Australian-French vet Jerome Hugonot kidnapped in Chad while working for Sahara Conservation Fund

A French-Australian veterinarian has been kidnapped in Africa while working at a remote conservation park. 

Dr Jerome Hugonot was abducted on Friday while working for the Sahara Conservation Fund (SCF) in Chad’s Wadi Fara province, which borders Sudan. 

Announcing the incident in a statement, Chadian government spokesman Aziz Mahamat Saleh described Dr Hugonot as an environmentalist who managed a wildlife park for oryx, a species of desert antelope, on behalf of the SCF.

Mr Saleh said the government had mobilised all its resources to find the dual-national, adding that the kidnappers were ‘individuals not yet identified’.

Dr Jerome Hugonot has been kidnapped in Chad, where he was working for the Sahara Conservation Fund

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Chad authorities say they are yet to identify the kidnappers but are mobilising resources for find Dr Hugonot. Pictured: A map showing the location of Wadi Fara Province

A number of armed groups operate along the Chad-Sudan border. 

Dr Hugonot, who is understood to have a wife and daughter, moved to Australia from France in 2002.

He graduated from Murdoch University in 2010 then began working as a flying veterinarian in Katherine, in the Northern Territory, before spending the next few years in equine practice across South Australia, NSW’s Hunter Valley, and Western Australia. 

He then did a three-year stint in Central Africa working as an equine and wildlife vet as well as using his commercial pilot licence for anti-poaching aerial monitoring before returning to WA in 2019. 

In his most recent role, he was helping the SCF as it works to reintroduce scimitar-horned oryx to the north-central African country. 

Australian and French authorities are working with the Chad government to locate him.  

‘We are aware of the kidnapping of one of our compatriots in Chad and are in touch with his family, as well as with Chadian authorities, in order to obtain his release quickly,’ the French foreign ministry said in a statement. 

Dr Hugonot has enjoyed an illustrious career as a veterinarian, working in equine practice around Australia and doing wildlife care and conservation in Africa  

The dual national was working to help reintroduce desert antelope (pictured) scimitar-horned oryx to Chad

A spokeswoman for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was aware of the reports and that the federal government was in contact with Chadian and French authorities.

‘Due to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further details,’ she said.

Chad is a landlocked, semi-desert state grappling with domestic insecurity as well as security challenges associated with conflicts in bordering countries. 

The country has been run by a military junta led by Mahamat Idriss Deby since his father, the former president, died in April last year during an operation against rebels. 

Prior to his death, president Idriss Deby ruled Chad for three decades, with the nation now rocked by protests as citizens call for a quicker transition to democracy. 

Last week, at least 50 people were killed and almost 300 were injured during demonstrations. 

Protesters in Moundou, Chad, on October 20 as citizens call for a democracy 

Anti-government demonstrators set a burning barricade on fire during clashes in N’Djamena, Chad, Thursday Oct. 20,