Mutware, the chief of Akagera Park

Elephants in Akagera National Park
The elephants of Akagera National Park have been transported from Bugesera (Kigali) in in the year 1975. By that time they were about 7 years old. Among those elephants, only 3 (Mwiza, Hélico and Mutware (the Chief) have been habituated, while the others remained wild.

The two (Mwiza and Hélico) ended up by following the wild ones. Mutware, is still a solitary and he is still causing damage and maybe this is the reason why he is so famous.
And because people only hear stories about this solitary elephant, the story goes that there is only one elephant in Akagera National Park.

However, at this moment the elephant population in the park is around 80. Mutware survived the 1994 war, but he lost his ivories.

Now he is the main attraction in the park and people from all over the world come to Rwanda and try to meet with this huge beast who lives in this beautiful Park.

Rwanda's famous Mutware (giant elephant a tourist attraction in Akagera National Park).
Reuters Alert Net, May 5, 2006

Submerged in the muddy waters of a Rwandan lake, Mutware cools down from the scorching morning heat, ignoring the crowd of visitors who have come to visit him. Flapping his ears as birds rest on his back, the 38-year-old rogue elephant seems out of sorts - there is no sign of the aggressive beast that wrecked at least three cars last year, prompting a security warning from the U.S. State Department. "Mutware, Mutware, wake up!" several villagers cry out, eager to please the tourists who have come to see the elephant. But it takes several hours and some cassava flour and leaves to Make Mutware move. Villagers say the elephant is tired after a long night of feeding on their crops. Mutware's bathing spot, Lake Ihema, in Rwanda's eastern Akagera Park, is just one of the attractions some 25,000 foreign tourists visited last year in tiny Rwanda.

Mutware - Thursday, March 30, 2006
(source: http://saraelder.blogspot.com/2006/03/mutware.html)

I introduce you to Mutware, 'the chief', whom I met the other weekend in Ndego. Like the people I photographed, I also fed and pet Mutware, who is used to humans. However, I felt guilty for giving in to my desire to seize the once in a lifetime chance to pet a wild elephant. The elephant does not stay within the national park borders and destroys people's crops i.e. their food security. Villagers have tried to kill him on several occasions. Approaching Mutware and especially feeding him manioc flour like I did contributes to this ongoing conflict

Elephant Causes Panic in Rwanda (source: http://www.elephant-news.com)
2006-05-17 - Kigali, Rwanda

“Mutware, the famous elephant in Akagera National Park, is on the rampage. It escaped from the park recently and is now destroying properties and gardens around Nasho Sector in Kirehe District. Residents are also in constant fear for their dear lives. Those talked to Monday May 15, say that many people have abandoned their daily work and homes in fear of being attacked by the elephant.“

This web site is a tribute to the elephant living in Akagera Game Park in Rwanda called Mutware (The Chief)

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Last updated: 14/04/10