The team in Garamba National Park has recently collared 15 elephants. There are now 34 active GPS collars deployed in total throughout the park. These generate valuable data on the elephant’s movements and help the team protect the herds. Part of that team is the K-9 unit which we helped to establish in 2018 with a $50k USD donation as a result of Explorers Against Extinction ‘Sketch for Survival’ fund-raising.
Back in the 70s there were as many as 22,000 elephants in Garamba – the drastic decline in numbers over half a century is as a result of militarised poaching. Thanks to an extensive law enforcement strategy implemented in 2016 by African Parks, Garamba has seen a 90% decrease in poaching and elephant numbers have stabilised at around 1,000.
We are so proud to have made a small contribution to this phenomenal progress.
Many thanks to Invictus K9, who train the K9 unit for sharing a couple of photos taken last week during their most recent visit to Garamba. The collaring has provided a great opportunity to help desensitize the dogs to the elephants. The dogs in the K9 unit are usually Belgian Malinois or Alsations – both fantastically intelligent and hardworking breeds.
To find out more about Explorers Against Extinction’s Partnerships to Protect the Wild please visit the dedicated website.
