We were watching a herd of elephants drinking and feeding in the swamps in Rigueik, the largest waterhole in Zakouma, when a shot from an AK-47 shattered our tranquil world. The elephants froze for two seconds, then this bull and the others sloshed in a panic to safety in the acacia bush. It turned out the guards fired when they thought they spied poachers, but it was a false alarm. Because poachers do not hesitate to shoot guards on sight, everybody has a bit of an itchy trigger finger. Funny thing about guns going off all the time, you get used to it. - J. Michael Fay
Photograph by Michael Nichols

Photographer Michael Nichols and conservationist J. Michael Fay provide an eyewitness report from Zakouma, a refuge in Chad that is home to some of the last surviving central African elephants. Armed patrols protect the elephants within the park, but poachers in search of ivory are slaughtering the endangered creatures as they search for food beyond the park�s boundaries. Learn about the efforts to protect elephants and other natural creatures and resources at the center of this human-wildlife conflict.