H-Metro Reporter
ZIMBABWE recorded the BIGGEST growth, in its elephant population, in the latest comprehensive aerial count in the Kavango Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area.
The KAZA TFCA has the largest elephant population in the world and includes Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The latest count shows that there was marked growth in the elephant population in the area with Zimbabwe recording the biggest share of the growth figures.
It illustrates the success story of the conversation efforts which the Zimbabwe government has been carrying targeted at preserving the country’s natural resources.
Zimbabwe has the second largest in the world, only second to neighbours Botswana, and the two countries have, between them, have about 86 percent of the elephants in the KAZA TFCA.
The latest figures show that the elephant population in Zimbabwe rose to 65 028 from the 57 398 at the last count in 2014/2015.
This means the elephant population in Zimbabwe rose by 8 230 during the period under review.
It’s a huge increase especially when one considers that the next best increase was recorded in Angola (2 588 elephants).
The Namibians have 21 090 elephants compared to the 19 549 they had back during the 2014/2015 count.
Botswana still has the largest elephant population in the world with 131 909 elephants, which represents an increase of 1 970, from the last count.
Namibia’s elephant population rose by 1541 elephants to 21 090 while Angola now has 5983 elephants.
Zambia is the only country which experienced a reduction in the number of elephants as its population fell from 6688 in 2014/2015 to 3840 in the latest count.
“The survey was (undertaken) from August to October 2022 during the dry season when elephants can be more readily seen,” KAZA TFCA said.
“Flights were tracked by EarthRanger for both safety and quality assurance purposes.
“The data captured was tracked and reviewed daily, and the full analysis was completed in early 2023 following which a peer review process was undertaken prior to final publishing.”