Photo of the Day 347

Buffalo Carcass, Zakouma National Park, Chad, 2007

Photograph by Michael Nichols

Chad's Zakouma National Park, a rare wildlife refuge in tumultuous central Africa, comprises less that 1,200 square miles (3,100 square kilometers), but its permanent water sources attract an abundance of large and small fauna. This buffalo took its last breath near one of Zakouma's rivers.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Ivory Wars: Last Stand in Zakouma," March 2007, National Geographic magazine)

Photo of the Day 318

Elephant's Trunk, Zakouma National Park, Chad, 2007

Photograph by Michael Nichols

A unique camera angle captures an elephant's trunk approaching a waterhole in Zakouma National Park, Chad. African elephants hydrate by sucking liquid into their trunk, then pouring it into their mouth. Adults will drink up to 50 gallons (190 liters) of water per day.

(Photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Ivory Wars: Last Stand in Zakouma," March 2007, National Geographic magazine)

Photo of the Day 294

Wells, Zakouma National Park, Chad, 2007

Photograph by Michael Nichols

Like petals on a flower, wells fan out from a central point in Chad’s Zakouma National Park. The wells hold water from the life-giving heavy rains that start every year in May, ending months of drought in central Africa.

(Text adapted from and photo shot on assignment for, but not published in, "Zakouma: Eye to Eye," March 2007, National Geographic magazine)