As poachers and known traffickers of Ivory were arrested and condemned in 2014, against all odds, the surveillance of the National Pendjari Park seems suspended since the beginning of this year.

An arrest just took place outside the park this friday the 13th of march, bringing woe to two wildlife traffickers among many others. This operation was realized thanks to the police forces and the wildlife rangers with the support of the public prosecutor, and was made possible thanks to the AALF-B project developped by the EAGLE network and the Nature Tropicale NGO. Overall, 157 trophies and animal carcasses were seized during this operation: skins, horns, elephant bones, crocodile carcasses, pythons, and many species of antelopes (bushbuck, duiker) and carnivorous (genetta and what would be the head of a lion), patas, cameleons, etc. A good monitoring into the park itself would have prevented this, but the situation seems out of control, which pleases the poachers and their accomplices.

The reasons are, among other things, the political pressures orchestrated by poachers, fauna traffickers and their accomplices. The municipalities of Tanguiéta and Materi didn’t hesitate to suspend, with the municipal order of December 29, 2014, the activities of the Villages Associations of Wildlife and Reserves Management (AVIGREF), which assured surveillance in partnership with the Park managers. But the substitute options in place seems really not effective as poaching is growing. The punctual attendance of militaries non-trained in the park and their lack of experience in the matter constitutes a risk if they’re not well managed.

Amadou Akpana, a guide, who organizes visits of ecotourism in the Pendjari Park since more than 20 years explains that the Park is more threatened than ever. "Many antelope carcasses are scattered in the park and elephants have been killed as well.

Poaching and trafficking are progressively becoming more common".
As much as 3000 elephants, 20 000 antelopes and more than 200 big felines are now at the mercy of poachers, so seriously threatened. Whilst financial supports for managing and protecting the Park are important (European Union, German cooperation, IUCN), they’re not properly deployed on the ground.

To this day, the slaughter began and continues daily, including in the most frequented areas. Tourists are outraged by the animal corpses, and feeling insecure because of the circulation of armed poachers on touristic tracks. The visions of the animal corpses and gunshot sounds do not do well with ecotourism and it is the entire Benin reputation which is at risk.

Luc Mathot, founding director of the NGO Conservation-Justice explains: "I was lucky to visit twice the national Pendjari park in 2014. It’s a beautiful place where wildlife is still abundant to the point that it’s one of the last edens of West Africa. To know that thousands of elephants, antelopes and big felines could get rapidly shot down is outrageous, especially as it’s not a problem of ability, or a problem of means, but it’s only a lack of will." Indeed it seems that complicities with poachers are quite real and that some authorities are benefiting from leaving the Park under no surveillance. It is unfortunately the key factor in the sucess of the conservation projects, and funders like NGOs can’t do much if this problem isn’t fixed.

Joséa S. Dossou Bodjrénou, director of the NGO Nature Tropicale, and member of the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature): "the spectacle of wild animal slaughters as we’re witnessing in the national Pendjari park these days is unimaginable. Is it mere vengeance? And against whom? How is it possible to conceive that such an important resource be left without surveillance by authorities, and for how long? And that poachers can so easily kill animals in the heart of the touristic zone of the Park? I think there’s an urgency to take actions on the part of the higher instances and we support the fact that necessary steps have to be taken."

Only Benin’s higher authorities can bring back the quietness considering and using all of the partners for an efficient protection of this universal patrimony. Let us remind that the partnership system with the AVIGREF (Villages Associations of Wildlife and Reserves Management) was given the Ecuador Prize in 2014 by the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme). To suppress this system is a serious risk and the alternatives have not yet shown any result.

Useful contacts :

Luc MATHOT, Directeur de Conservation Justice (Gabon), mail : luc@conservation-justice.org, Tél : 00241 04 23 38 65 / 00241 06 12 37 28

Josea S. DOSSOU-BODJRENOU, Directeur Nature Tropicale ONG (Bénin), Membre de l’UICN, mail: ntongmu@yahoo.com, info@naturetropicale.org , Tél : 00229 95 40 94 14; 00229 96 10 08 37, 00229 93 48 99 15

Adamou AKPANA, Guide touristique Pendjari, Tél : 00229 97 35 45 58

Perrine ODIER, Coordinatrice Réplication EAGLE Network, Mail : perrine.odier@gmail.com, Tél Bénin : 00229 615 602 96 ; Tél : Guinée : 00224 624 393 846

Meryas KOUTON, Directeur du Parc de la Pendjari, mail : merkod1@yahoo.fr, Tél : 00229 95 54 93 9801