Population Survey

This dataset comprises aerial sample count data from a survey conducted in the Sebungwe, Zimbabwe, during September 2014. The survey was conducted using a Cessna 206, and provided an estimated elephant population of 3 407 based on a coverage of 12.8% of the survey area of 15 527 km². This population estimate represents a 76% decline in elephant numbers since the previous survey in 2001. The all-carcass ratio was observed to be 30.2%. If it is assumed that all unidentified carcasses were in fact elephant carcasses, then the all-carcass ratio increases to 38.9%. The carcass ratios were estimated as 5.8% and 15.4% during surveys conducted in 2001 and 2006, the latter survey clearly identifying the beginnings of the collapse of the Sebungwe elephant population (see Dunham et al 2006 'Aerial Survey of Elephants and other Large Herbivores in the Sebungwe Region, Zimbabwe: 2006').