Travel Guide Réserve De Faune D’abokouamékro

Another major project of Houphouët the Builder, this reserve was created in 1986 with the idea of providing the public with a tourist paradise at the gates of the Ivorian political capital and to enhance the value of the Lakes region. Located about fifty kilometers northeast of Yamoussoukro, it covers a total area of 20,430 ha including 7,230 ha in the south of the reserve, formerly fenced and developed for tourism. Described as an "animal desert" at the time of its creation, it has been repopulated with wildlife for sightseeing tourism from the Comoé (Bouna) and Marahoué (Bouaflé) parks, supplemented by a few animals brought from South Africa (notably elephants and white rhinoceroses), as the local fauna was not rich enough. Between 1988 and 1993, 757 animals belonging to 16 different species were introduced into the reserve, which welcomed an average of 20,000 visitors per year before the political-military crisis of 2002, of which more than 90% were foreign tourists who came to visit the town of Yamoussoukro and its basilica. However, violent tensions between the reserve's managers and the populations of the outlying villages soon arose, as animals, especially elephants, made their way through the park's boundary fences and plundered the crops of local residents. The destruction of the park's enclosure in the early 2000s left the field open to poachers, and despite the surveillance patrols of Water and Forests agents and the OIPR, the park's fauna has greatly decreased. Combined with the flight of animals - especially rhinos, which have more than once caused panic in the surrounding localities - this phenomenon explains why the Abokouamékro reserve still deserves its nickname of "animal desert". Moreover, no one will deceive you on the merchandise by praising you the merits of unforgettable vision safaris. But you might see buffalo, hartebeest, antelope or cob. A development plan for the reserve has been approved, in consensus with the local populations who wish that the exploitation of the park would generate more economic benefits for the peripheral villages. But for the moment, no real tourist initiative has been set up, and the interests - without the animals - are therefore very limited