Search results

In 2022, an aerial survey for African savanna elephants (Loxodonta africana) was conducted over the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA) in southern Africa. KAZA is a 520,000-km² network of protected areas in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The aerial survey found that KAZA holds ~228,000 elephants, confirming that this is the world’s largest population of savanna elephants and a critical stronghold for this endangered species.

New research comparing data from the two largest-ever elephant surveys reveals the overall population in the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area is stable, but also uncovers some concerning local trends. Elephant numbers in Botswana, home to more elephants than any other country, are stable overall, but declining numbers in areas where hunting is permitted, and increasing numbers in protected areas, suggest underlying issues for Botswana's elephants.

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, the populations of many species have since shown a steady decline.

Four species of otter (Carnivora: Mustelidae) occur in Africa, of which the African clawless otter (Aonyx capensis) and spotted-necked otter (Hydrictis maculicollis) are known to occur in Namibia, although very little is known about their biology and distribution. Both species are listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species because of a reported decline in their numbers.

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.

Waterhole counts were undertaken at selected sites in the escarpment zone of north-west Namibia. In 2018,18 waterholes in 7 conservancies were counted but from 2019 onwards, the number of waterholes was increased to more than 25 covering 11 conservancies. Counts were undertaken over a period of 2, 3 or 4 days during which time all animals seen were counted. Game species differ in the frequency with which they need to visit water resources with some able to acquire much of their hydration needs through foraging.

conservancy and 2 in Muduva Nyangana. Counts were undertaken over a period of 2 days during which time all animals seen were counted. Game species differ in the frequency with which they need to visit water resources with some able to acquire much of their hydration needs through foraging. Waterhole counts are therefore best suited to species (like elephants) which need to make regular trips to water points. Estimates are calculated using the number of count days, and the drinking frequency of the species.

Estimates were calculated using DISTANCE. Most transects were foot counts, although some vehicle transects were also counted (5 in Mahango and 3 each in Buffalo and Kwando). While foot transects conform to an evenly spaced regular grid system, vehicle transects follow park roads and are prone to sampling and habitat bias due to the oversampling of boundary tracks and river sections. Consequently, the estimates presented below were derived from analyses restricted to foot transects only.

Estimates were calculated for 2024 using DISTANCE. Due to low numbers of sightings, in most cases, at least the last 5 years of data were used in analyses to generate detection profiles for each species. Only foot transects were used in analyses for Mudumu N.P. Some contiguous conservancies have been grouped in which case estimates are provided for the combined area. The bottom row of hyphenated numbers = 95% Confidence Intervals.

Game counts in Luengue-Luiana N.P. (proclaimed in 2011) were initiated in 2018. Three road section transect routes were initially established. A further two were added in 2021. The transects are limited to the extreme south-eastern portion of the park and represent an area of approximately 2,030 km² . The vegetation of the park is dominated by broadleafed savannah with several riparian networks crossing the park. In total 29 species have been recorded. For large herd species like buffalo, or floodplain species like red lechwe linear density provides the best measure of animal…

Line transects were initiated in 2017 and represent almost half of the total area of the conservancy and include most of the waterholes. The area not covered by transects has low animal densities due to reduced habitat suitability and people pressure. Transect counts have recorded 27 species including 7 predator species. Based on average spoor sightings and Event Book records, hyaena are the most common predator, followed by wild dog, leopard and jackal. The top 3 species in terms of sightings between 2017 and 2024 included wildebeest, elephant and kudu.

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. In 2024: populations of the main game species showed positive or stable trends and numbers of gemsbok and kudu were at more typical levels compared with 2023. The only species showing a downward trend was steenbok. Elephant numbers were similar over the past 3 counts.

Boat counts were undertaken along the Kwando River from the Angolan border to the southern boundary of Mudumu National Park (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024) and along the Okavango River from the northern part of the Buffalo core area to the Botswana border (2023, 2024). Total river length counted is approximately 190 km. Within Namibia, animals on each side of the river were counted while, in the case of hippo, animals in the river were also counted.

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.

Namibia's elephants extend across the north of the country. They occur in six main areas of the known Namibian range - the north-west, Etosha National Park (NP), Mangetti National Park, northern Kavango, Khaudum National Park/Nyae Nyae Conservancy and Zambezi Region. Seasonal changes in distribution are related to water availability. There are movements of elephants between Namibia and its neighbours, particularly Botswana, and mainly from Zambezi Region. The largest populations are found in the north-east of the country, in Khaudum/Nyae Nyae and Zambezi Region.

