Chad plane crashed during a rhino monitoring mission, killing two people

A small plane crashed, killing both people on board, ending a tragic rhino monitoring expedition in southern Chad.

In southern Chad, two people on a rhinoceros monitoring expedition were killed in a sad plane crash on Wednesday. The victims were a South African pilot and an official of Chad’s environment ministry, the nation’s Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement.

Near a settlement in the Zakouma region, the small two-seater Savannah S plane, flown by the conservation organization African Parks Network, went down at approximately 0500 GMT. A continuous surveillance operation to safeguard the area’s fauna, especially the endangered rhinoceros population, included the flight.

“The Civil Aviation Authority regrets to confirm that the two occupants tragically lost their lives in the accident, based on information received,” the statement said. A thorough investigation has been started by authorities to ascertain what caused the collision.

The tragedy clouds conservation efforts in Zakouma National Park, a hotspot for biodiversity that has recently seen a resurgence of attempts to save its fauna. The African Parks Network has been leading these initiatives, collaborating with governmental organizations to assist ecological monitoring and anti-poaching activities.