Frédéric Chappée

After seeing a documentary about elephant poaching in 2016, Frédéric contacted IFAW’s office in France. At the time, he was head of the dog-handling unit in the French army. He offered to share the expertise he had developed over more than 15 years with IFAW to form and train canine units tasked with detecting contraband elephant ivory and other endangered wildlife specimens.

Frédéric joined the IFAW team in France in 2018 and moved to Benin with his family to pilot the Detection Dogs project on a daily basis that very same year. Over the course of three years, Frédéric is leading the Cotonou canine brigade, training and supervising dog-handling units in the fight against the trafficking in endangered species.

Frédéric is a great animal lover and has a keen sense of duty. After he finished his service in the French army, he wanted to put his skills to use to fight for a cause close to his heart. He cares deeply about the welfare of dogs and humans, and the environment in which they live.