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The fundamental purpose of game counts in communal areas is to inform conservancies and MEFT of wildlife trends for the purposes of adaptive management of resources. While estimates of species numbers are provided, these should only be considered as an approximate guide to species abundance.

Wildlife populations in north-west Namibia were severely impacted in the 1980s by a combination of severe drought and poaching. Community conservation, formalised in 1996 through conservancies facilitated an increase in wildlife numbers through controlled utilisation and effective control of poaching. Between 1996 and 2012 most species experienced stable or growing population trends. However, a subsequent prolonged dry phase has resulted in a steady decline in populations of many game species. It is unclear how much illegal harvesting has contributed to this decline.

Numbers of elephants counted by Nad Brain and NamPol observers between 16 -31 Dec 2021 as part of antipoaching surveillance work. The unstructered aerial search counts focussed on the river systems and were done from the Westair / NCE Cessna 182 V5 –IIM flying out of Palmwag airfield and using SRT's base camp Ma – I – Go. It was not possible to record demographics of the herds, but did count bulls individually. The bulls are in addition to the herd numbers.

This year's game count results showed the drastic decrease in game numbers, with gemsbok numbers being down 86% compared to 2019 and plains zebra and wildebeest down 93% and 97% respectively. Red hartebeest have all disappeared from the park as most of them died, a few were harvested, and a few got onto neighbouring properties. Only giraffe managed to increase, as 4 more calves were born over the last year, bringing the total to 22. Naturally, successful reproduction in the other game species over the past season has been very low.

The year’s results show a significant decrease in animals counted (-37%) and overall population estimate (-19%). The game harvesting operations done in the preceding year would have contributed to the lower game numbers. The northern sections of the park (zone 6, 7, 8 and 9) received the most rain and thus an overwhelming majority (53%) of the animals were counted in this area. For the first time in 8 years the park’s modelled carrying capacity is higher than the total grazer biomass (stocking rate).

Counts were undertaken at waterholes in the escarpment zone of north west Namibia. In 2018,18 waterholes in 7 conservancies were counted while in 2019 and 2020, the number of waterholes was increased to 26 covering 10 conservancies. Counts were undertaken over a period of 2, 3 or 4 days during which time all animals seen were counted.

From 2016 onwards Bamunu (2) was included in counts. In 2018 the two Protected Areas Mudumu (7) and Nkasa Ruparo (8) were not included in counts. It is important to bear this in mind when interpreting tables, charts and a time series of posters.

Accurately estimating hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius) numbers is difficult due to their aggressive nature, amphibious lifestyle, and habit of diving and surfacing. Traditionally, hippos are counted using aerial surveys and land/boat surveys. We compared estimates of numbers of hippos in a lagoon in the Okavango Delta, counted from land to counts from video taken from a DJI Phantom 4TM drone, testing for effectiveness at three heights (40 m, 80 m, and 120 m) and four times of day (early morning, late morning, early afternoon, and late afternoon).

An aerial survey of wildlife and domestic livestock took place in Zambezi Region from 25 th September to 4 th October 2019 as part of a wider survey including Khaudum National Park and its neighbouring conservancies. A total area of 17 380km2 was sampled at intensities between 10 and 40%. The estimates of numbers of each species are tabulated below. The estimated number of elephants is lower than that from the 2015 survey, but the change is not statistically significant. There were considerably fewer elephant carcasses seen in 2019.

An aerial survey of wildlife and domestic livestock took place in the Khaudum National Park and its neighbouring areas from 18th to 23th September 2019 as part of a wider survey including Zambezi Region. A total area of 14029 km2 was sampled at intensities from 5% to 20%. The estimated numbers of numbers of each species are given in the table below. The increase in estimated numbers of elephants since 2013 has been greater than expected from natural reproduction, but the overall trend from 1998 shows an average rate of increase of 4.4% per annum.

Summary of game counts in north-west Namibia: Conservancies north of the veterinary fence, June 2018.

Summary of game counts in north-west Namibia: Conservancies north of the veterinary fence, June 2018.

Summary of game counts in north-central Namibia: Total Numbers of animals seen: last 5 years.

Summary of game counts in north-west Namibia: Conservancies north of the veterinary fence, June 2017.

Vultures provide essential ecological services, yet are amongst the world's most threatened species with populations having declined by more than 95% within ten years in some places. The biggest factor causing this decline is the use of poison, either intentionally or unintentionally. Other factors causing declines are collision with and electrocution by powerlines, illegal harvesting for traditional medicines, habitat loss and drowning in reservoirs.

Summary of North Central Game Count data up to 2017.

Summary of game counts in north-central Namibia, July 2017.