<
https://www.voanews.com/a/southern-africa-elephant-population-increases-amid-concerns-over-mortality-rate/7251632.html>
'The elephant population in southern Africa has increased by 5% since 2016 to
nearly 228,000, according to results of a first ever aerial census conducted
last year. However, there are concerns over the animals’ mortality rate.
The elephants are mostly found in a large conservation area, the Kavango
Zambezi Trans-Frontier Conservation Area, or KAZA.
KAZA covers 520,000 square kilometers across Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia
and Zimbabwe and contains the world’s largest elephant population.
Presenting the census results Thursday, survey coordinator Darren Potgieter
said the outcome shows a stable population.
"Overall, across KAZA, the elephant population appears to be stable," he said.
"However, there is some variation within the different regions. Some areas have
shown possible increases in elephant numbers, most remained stable while for
some areas, potentially decrease in elephant numbers."
However, he raised concern about the number of dead elephants encountered
during the counting exercise. More than 26,000 carcasses were reported.
"That’s a high number, higher than what one would like to see, and it may be
indicative of high mortality," he said. "It is important to raise this as a red
flag for the health of the population. It is important to conduct further
investigation to understand the underlying reasons for this high level of
mortality."
Potgieter said the reason for high mortality could be poaching, lack of
habitat, an aging elephant population or diseases.'
Via
Future Crunch:
<
https://futurecrunch.com/good-news-abortion-mexico-vaccine-indonesia-conservation-alaska/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
