Bordered by Niger and Nigeria to the west, Cameroon to the southwest, the Central African Republic to the south, Sudan to the east, and Libya and Niger to the north, Chad is blessed with a variety of habitats that supports unique and amazing wildlife. Chad is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North and Central Africa. The country is also subject to hot, dry, dusty conditions. Harmattan winds are a feature in the northern part of the country. Droughts and locust plagues are also common.
At last count, Chad had 134 kinds of mammals and 532 types of birds. Though Chad is a landlocked country, much of its wildlife is found in and around Lake Chad. Lake Chad has 179 species of fish which feed on vegetation, phytoplankton and zooplankton. They include lions, cheetahs, sand cats and servals, leopards, and genets.
Still, these numbers have fallen greatly since the beginning of the 20th century from poaching, habitat destruction, and hunting. These activities have caused some creatures to go extinct in Chad or to hover at the edge of going extinct. Still, there are both protected and unprotected areas for the country’s wildlife. Chad actually has two national animals. In the north, it is the goat and in the south, it’s the lion. The goat was probably chosen for its overall usefulness as it provides milk, meat, and hide.
Chad is home to several species found nowhere else, such as the Red-Fronted Gazelle. The Zakouma National Park is an important habitat with the highest number of large mammals.
An amazing variety of fauna lives in Chad. Chad is also home to the Egyptian mongoose and rodents such as the Gambian sun squirrel, the crested porcupine, the Western Saharan spiny mouse, and several species of gerbil, including the pygmy gerbil and Tarabui’s gerbil. There are several species of shrews and many unique species of bats, including the butterfly bat, the tiny serotine, and the naked-rumped tomb bat. Chad is home to the spotted hyena, the striped hyena and the African golden wolf, and the amazing, desert-dwelling fennec fox with its huge ears.
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National Parks and Protected Areas
The top animals in Chad can be found in such parks, reserves, and forests as Zakouma National Park, Aouk National Park, Manda National Park, and Goz Beïda National Park. The protected parks, reserves, protection forests, reforestation areas, and Ramsar Wetlands of international importance in the country include the IUCN Level II categorized Aouk (7,400 km2 or 2,900 sq mi), Goz Beïda, Manda (1,140 km2 or 440 sq mi), and Zakouma (3,000 km2 or 1,200 sq mi) national parks.
Reserves that have some protection are Bahr Salamat, Beinamar, Larmanaye, Abou Telfane, Ouadi Rimé-Ouadi Achim Binder-Léré, Fada Archei, Mandelia and Siniala-Minia. There are also eight Bird Areas and the Tibesti Massif, which is protected. The rare desert crocodile can be found in the Ennedi Plateau along with the equally rare North African ostrich.
Aside from the numerous protected forests, Tibesti Massif is also a protected area. In addition to parks and reserves, eight Important Bird Areas (IBAs) have been identified and supported by BirdLife International. These cover 11.2 percent of the country, an area of 146,500 square kilometres (56,600 sq mi), some overlapping with parks and reserves.
Ouadi Rime Ouadi Achim Faunal Reserve is home to a growing population of around 600 scimitar horned oryx. Following the oryx reintroduction, addax (Addax nasomaculatus) were reintroduced starting in 2019, as this species was thought to have become extinct in the reserve and possibly extinct in Chad as a whole.
Vegetation is dominantly tropical in the tropical zone of the country with deserts having least vegetative growth. The montane vegetation on the massif is rich, unlike the vegetation that is in the lowlands. Woody vegetation occurs in some deep gorges of the Ennedi massif, which rises to 1,450 metres (4,760 ft). A flat terrain supports Sahelian grasslands. The transition zone that lies between the southern Sahel and northern Sudan-Guinea is also a seasonal wetland. The well-drained soils of the area once supported areas of dense woodlands with ebony and kapok trees, but this has declined due to soil erosion and degradation. Vegetation found in the area includes acacias, baobab, desert date, palms, African myrrh, and Indian jujube.
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Topography map of Chad.
Key Species and Their Conservation Status
Here's a closer look at some of the notable animals found in Chad:
- African Bush Elephant: Because Chad’s national parks are unfortunately understaffed, elephants are subject to poaching for their ivory. Sometimes poachers massacre entire herds of elephants. Both male and female African elephants have tusks. In Asian elephants, only the males have tusks.
