Dancers IN THE desert

The return of Ostriches to the Sahara

- ELSA BUSSIÈRE

Anyone who has studied, and loved, the Sahara Desert can surely bring to mind the Ostrich with the red neck, the northern race of a species that is more familiar in the southern and eastern regions of Africa. Sadly, wars and the advent of motor vehicles in the last century led to the demise of much of the remarkable wildlife of the Sahel-Sahara region, so the appearance once again of this beautiful, highly endangered bird's silhouette on the crest of a dune could signal a conservation battle not yet lost.

The government of Chad, together with NGOs African Parks Network and SaharaConservation, decided to make this dream come true and launched a project called Sougounaw - 'for the Ostrich' in the local language. Its story began in October 2019, when a bold action plan was given the official go-ahead. According to this plan, in February the following year young wild Ostriches would be collected in Zakouma National Park in the south-east of Chad the last stronghold of the subspecies and half of them would be flown to the Ouadi Rimé-Ouadi Achim Wildlife Reserve 432 kilometres away. The remaining birds would be transported to the Ennedi Natural and Cultural Reserve, where I am based, 734 kilometres from Zakouma. The chicks would be raised to the age of 18 months in their new homes and then, in the middle of the rainy season, they would be released into the wild.