 2010, 7 in 2011, 7 in 2012, 0 in 2013 and 0 in 2014 (Antonínová et al., 2014a).
Approximately 500-600 elephants were believed to occur in the Siniaka-Minia Faunal Reserve to the west of Zakouma NP (Malachie & Lassou, 2002) but they are no longer resident in the area, and survivors may have moved into Zakouma NP during the period of intense poaching. This has therefore been recorded as a lost population.
The Heban-Mourraye area to the northeast of Zakouma NP has a small population of elephants that may overlap with the Zakouma NP population during the rainy season. After nine elephants were killed in 2012, there were six individuals remaining (Antonínová et al., 2014a). There was no previous estimate for this area and it is thus recorded as a new population.
During an aerial survey carried out in the Birket Fatime-Eref area north of Zakouma in 2013, a herd of seven individuals was observed, but there may be up to 25 individuals in three herds (Antonínová et al., 2015). There was no previous estimate for this area so it is recorded as a new population.
Seventy three elephants were observed in the Lake Fitri area northwest of Zakouma NP in 2014 (Antonínová et al., 2015). This informed guess replaces a guess of 200-300 from 2002 (Malachie & Lassou, 2002).
There are two elephant populations in the vicinity of Lake Chad. There are thought to be 60 in the Doum Doum area at the south end of the lake (Antonínová et al., 2015). This guess replaces one of 50-100 for the Koloudia-Doum-Doum area from 2002 (Malachie & Lassou, 2002). The second population lives further north near Baga Sola town and six elephants were seen in 2013, but there may be up to 20 (Antonínová et al., 2015). This has been recorded as a new population.
An aerial total count was conducted in the Chari Baguirimi and Mayo Kebbi Est regions in 2014 as part of the Great Elephant Census, during which 168 elephants were observed (Antonínová et al., 2014c). This elephant population was heavily affected by poaching in 2012 when about 65 elephants were killed (Antonínová et al., 2014c). This area has a high human population and there is much human-elephant conflict. There was no previous estimate so it is recorded as a new population and the range changed from doubtful to known range. There was guess of 150-200 in the AESR 2007 for the nearby Massenya-Mandjafa area (Malachie & Lassou, 2002), which is not currently considered to be elephant range.
Elephants were not known to inhabit the Binder Léré ecosystem, which includes the Binder Léré Faunal Reserve, prior to 2007. In 2010, 236 elephants were seen in this area during the course of a ground survey, and it is thought that they had moved in from Waza National Park in Cameroon. About 90 elephants were killed in a single poaching incident in January 2013. During an aerial total count conducted in 2014 as part of the Great Elephant Census 132 elephants were observed (Antonínová et al., 2014b). This is recorded as a new population.
There are a further two small elephant populations on the Cameroon border, adjoining Bouba Ndjidah NP in Cameroon, which has been heavily impacted by poaching. One is in the Gagal-Yapala-Beinamar area where there may be up to 50 elephants, but only 18 have been confirmed (Antonínová et al., 2015). This guess replaces one of 400-500 for the Gagal-Yapala area from 2002 (Malachie & Lassou, 2002). There also may be 50 elephants in the Larmanaye area further south (Antonínová et al., 2015). This guess replaces one of 100-150 from 2002 (Malachie & Lassou, 2002).
There are believed to be four elephant populations living close to the southern border of Chad with Central African Republic (CAR). According to local communities, elephants started to return to Chad from CAR in the past few years, probably as a result of a safer environment on the Chadian side of the border, but it is not clear if these are resident populations. There are guesses of 30 elephants, with 14 confirmed, in the Mbaibokoum-Mbitoye-Bekan area, 50 in Baké-Yamodo-Goré , and perhaps 20 each in the Ngourou-Gondeï (Aouk) area and the Dembo-Djéké Djéké-Sido area (Antonínová et al., 2015). The AESR 2007 gave one guess of 600-700 elephants for the Dembo area, so the other areas are recorded as new populations for this report.