Namibia’s elephants not counted in African census

The results of the largest ever continent-wide wildlife survey, the Great Elephant Census, were released recently, indicating that Africa now has 352 271 savannah elephants left in 93% of the species’ range.
The survey of African savannah elephants has revealed declines of a staggering 30% – 144 000 elephants between 2007 and 2014, in the areas covered by the survey.
While the aerial survey covered 18 African countries it indicated that Namibia did not release figures to the Great Elephant Census.
Contacted for comment on why Namibia did not participate in this continent-wide survey of African elephants, the minister of environment and tourism, Pohamba Shifeta, explained that there could have been a number of reasons.
He said firstly that Namibia conducts its own wildlife counts and therefore has the data for elephant numbers and mortalities, those which died due to poaching and because of natural causes, at hand.
Shifeta said this information is public and the government would not refuse to furnish it to those conducting the survey.
However, if they wanted to conduct their own aerial surveys in Namibia there are various aspects to consider, of which the main reason would be security.
“We have the capacity to do our own counts and we have the figures available. It will depend if there is the need for them to conduct this survey, security measures, who they are, where they are flying, how low they are flying and when, because they can disturb elephants during their breeding time.”
While Namibia was not officially surveyed by the census, aerial surveys that took off in northern Botswana to survey southern Angola and Zambia flew over the Zambezi Region of Namibia.
It is reported that Namibia has shown increasing numbers of elephants in the Zambezi Region, but this is possibly because the territory runs the length of the unfenced border with Botswana, the country with the largest single population of elephants, which stands at about 130 000 strong.
The bulk of Botswana’s elephants are in the north close to Namibia. And since elephants are not confined by national boundaries there is a constant movement of large herds between the two countries.
According to News 24 the principal investigator, Mike Chase of Elephants Without Borders, who has been surveying the area for the past decade and a half, said: “Ironically, Namibia’s increase of elephants in the area coincides with the highest mortality/carcass ratios over a 15-year period.”
He also mentions that helicopter pilots inspecting a power line in the Zambezi Region recently estimated nearly 200 carcasses from the Kavango River to Katima Mulilo, a distance of just 60 kilometres. This indicates that poachers who are causing carnage just across the border in Angola and Zambia have been operating on the Namibian side of the Zambezi River with increasing intensity.
Shifeta also stressed that the elephant population in Namibia has been increasing and that this is causing more human and wildlife conflict.
“We are receiving more and more calls from communities living with these animals complaining of elephants overrunning their fields and that they are overwhelmed by herds of elephants,” said Shifeta.
He said because of the increasing elephant population Namibia wants to apply for an increase in its annual quota for hunting elephants.
He said currently the annual quota allowance is 90 elephants and Namibia wants to approval to increase this quota to 150 elephants per year.
The census was funded by Microsoft founder Paul Allen and took just under three years to complete.

ELLANIE SMIT