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.

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 for some species are provided, these should only be considered as an approximate guide to species abundance.

The fundamental purpose of these annual game counts is to inform MEFT of general wildlife trends in the parks. While estimates for some species are provided, these should only be considered as an approximate guide to species abundance.

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, 2020 and 2021, the number of waterholes was increased to around 26 covering 10 conservancies. Counts were undertaken over a period of 2, 3 or 4 days during which time all animals seen were counted. Game species differ in the frequency with which they need to visit water resources with some able to acquire much of their hydration needs through foraging.

Line transects were started in 2017 and represent almost half of the total area of the conservancy and include most of the waterholes. The area not covered by transects has low animal densities due to reduced habitat suitability and people pressure. Transect counts have recorded 23 species including 6 predator species. Based on average spoor sightings hyaena are the most common predator, followed by leopard and wild dog.

The partner states of the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA), Namibia, Botswana, Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe last week launched the first-ever coordinated aerial survey of elephants in Windhoek. Speaking at the launch, Executive Director in the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism, Theofilus Nghitila said the survey is a fundamental component of the KAZA Strategic Planning Framework for the Conservation and Management of Elephants. "The survey will be coordinated by the KAZA Secretariat in close collaboration with designated teams in…

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.

Caprivi is a key area for wildlife, which moves freely between Namibia and neighbouring countries. Caprivi has a number of community conservancy programmes, in addition to state protected areas. Conservancies have a strong commitment towards conservation, which contributes to rural livelihoods through the development of wildlife-based enterprises. A total of 19,212 head of wildlife (excluding birds) were observed. Information shown on this poster comes from the report: Fixed-wing aerial wildlife census of the Caprivi river systems. A survey of rivers, wetlands and…

The 30 June 2008 signaled the end of the 2007 ringing season and the following is a summary thereof. In total 9 637 birds of 270 species were ringed or re-trapped, controlled etc. this season. Out of this total 9 033 were newly ringed birds (i.e. SAFRING code 1). Data from 19 ringers was received and Dirk Heinrich once again is the "ringing king" of code 1 birds, followed by Tim Osborne and Mark Boorman but in the re-trap etc. category Tim pipped Dirk, followed by Ursula Franke. Dirk also held top spot in the number of different species ringed category.

The southern African Lesser Flamingo population was estimated to number 55,000 - 65,000 individuals in the mid-1990s, but these were either under estimates or the numbers have increased since, because at times Kamfers Dam, the Goldfields wetlands (in South Africa), Etosha Pan (Namibia) and Sua Pan (Botswana) each support more than that number. In order to try and get to grips with the size of the southern African population of Lesser Flamingos, a coordinated survey was planned for 20-21 July 2008.

The start of the new year once again meant that Namibia's bird watchers had to dust off their binoculars and venture out to do the annual summer wetland counts. The global economic crisis does not seem to have affected the birders because I'm pleased to report that twenty-seven sites were counted although the geographic coverage is still very much biased in favour of the coast. The two Ramsar sites, Sandwich Harbour and Walvis Bay, once again came up trumps in terms of bird numbers but the most species were encountered by Wilferd at Oponono.

Poster summarising results of the Dry Season 2009 game counts in Bwabwata and Caprivi - numbers seen, population trends and estimates.

Summary of game count in north west in 2009: route statistics, animals seen, population estimates, trends.

Poster summarising game count results for 5 conservancies in the south of Namibia in 2009, with trends for 2005 - 2009.

Maps showing number of animals counted per 100km: springbok, gemsbok, kudu, giraffe, zebra, ostrich. Plu sightings per 2x2 km grid.

BirdLife Botswana (the BirdLife partner in Botswana) identified and documented 12 sites as Important Bird Areas (IBAs) of Botswana. These sites are; Chobe National Park, Linyanti Swamps, Okavango Delta, Lake Ngami, Central Kalahari and Khutse Game Reserves (CKGR), Makgadikgadi Pans, Gemsbok National Park, Tswapong Hills, Mannyelanong Hill, Phakalane Sewage ponds, South Eastern Botswana and Bokaa Dam. Even though a huge amount of work has been done by BirdLife Botswana, monitoring efforts in these areas lack adequate co-ordination.