Elephant Database
African Elephant Specialist Group

Congo
Provisional African Elephant Population Estimates: update to 31 Dec 2013

All Years for Congo: 201620132007200219981995

Summary Totals for Congo

Estimates from SurveysGuesses% Known and
Possible Range
Area (km2)
Survey categoryEstimate± 95% CLFromTo
Reliable Dung Counts1,05123617.626,535
Other Dung Counts021,89641,55919.829,899
Totals 20151,05123621,89641,559  
Totals 200677237017,11217,112  
Assessed Range37.456,433
Unassessed Range62.694,503
Total Range100150,937

Summary Totals for Congo

Data Category Definite Probable Possible Speculative
Direct Sample Counts and Reliable Dung Counts8152362360
Other Dung Counts024,7476,9810
Totals 201381524,9837,2170
Totals 200640213,9156,5900

Interpretation of Changes in Estimates from Previous Report

 Estimates from SurveysGuessesArea
Cause of Change Estimate ± 95% CL From To% Known and PossibleTotal
Repeat Survey+175±412-7,262-1,24411.317,017
New Population+1,556±732+8,488+21,72916.524,894
Different Area+2,829±709-2,968-2,9689.614,523
Totals+4,560±1,099-1,742+17,51737.456,433

Interpretation of Changes in Estimates from Previous Report

Cause of Change Definite Probable Possible Speculative
Repeat Survey+365-4,443-4330
New Population+390+16,275+7,8360
Different Area+1,580+1,249-1,5560
Totals+2,335+13,081+5,8460

Interpretation of Changes in Estimates from Previous Report (2007 scaling)

Cause of Change Definite Probable Possible Speculative
Repeat Survey+610-3,913-1050
New Population+651+14,333+1,9060
Different Area+2,636+1,100-3790
Totals+3,896+11,520+1,4220

Area of Range Covered by Each Data Category (km²)

Data CategoryKnown RangePossible RangeTotal Range
Direct Sample Counts and Reliable Dung Counts23,6172,91726,535
Other Dung Counts27,7432,15629,899
Unassessed Range37,36557,13894,503
Totals88,72662,211150,937

Congo: Elephant Estimates

Cause ofSurvey Details2 Number of Elephants Area Map Location
Input ZoneChange1TypeReliab.YearEstimate95% C.L. SourcePFS3 (km²) Lon. Lat.
+ Batanga EcosystemNPDCB2012104 234Iyenguet et al., 201221,029 17.6E 0.6N
NPDCB2012104 234Iyenguet et al., 20121,029 17.6E 0.6N
+ Conkouati-Douli National ParkRSDCB2013947 180Vanleeuwe, 201423,850 11.5E 3.9S
RSDCB2013947 180Vanleeuwe, 20143,850 11.5E 3.9S
+ Messok-Dja Forest AreaNPDCC2013346 202Mantsila, 201321,228 14.6E 2.0N
NPDCC2013346 202Mantsila, 20131,228 14.6E 2.0N
+ Ngombe-Pikounda-Ntokou areaNPDCC200715,109 6,620Malonga, 2007117,753 15.5E 0.4N
NPDCC200715,109 6,620Malonga, 200717,753 15.5E 0.4N
+ Odzala Kokoua National Park RSDCC20129,2922,206Maisels et al., 2013113,525 15.0E 0.9N
RSDCC20123,395 1,092Maisels et al., 20137,323 15.0E 0.9N
RSDCC20125,897 1,917Maisels et al., 20136,202 15.0E 0.9N

* Range of informed guess

1Key to Causes of Change (only tracked since 2007): DA: Different Area; DD: Data Degraded; DT: Different Technique; NA: New Analysis; NG: New Guess; NP: New population; PL: Population Lost; RS: Repeat Survey (RS ́ denotes a repeat survey that is not statistically comparable for reasons such as different season); –––: No Change

2Key to Survey Types: AC: Aerial Count, not specified; AS: Aerial Sample Count; AT: Aerial Total Count; DC: Dung Count; EX: Extrapolation from GIS; GD: Genetic Dung Count; GS: Ground Sample Count; GT: Ground Total Count; IG: Informed Guess; IR: Individual Registration; OG: Other Guess. Survey Type is followed by an indicator of survey quality, ranked from 1 to 3 (best to worst). Survey Reliability is keyed A-E (best to worst) as outlined in this table.

3PFS: Priority for Future Surveys, ranked from 1 to 5 (highest to lowest). Based on the precision of estimates and the proportion of national range accounted for by the site in question, PFS is a measure of the importance and urgency for future population surveys. All areas of unassessed range have a priority of 1. See Introduction for details on how the PFS is derived.

Note that totals for the Definite, Probable, and Possible categories are derived by pooling the variances of individual estimates, as described at http://www.africanelephantdatabase.org/reliability. As a result, totals do not necessarily match the simple sum of the entries within a given category.

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