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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 - 3 of 3
Reiter C 2025. Mystery of Etosha's predators.

The Ongava Research Centre is collecting images of cheetahs and leopards in Etosha National Park in order to provide reliable population estimates of these predators for the first time. Did you know that there is no reliable information about the number of cheetahs and leopards in the Etosha National Park? Last year, the Ongava Research Centre (ORC) therefore called on visitors to the national park to take part in a survey by sharing pictures and sightings of cheetahs and leopards.

Ferreira S 2025. Big trunks, bigger questions: Rethinking elephant numbers in Kruger.

So, how many elephants is too many elephants? It's a question people have wrestled with for ages. Kruger National Park, home to one of Africa's largest elephant populations, has seen their numbers grow from just a handful in the early 1900s to over 31,000 by 2020. That's a lot of elephants! A recent study using smarter aerial surveys and fancy math gives us a more clear picture of just how fast these gentle giants are multiplying. Turns out, since 2013, their numbers have been growing by about 5.3% each year.

Brown LM, Ramey RR 2025. Status and distribution of desert-dwelling elephants in the Hoarusib, Hoanib, and Uniab River drainages, Kunene Region, Namibia.

We compiled data from our research (2006-2025) along with published accounts dating back to 1975 on the desert-dwelling elephant population in our study area of Skeleton Coast National Park and western Kunene region. This includes the Hoarusib River, Hoanib River, and Uniab River sub populations. Our analysis of the data reveal the profound influence that human-caused elephant mortality has had on the population over this time period. An initial precipitous decline occurred due to wartime poaching in the 1980s.

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