As of December 2015, the number of adult desert-dwelling elephants inhabiting the lower Hoanib and Hoarusib Rivers has been reduced by approximately 30% of what it was ten years ago when we began our research (Figure 1). Just 31 remain in this subpopultion. In short, more elephants are dying due to human causes than of natural causes, and at a rate that exceeds their rate of reproduction. These ongoing losses are putting this world-renown and economically important desert-dwelling elephant subpopulation at risk of extirpation. The results below are based upon exact counts of known individual elephants from our photographic database.