A lmost a year later, after careful analysis and peer overview, the results of the survey were shared by the KAZA member states. The elephant population for the region was estimated to be a staggering 227,900 and confirmed numbers from previous counts held in each of the five countries. The survey also showed that populations were growing in some countries and declining in others, but remained stable over the whole region.

Previously, regional elephant surveys have aggregated results from separate surveys. The KAZA survey was the first to use a coordinated and synchronised flight plan that follows aerial survey standards developed by MIKE (Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants) under CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).

Coordinating the elephant survey across borders was challenging, but worth it: “The KAZA-wide elephant survey brought the five partner countries together. It demonstrated the need for us to work together and to learn together. It reinforced the rationale of why we value the Kavango-Zambezi TFCA,” Kenneth /Uiseb, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Environment Forestry and Tourism said.

The survey was conducted from August to October 2022 during the dry season when most trees are bare, thus maximising visibility. It covered 60% of the KAZA TFCA’s 520,000 km² and focused on areas in the landscape where elephants are known to occur. Pilots and observers flew 67,000 kilometres of transects, nearly twice the circumference of our globe.

Dr Russell Taylor, the transboundary conservation planning advisor from WWF Namibia, who has been flying in this region for decades, commented on the importance of synchronised flights for establishing strong baselines and increasing our understanding of elephant cross-border movements and dynamics. He had already stressed this need at a meeting of the KAZA Conservation Working Group held in Calais, Angola, in 2011: “We knew that an aerial survey would help to identify gaps in our knowledge of the area, and allow us to safely survey areas that had been land mined during Angola’s civil war. Twelve years later, for me this survey was an aspiration come true.”

/Uiseb added that without collaboration it would have been impossible to pull off such a complex survey. “Donors provided the funding, partner countries gave the necessary permissions and civil aviation authorities approved the aircraft used in the survey to fly in all the different countries. The people who participated were nominated by partner countries and needed training, so the survey team used this opportunity for capacity building,” he said.