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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
Longden EG, Elwen SH, McGovern B, James BS, Embling CB, Gridley T 2020. Mark-recapture of individually distinctive calls-a case study with signature whistles of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) . Journal of Mammalogy 101 (5) 1289-1301

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.

Martin MJ, Gridley T, Roux J-P, Elwen SH 2020. First abundance estimates of Heaviside's (Cephalorhynchus heavisidii) and Dusky (Lagenorhynchus obscurus) dolphins off Namibia using a Novel Visual and Acoustic Line Transect Survey . Frontiers in Marine Science

Knowledge of a population’s abundance is of primary importance for conservation management. However, robust estimates of abundance are often difficult to obtain, especially for cetaceans which spend most of their lives submerged. Cetacean abundance is commonly estimated using aerial or vessel-based line transect surveys and distance sampling methods. During 2012–2014, the first line transect surveys to estimate cetacean abundance were conducted in Namibian waters.

de Rock P, Elwen SH, Roux JP, Leeney RH, James BS, Visser V, Martin MJ, Gridley T 2019. Predicting large-scale habitat suitability for cetaceans off Namibia using MinxEnt. Marine Ecology Progress Series 619 149-167

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.

Potgieter GC 2019. Angolan island paradise for Cape Cormorants. Conservation and the Environment in Namibia (2019)

Take a close look at the image above. Each black dot is a Cape Cormorant (see below) as seen from a light aircraft. Can you count the cormorants? This aerial view of a colony of Cape Cormorants is a composite of several of the thousands of images taken during a 2017 survey of Ilha dos Tigres, an island off the coast of Angola. The purpose of this survey was to document all visible animals using this island, so every dot counts!

Elwen SH, Leeney RH, Gridley T 2019. Abundance estimates of an isolated population of common bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus in Walvis Bay, Namibia, 2008–2012 . African Journal of Marine Science (41) 61-70

The coastal population of common bottlenose dolphins Tursiops truncatus found in Namibia is regionally isolated and unique. This population faces several potential anthropogenic threats, especially in Walvis Bay, including boat-based tourism, a commercial harbour undergoing expansion, and aquaculture for oysters and mussels. Between 2008 and 2012, 238 boat-based surveys were conducted, resulting in 170 encounters with bottlenose dolphins. Overall, group sizes varied from 1 to 45 individuals (mean 10.7).

Attachment Size
Tursiops truncatus in Walvis Bay.pdf 2.67 MB
Goelst C, Moeller M, Kilian W 2018. Etosha National Park Carnivore Monitoring Project Update, Unofficial Report Re: Lion GPS-Satellite Monitoring, 2018 Lion Population Call-Up Survey.

Carnivore populations face threats from increasing human populations and rapidly diminishing, suitable habitat. Large carnivores such as African lions (Panthera leo) commonly attack livestock on lands adjacent to protected areas. This can lead to human-wildlife conflict (HWC) events that result in retaliatory lion killings. Conflict is a primary driver of wild lion population declines which are estimated to have decreased by 43% in the last 20 years.

Hanssen L, Singwangwa M, Kukuwa V 2015. Camera trap survey to determine the status of leopards in the Mudumu-North Complex, Zambezi Region, Namibia Report July 2015.

As part of the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA) the Mudumu Complexes of the east Zambezi Region of Namibia are important areas for wildlife connectivity and dispersal. The national parks of the east Zambezi Region, i.e. Mudumu and Nkasa Rupara, are too small to maintain viable populations of some wildlife species, which depend on being able to move across a network of landscapes, such as the conservancies and woodland areas to connect to protected areas in neighbouring countries such as Angola, Botswana and Zambia.

Hanssen L, Stander P 2004. Namibia Large Carnivore Atlas .

Namibia is one of few African countries that support six species of large carnivore. Lions, leopards, cheetahs, spotted hyaenas, brown hyaenas and wild dogs occur primarily in the northern and western sections of Namibia. With the possible exception of lions and leopards we have a poor understanding of the exact distribution and density of these species, although available information suggests that the populations are stable.

Hanssen L, Stander P 2004. Namibia Large Carnivore Atlas, December 2003 .

Namibia is one of few African countries that support six species of large carnivore. Lions, leopards, cheetahs, spotted hyaenas, brown hyaenas and wild dogs occur primarily in the northern and western sections of Namibia. With the possible exception of lions and leopards we have a poor understanding of the exact distribution and density of these species, although available information suggests that the populations are stable. The Namibia Large Carnivore Atlas was launched to involve the tourism industry and the Namibian public in collecting baseline data on the six large…

Hanssen L, Stander P 2004. Namibia Large Carnivore Atlas, July 2004 .

Namibia is one of few African countries that support six species of large carnivore. Lions, leopards, cheetahs, spotted hyaenas, brown hyaenas and wild dogs occur primarily in the northern and western sections of Namibia. With the possible exception of lions and leopards we have a poor understanding of the exact distribution and density of these species, although available information suggests that the populations are stable. The Namibia Large Carnivore Atlas was launched to involve the tourism industry and the Namibian public in collecting baseline data on the six large…

Stander P, Hanssen L 2000. Population ecology and long term monitoring of free-ranging populations in Namibia's marginal and arid environments .

Our present research is focussed on lions and leopards in three study sites. The Khorixas study site (10826 km2) is located in the northern Namib desert, previously known as Damaraland, and consists of an extremely arid habitat (annual rainfall 0-100mm) that stretches into the Skeleton Coast Park. This study is focussing on desert-adapted lions that frequent the Skeleton Coast Park, Torra Conservancy and the Palmwag tourism concession.

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