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. (AZ reported) "Estimating the number of predators in Namibia's Etosha National Park remains a challenge, but this knowledge is crucial for the protection of these apex predators and the fragile ecosystem they inhabit," says Ongava. Led by Mburaje Keja, a master's student at the Namibia University of Science and Technology, and in collaboration with the ORC, this year-long project will take and share images of park visitors to identify individual cheetahs and leopards. This is possible thanks to the unique fur patterns of these animals. By applying state-ofthe-art identification techniques, Mburaje aims to produce the first-ever population estimates for these elusive predators. "Once the images and the required information are received, they are uploaded to the African Carnivore Wildbook (ACW), a tool for individual identification of predators. This online platform uses artificial intelligence to detect similar patterns on animals' fur and create a list of potential matches that researchers can then review," Ongava said. "We have now received 123 submissions from 32 participants. From these submissions, we were able to identify 30 individual cheetahs (85 sightings) and 15 Photo: Ute von Ludwiger individual leopards (38 sightings). Unfortunately, we were unable to identify a number of individuals because the images were too blurry." Since most sightings are concentrated in the eastern part of the park, it is likely that this is due to a higher volume of tourists. "However, this could also be due to a higher prey supply and more suitable habitats in these areas"