Ankoro Incident: Understanding the Context to Build Sustainable Solutions Beyond the Boundaries of Upemba National Park

Press releaseLusinga, July 13, 2025 – The Upemba National Park (UNP) wishes to express its deep sadness following a tragic incident—an elephant attack—that resulted in the untimely death of a young girl in Ankoro, Kamalondo Sector, Manono Territory, Tanganyika Province, on July 9, 2025. With utmost sincerity, we extend our heartfelt condolences to the girl’s family and to the entire community affected by this event.

The park's management has closely followed all discussions, reactions, and publications surrounding the incident. Many of these reactions, however, have not demonstrated an understanding of the context of the incident or of the recent efforts made by the ICCN and the UNP. We therefore find it necessary and appropriate to provide clarification on several aspects of that context.

From a geographical perspective, it is important to recall that the town of Ankoro lies approximately 200 km north of the northern boundary of Upemba National Park—while the entire park itself spans only 170 km from north to south. Managing this vast territory is already extremely complex, and the distance between Ankoro and the park confirms that this was not an incident that occurred within the area directly managed by the park.

The sedentary presence of elephants in Ankoro is due to the invasion of their migration corridors. Indeed, the historic migratory routes connecting the park to this region were disrupted by expanding human activities, with the last recorded traces of migration dating back to 1997. Therefore, the elephants present in Ankoro cannot be considered as “UNP elephants.”

Despite this, the ICCN and UNP management have taken the initiative to recently deploy six GPS collars on elephants in this remote area to better understand their movements and support the development of sustainable solutions. This commitment reflects our willingness to assume a shared and proactive responsibility—even beyond the park’s boundaries—to reconcile human development and biodiversity conservation.

It is important to note, however, that six collars are not sufficient to provide comprehensive monitoring of the entire elephant population in the region. Additional efforts will be necessary to expand coverage and better understand local dynamics. At the time of the incident, the six collared elephants were located 35 km south of where the event occurred—meaning the elephant involved was not one being tracked by the park.

It is also essential to understand the dynamics between humans and elephants in the region, especially in relation to land use and natural resource exploitation. Between 2000 and 2023, the area along the Lualaba River between the park and Ankoro experienced massive deforestation, amounting to 85,447 hectares, or 5.5% loss in forest cover, according to data from Hansen et al. (2013). By comparison, UNP lost only 1% of its forest cover during the same period, despite its proximity to major cities like Lubumbashi and Kolwezi. The Lubudi Sampwe Hunting Reserve lost 4,470 hectares, or 1.5% of its forest cover, despite lacking any active management measures. These figures reflect the scale of land use change around Ankoro.

We fully understand that agricultural expansion is often a vital necessity for local communities facing food insecurity and a lack of economic alternatives. Coexistence between humans and elephants thus becomes a complex challenge, marked by competition for resources, crop destruction, economic losses, and, at times, human casualties.

However, this dynamic also contributes to the rapid loss of natural habitats. The increase in human-elephant conflict in the Ankoro area is therefore very likely linked to this accelerated habitat destruction, and not to a growth in elephant populations—for which there is currently no supporting evidence.

Finally, it is unrealistic to believe that elephants can simply be “pushed” back into the park and made to stay there. Numerous studies have shown that elephants do not respect human-imposed boundaries. For example, a drive-back operation conducted in 2015/2016 failed to permanently confine the herd in question within the park.

The ICCN recognizes the urgent need to find concrete and effective solutions for better wildlife management in areas outside designated conservation zones, and to ensure the protection of local communities in Manono Territory (Kamalondo Sector – Ankoro & Kabalo). It is crucial that we channel our efforts toward constructive dialogue with relevant authorities—traditional, governmental, and civil society—so that we may establish sustainable strategies to ensure the safety of Manono’s residents.

The Ankoro incident underscores the urgency of a collaborative approach to prevent future tragedies and to foster more harmonious coexistence between people and elephants. Such coexistence has been demonstrated in several regions across Africa, and the park is committed to establishing a mechanism of collaboration with local communities to improve the situation in this region.