Population Survey

This report covers the 2010-2011 survey of elephant populations in the Ndoki-Likouala landscape in Northern Congo, using the dung count method. The survey was conducted in the first half of 2010 (terra firma) and the first half of 2011 (swamps) covering an area of 27,243 sq km that was divided into nine strata. The dung decay was measured on site in the centre of the landscape (in the Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park) and it was considered to be representative for the rest of the surveyed areas. A total of 280 transects of a total of 678 kilometres were walked. About 8800 elephants live in the landscape; most of them in the National Park, areas adjacent to the Park, and the north of the Bailly swamps. 91% of them lived in just under 60% of the landscape. The Lac Tele Reserve was almost completely empty of elephants and there were very few indeed near any of the logging towns of the area (Kabo, Pokola and Loundougou). Both the Loundougou and Pokola logging concessions had suffered a significant decline in elephant density since 2006, and the landscape as a whole has lost at least 5000 elephants in the period 2006-2011