This archive of reports of wildlife surveys in Namibia aims to:
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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Robust abundance estimates of wild animal populations are needed to inform management policies and are often obtained through mark–recapture (MR) studies. Visual methods are commonly used, which limits data collection to daylight hours and good weather conditions. Passive acoustic monitoring offers an alternative, particularly if acoustic cues are naturally produced and individually distinctive. Here we investigate the potential of using individually distinctive signature whistles in a MR framework and evaluate different components of study design.
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.
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Waterbirds in the panhandle of the Okavango Delta_2019.pdf | 3.73 MB |
Knowledge of the occurrence and distribution of cetaceans is particularly important for conservation and management, but is still limited within Namibian waters. We collated 3211 cetacean records from the Namibian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) for the period 2008 to 2016 and applied the principle of minimum cross entropy (MinxEnt) to predict habitat suitability. MinxEnt is a generalised form of maximum entropy modelling that allows incorporation of additional information such as sampling bias.
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Predicting large_scale habitat suitability for cetaceans off Namibia using MinxEnt.pdf | 2.91 MB |
The Nile crocodile,Crocodylus niloticus, is found throughout sub-Saharan Africa, including Namibia, Botswana and Angola. The species was transferred from CITES Appendix I to Appendix II in 2004, although it is recognized as peripherally endangered in Namibia due to diminishing habitat availability primarily from human encroachment. In 2013, a species management plan was approved in Namibia to assess the management of the Namibian Nile crocodile populations. During 2012, an aerial survey was conducted to provide an estimate of Nile crocodile population numbers.
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.
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KOAR Winter July Wetland Water_bird Counts Okavango River 2012.pdf | 259.43 KB |
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Mahango bird count January 2002.pdf | 353.37 KB |
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Mahango wetland bird count_January 2001.pdf | 292.11 KB |
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July wetland bird count_Mahango Game Park.pdf | 400.34 KB |
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January wetland bird count in the Mahango Game Reserve_Kavango.pdf | 291.82 KB |
Protected and proclaimed areas in the Caprivi, Namibia, hold most of the economically valuable wildlife species in that region. This wildlife is presently being viewed as a potential resource base to support the many community-based conservation and development programmes in the Caprivi.
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Research Discussion Paper 9_1995.pdf | 204.4 KB |