The Babile Elephant Sanctuary was established in 1970, mainly to conserve the rare sub species of the African Elephant population. The sanctuary contains about 200–300 individual elephants, or nearly 15% of the total estimated 2000 elephants currently remaining in Ethiopia. Originally covering 6,900 km², in addition to elephants, the sanctuary is also a home to many rare and endangered species of birds and mammals.

The sanctuary is under the concession of the Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority (EWCA). It is also shared by Oromia and the Somali Regional States. While it is encroached by the two regions squeezing the wildlife habitat of the sanctuary, the Oromia Region recklessly awarded a significant part of the park (400 hectares) to an investor, named “Three Apple”, who failed to carry out and present the national obligation of Feasibility and Environmental Impact Assessment. It is internationally and nationally prohibited to provide a farm in the center of any protected area.

The sanctuary provides a home to native, unique subspecies of African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana oleansie), living in the western areas of the sanctuary, with a population of at least 200-300 individuals recorded. This species is currently labeled as “Endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Poaching and human-elephant conflicts have been the major threats to persistence of Babile elephants. Only in the last eight years, about 50 elephants were killed by illegal poachers and 20 people were either killed or injured by the elephants. While the sanctuary is encroached on several sides, the 400-hectare award for investment is a stab in the back for the elephants.

At the time, when Ethiopia suffers from sporadic and persistent drought and flood, intentionally destroying such a fragile but drought resistant acacia forest is disastrous and may contribute to ecological degradation, peoples’ displacement, even above the grave threat to the rare and endangered elephant species.

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