Search results

The desert-adapted lions (Panthera leo) of northwest Namibia inhabit arid and semi-arid habitats, primarily within communal conservancy lands, which they share with semi-nomadic pastoralists. Though of considerable conservation interest, no systematic population survey of these lions has previously been attempted. From 6 November 2022 to 6 January 2023, 45 trained surveyors covered approximately 40,000 km² of conservancy and government-managed lands, identifying individual lions by vibrissae (whisker-spot) patterns and other demographic indicators.

The lions of Namibia's Kunene Region are sought after by tourists, but they are a local threat to livestock farming, and are still largely unresearched in terms of their ecology and ranging behaviour. Though lions in Kunene have been monitored for more than twenty years, it may come as a surprise that the population has not been systematically counted throughout its range - until now. It is less surprising when one realises that the lion range in Kunene covers more than 51,000 km² of mountainous desert landscape.

Following several years of preparation, the KAZA Elephant Survey (2022) commenced on 22 August 2022 and ran until 28 October 2022. The primary objective of the survey was to obtain a relatively precise and accurate estimate of the number of African savanna elephants (hereafter elephants) in the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA), by synchronising data collection, particularly in areas of transboundary elephant movement.

Areas surveyed: The Okavango River in Namibia, from just northwest 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 Mamili National Park; and the Zambezi river for its entire length on Namibia's border, including parts of the adjacent East Caprivi floodplains.