The Central African Republic (CAR) occupies a critical position at the heart of the Congo Basin, bordering Chad, Sudan, South Sudan, the DRC, Republic of Congo, and Cameroon. Despite being one of the world's poorest and most conflict-affected nations, CAR contains extraordinary biodiversity—including forest elephants, western lowland gorillas, and bongo antelope—in landscapes that represent some of the least-disturbed forest in Africa.
The ongoing civil war, involving multiple armed factions and UN peacekeepers, has devastated conservation institutions, enabled rampant poaching, and severely disrupted rural livelihoods dependent on livestock.
CAR was once home to some of Central Africa's most significant elephant populations. The conflict beginning in 2012 was catastrophic for elephants. Armed groups—motivated by ivory profits—conducted systematic slaughter. The Dzanga-Sangha bai (forest clearing), one of the world's most spectacular wildlife viewing sites where hundreds of forest elephants gather, was temporarily abandoned by WWF staff during the worst violence, enabling poachers to kill dozens of elephants there.
Dzanga-Sangha has since partially recovered with international support and the return of management teams. It remains one of the best places in Africa to observe forest elephants and represents a conservation lifeline in an otherwise devastated landscape.
CAR's forests support populations of western lowland gorillas, chimpanzees, and numerous monkey species. The Dzanga-Ndoki National Park is part of the Sangha Trinational—a transboundary protected area spanning CAR, Cameroon, and Congo, designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Despite the protection designation, armed conflict has severely constrained management capacity.
Food insecurity driven by conflict has intensified bushmeat hunting throughout CAR. Primates—including protected species—are hunted as protein sources. The combination of commercial poaching and subsistence hunting creates enormous pressure on wildlife populations already stressed by habitat loss.
The Mbororo (Fulani) pastoralists, migrating seasonally with large cattle herds from the north, are a significant presence in CAR and a persistent source of conflict with settled farmers. Their cattle herds—numbering in the millions before the crisis—have suffered catastrophically from conflict, theft, and disease during the civil war years.
CAR sits at the intersection of major ivory and bushmeat trafficking networks. Armed groups including the LRA (Lord's Resistance Army), Séléka factions, and anti-Balaka militias have all been implicated in ivory trafficking. The porous borders with Sudan, Chad, and Cameroon facilitate illegal wildlife trade. International law enforcement cooperation has had limited success given the security environment.
International conservation organizations including WWF and WCS have maintained presence in CAR despite extreme security risks. Key approaches:
CAR exemplifies how human conflict devastates animal welfare at multiple levels simultaneously:
Peace is not merely a human welfare need—it is a prerequisite for meaningful animal welfare improvement in CAR and similar conflict-affected states.
Despite devastating losses, CAR's biological richness means that recovery is possible with sustained peace and international support. The Sangha Trinational demonstrates that transboundary conservation can work even in challenging contexts. The immediate priorities are: