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Namibian Wildlife Surveys archive

This archive of reports of wildlife surveys in Namibia aims to:

  • provide easy public access to published information and statistics
  • enable easy stakeholder access to recent and historical data on wildlife populations
  • provide a comprehensive archive of wildlife survey reports in Namibia

Public access to information is a vital component of ensuring community engagement in prevalent issues. Wildlife surveys are critical to determine the health of wildlife populations and determine trends over time to guide conservation and management actions. 

Wildlife surveys are done for different species using methods that are suited to counting them (e.g. by air or road) in their natural habitats. Such surveys need to be repeated over time to detect long-term trends and inform conservation managers. The Namibian government, non-governmental organisations and private reserves all conduct regular surveys covering different parts of Namibia and targeting different species. This archive will thus serve as a repository of our collective knowledge of the trends and status of a variety of species occurring throughout Namibia.

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Displaying results 1 - 11 of 11
Schlossberg S, Chase M 2024. Population trends and conservation status of elephants in Botswana and the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area - A review of elephant aerial surveys, 2010 - 2022.

In 2022, an aerial survey for African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) was conducted over the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA) in southern Africa. KAZA is a 520,000-km² network of protected areas in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The aerial survey found that KAZA holds ~228,000 elephants, confirming that this is the world’s largest population of savanna elephants and a critical stronghold for this endangered species.

Kopij G, Paxton M 2019. Waterbirds in the panhandle of the Okavango Delta: dry season counts over two seven-year periods. Zoology and Ecology (29) 15-27

We counted waterbirds along a fixed route in the panhandle of the Okavango River in Mahango Game Reserve in the dry season during two seven-year periods (1991–1997 and 2000–2006). Palearctic migrants represented by 11 species in 1991–1997 and nine species in 2000–2006 together composed only a small percentage of all birds recorded in both periods. The two most numerous foraging guilds were birds foraging in shallow water and those foraging in deep water. The former guild was more numerous in 2000–2006, while the latter guild was more numerous in 1991–1997.

Paxton M 2013. KOAR Winter (July) Wetland Water-bird Counts, Okavango River 2012. Lanioturdus 46 (1) 21-24

The Okavango River system, about 480 kms of which constitutes the border between Namibia and Angola, has previously been largely neglected in the annual wetland water-bird counts programme conducted throughout Namibia. The exceptions have been the Mahango Game Reserve and a section of the river at Shamvura Camp where voluntary wetland water-bird counts have however been conducted over a consecutive period of 15 years and 11 years respectively. The remainder of the river had been left uncounted until 2012.

Stein AB, Aschenborn O, Kastern M, Andreas A, Thompson S 2012. Namibia Large Carnivore Atlas.

In 2011, the Ministry of Environment and Tourism conducted a questionnaire to various stakeholders to determine relative abundance of large carnivores throughout Namibia. The results of this questionnaire were quantified and mapped to establish the current range and relative abundance of the six Namibian large carnivores. Recent population estimates for leopards are used here, however, the remaining species we used estimates from the previous Atlas as our best estimates to date.

Attachment Size
Namibia Large Carnivore Atlas_2012.pdf 3.87 MB
Chase M 2009. Fixed-wing aerial wildlife census of the Caprivi river systems: A survey of rivers, wetlands and floodplains in September 2009.

This report presents the results of the third fixed-wing aerial wildlife census of the Caprivi River systems in Namibia conducted during September 2009. The purpose of this survey is to provide recent information on the distribution, abundance and trend of wildlife species including comparisons between protected areas and conservancies. The report compares the results of this survey with earlier fixed-wing aerial surveys conducted in September 2007 and August 2004.

Brown C, Chase M, Nkala T, Landen K, Aust P 2007. Status of Wattled Cranes on the floodplains of north-east Namibia: Results from an aerial survey during September 2007 .

The Okavango River in Namibia, from the Angolan border just northwest of the bridge on the Trans-Caprivi highway south to the Botswana border; the entire length of the Kwandu-Linyanti-Lake Liambezi-Chobe system, including the whole Mamili National Park; and the Zambezi River for its entire length on Namibia's border, including parts of the adjacent East Caprivi floodplains, were survey from the air in September 2007.

Paxton M, Sheehan L 2002. Mahango bird count January 2002 . Lanioturdus 35 (4) 24-28
Attachment Size
Mahango bird count January 2002.pdf 353.37 KB
Paxton M, Sheehan L 2001. Mahango wetland bird count - January 2001 . Lanioturdus 34 (2) 2-7
Paxton M 2000. July wetland bird count - Mahango Game Reserve . Lanioturdus 33 (1&2) 13-19
Paxton M, Sheehan L 1999. January wetland bird count in the Mahango Game Reserve, Kavango . Lanioturdus 32 (1) 15-18
Robertson A, Simmons RE, Jarvis AM, Brown CJ 1995. Can Bird Atlas data be used to estimate population size? A case study using Namibian endemics . Biological Conservation 71 87 - 95

An assessment of population size is a fundamental stage in the conservation of any species. The recent availability of data from the Southern African Bird Atlas Project (SABAP) provides a tool to investigate the status and distribution of approximately 900 bird species covered by this work. Here, we assess whether or not reporting rate can be used to establish absolute abundance and thereby produce estimates of population size.

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