CAR, of course, has been the subject of US State Department Travel Warnings for years now due to rebel activities and general unrest at its borders with Chad and Sudan. In spite of that, scores of hunters have traveled there with only a few serious incidents reported to The Hunting Report, specifically two attempted camp robberies last year (see Article ID 2092) and the shooting mentioned above. From what a few hunters have told me upon returning from CAR last season, the Sudanese poachers are still a serious problem in some areas, but the operators have taken a non-confrontational approach, moving clients out of areas where poachers are active in order to avoid any more incidents. The European Economic Union (EEU) also continues to fund the Project for the Development of the Northern Region (PDRN), which includes anti-poaching efforts that are not associated with hunting operations. That's a good thing because poachers are less likely to retaliate against hunting operations for the EEU's work.
I contacted a number of CAR operators when the new travel warning was announced. The consensus among them was that international news broadcasts and the US State Department's view on CAR are the same as they have been for some years now. It looks bad, but the trouble continues to be isolated in the same areas, specifically in far northern CAR from Bossangoa in the west to Kaga-Bandoro, to Bamingui to Ndele to Koumbala to........(continued)
