CNN Reports on African Parks Anti-Poaching Successes at Zakouma National Park in Chad

A senior CNN TV investigative team visited Zakouma National Park in Chad last week to produce two special news reports, scheduled to begin screening on CNN International this Wednesday, 12 February:

• "Heart of Darkness” reports on the sophisticated anti-poaching measures implemented by African Parks in order to protect Zakouma’s elephants, including an interview with the sole survivor of the massacre by Sudanese poachers that left six Zakouma rangers dead in 2012.
• "Blood Ivory” investigates the link between ivory and conflict in the Central African Republic (CAR), one of Chad’s neighbours, and the possibility that the conflict in CAR is being partially fueled by the poaching of Chad’s elephants.

The two reports will be screened in multiple time slots; after which they will be uploaded on to the CNN website: www.cnn.com. The CNN team also produced a 30 minute programme for CNN’s Inside Africa on the anti-poaching edge provided by Zakouma National Park’s horse patrols. This programme is yet to be scheduled. The reports have been produced by investigative reporter Arwa Damon and producer Brent Swails, who covered anti-poaching at Odzala-Kokoua National Park in the Republic of Congo last month.

The screening of the latest CNN reports coincides with a high level conference on illegal wildlife trafficking being held by the UK Government in London this week and being attended by the Heads of State of several African countries.