Sena Oura National Park

Sena Oura was gazetted in 2010 in Chad's southwest and is managed jointly with Bouba Ndjida across the Cameroon border as a single transboundary landscape, which matters because elephants move between the two and the herds were hit extremely hard by poaching in the early 2010s. The park is wooded savanna with rocky outcrops, holding elephant, buffalo, hartebeest and a long bird list. The park is small by Chadian standards at around seventy thousand hectares, and it works as a protected area mainly because of what it is joined to across the border.

Background

The park covers 735.2 km2 in the Mayo-Dallah Department of Mayo-Kebbi, along the Cameroon border. Its roots reach back to 1995, when local people and authorities signed the Dari agreement to protect the local forest. A decision in 2007 tied it to a planned transboundary biosphere reserve with Bouba Ndjida National Park, with funding from the German Society for International Cooperation and a French company. The IUCN places it in Category II, and representatives of local tribes share in running it. Open forest of tall trees, thick bush, tall grasses and woody shrubs covers this part of the East Sudanian savanna, home to 16 endangered animal species, the African elephant, the lion and the cheetah among them.

Source: Wikipedia, "Sena Oura National Park"

What's there

• The transboundary link - joint management with Bouba Ndjida across the border.
• The elephants - the herds that move between the two countries.
• The wooded savanna - the habitat the park protects.
• The rocky outcrops - the hills breaking up the plain within the park.

When to go

December to April is the dry season and the practical window. The rains from June close access. Early and late in the day are best for game.

Good to know

Elephant numbers in this landscape were devastated by poaching in the early 2010s and have not recovered. There is almost no visitor infrastructure. Guides and permits are required.

Nearby

Léré is north-west, and the Cameroon border is west.

Key facts