- Slender-billed Curlew: This wading bird is considered critically endangered.
- Northwest African Cheetah: This big cat is both rare and critically endangered.
- West African Lion: This animal, one of the two national animals of Chad, is also critically endangered.
- African Wild Ass: This wild donkey is critically endangered. It is rare in Africa overall, with only a few hundred individuals left in the wild.
Other species reported are: dama gazelle (Nanger dama), red-fronted gazelle (Gazella rufifrons), dorcas gazelle (Gazella dorcas), patas monkey (Erythrocebus patas), striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena), Sudan cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus soemmeringii), caracal (Felis caracal), Chadian wild dog (Lycaon pictus sharicus), African elephant (Loxodonta africana), spotted-necked otter (Lutra maculicollis), African clawless otter (Aonyx capensis), sitatunga (Tragelaphus spekei) and kob (Kobus kob).
Distribution of Cheetah Subspecies in Africa.
Threats to Wildlife
Poaching is a serious problem in the country, particularly of elephants for the profitable ivory industry and a threat to lives of rangers even in the national parks such as Zakouma. Elephants have been massacred in herds in and around the parks by organized poaching. The problem is exacerbated by understaffing.
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In 2002, Zakouma counted 3885 elephants. But then came the Chadian civil war, followed by highly organized bands of poachers coming over the border from neighboring Sudan, often on horseback and carrying AK-47s. This spring, 483 were counted, including 81 calves under the age of three.
More dangerous even than these large mammals is the tiny mosquito. Mosquitoes that live in Chad’s tropical regions can transmit malaria, which led to 409,000 deaths in 2019. The tsetse fly transmits a deadly disease called sleeping sickness, and as Chad is found in the eastern part of the continent, the form of sleeping sickness is acute as opposed to chronic.
Conservation Efforts
African Parks trains and manages anti-poaching teams: some travel by vehicle, others on horseback all aided by aerial spotters. A distinct advantage to an under-visited country is the authenticity of the experience.
Efforts have been made by the Food and Agriculture Organization to improve relations between farmers, agro-pastoralists and pastoralists in the Zakouma National Park, Siniaka-Minia, and Aouk reserve in southeastern Chad to promote sustainable development. As part of the national conservation effort, more than 1.2 million trees have been replanted to check the advancement of the desert, which incidentally also helps the local economy by way of financial return from acacia trees, which produce gum arabic, and also from fruit trees.
Controlled Chad hunts ensure that wildlife populations are managed sustainably while generating revenue that supports local communities and habitat preservation. By adhering to strict quotas and ethical practices, hunting in Chad contributes directly to the protection of its unique ecosystems. Chad hunts play a significant role in empowering local communities.
Hunting in Chad is not only a thrilling pursuit but also a vital tool for conservation. Revenue generated from hunting safaris in Chad helps fund education, healthcare, and infrastructure in rural areas. Through well-regulated Chad hunts, these species are carefully managed to prevent overpopulation or decline. By participating in Chad hunts, you contribute to the ongoing efforts to safeguard this country’s unique wildlife and landscapes for future generations.
Chad's Diverse Flora
As of 2011, there were 2,288 species of plants in the country, 55 of which are endemic. In Chad forest cover is around 3% of the total land area, equivalent to 4,313,000 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, down from 6,730,000 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forest covered 4,293,000 hectares (ha) and planted forest covered 19,800 hectares (ha).
Three vegetation zones, correlated with the rainfall, may be distinguished. The tall grasses and the extensive marshes of the savanna zone have an abundant wildlife. The northern part of the country which has the Sahara desert and which borders Libya and the volcanic massif of Tibesti (3,415 metres (11,204 ft)) forms part of the northern zone.
A Glimpse into Chadian Culture
Chad is home to over 200 ethnic groups, with Arabic and French as the official languages. The population of Chad presents a tapestry composed of different languages, peoples, and religions that is remarkable even amid the variety of Africa. More than 100 different languages and dialects are spoken in the country. French is the other official language, and it is used in communications and in instruction as well, although the national radio network also broadcasts in Arabic, Sara Madjingay, Tuburi, and Mundang. Its use is closely linked to the development of education.
Map showing the distribution of ethnic groups in Chad.
