 Commissioned by the government of Chad and Project CRUSSE (Conservation and Rational Utilization of Sudan-Sahelian Ecosystems), Fay conducted surveys In 2005 and 2006 of elephants within Zakouma, and found populations to decline from 3885 to 3020 animals, significantly offsetting the precipitous increase of the previous six months, although the counting error could not be fully assessed.Fay reported that he saw five men at a base camp, who ran when his airplane approached.At another time he saw one man on horseback with an automatic weapon, who fired on his airplane.