Namibia’s elephants cover 9% of KAZA population, study finds

The elephant population in the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA) is estimated to stand at 227 900, with 21 090 in Namibia.

This is according to the long-awaited transboundary aerial survey of the KAZA elephants, which was launched last week in Livingstone, Zambia.

KAZA covers five countries – Namibia, Botswana, Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The 300-page report showed that there are 131 909 elephants in Botswana, 65 025 in Zimbabwe, 5 983 in Angola and 3 840 in Zambia.

However, survey results showed a high mortality rate of elephants, with a carcass ratio of 10.4% to live elephants. A total of 26 641 elephant carcasses were discovered.

The survey was undertaken by the partner countries, with support from WWF and other partners.

Celebration

Zambia tourism minister and KAZA chair Rodney Sikumba said the first flight for the survey took off in August 2022.

Flying was completed on 28 October last year, resulting in a total of 700 hours of flying spread over 68 days spent collecting data.

The methodology, scale and scope of the survey were the first of their kind, he said, adding that coordinated flying covered almost 60% of the 520 000 square kilometres of the KAZA landscape.

Namibia contributes about 14% of this area.

“Today is not only a launch of the report, it is a celebration of what we have accomplished,” Sikumba said.

Data analysis was finalised in March this year, culminating in a comprehensive technical report documenting the implementation process and outcomes of the survey, which was completed in May.

Red flags

According to survey coordinator Darren Potgieter, although previous surveys have been done in the five KAZA countries, they did not explain the movement of elephants between the countries.

He said this is the first time elephants were surveyed KAZA-wide, and it was synchronised, coordinated and standardised.

He further explained that after every single flight, quality assurance was done - which included how flights were conducted to make sure quality data were recorded.

Potgieter said the high mortality rate raises a red flag and could be due to ageing, disease, habitat loss, drought and poaching.

He, however, added that most of the carcasses found were old.

“On the whole, the elephant population appears stable. However, there is heterogeneity in elephant population trends across KAZA.”

Human-wildlife conflict

Deputy tourism minister Heather Sibungo said she cannot wait to learn more about the report’s findings.

Many elephants in KAZA are found outside protected areas, where they destroy crops, lives and compete for resources, she said.

“Human-wildlife conflict is on the increase as the elephant population is also increasing. We have resolved to undertake a number of strategic measures to address this.”