Elephant Database
African Elephant Specialist Group

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

All Years for Benin: 201620132007200219981995

Summary Totals for Benin

Estimates from SurveysGuesses% Known and
Possible Range
Area (km2)
Survey categoryEstimate± 95% CLFromTo
Aerial Total Counts6835.43,228
Ground Sample Counts1,8911,12156.75,162
Degraded Data000.00
Totals 20151,9591,12000  
Totals 20061,223000  
Assessed Range92.18,391
Unassessed Range7.9721
Total Range1009,112

Summary Totals for Benin

Data Category Definite Probable Possible Speculative
Aerial or Ground Total Counts68000
Direct Sample Counts and Reliable Dung Counts7701,1211,1210
Other Guesses0000
Totals 20138381,1211,1210
Totals 20061,223000

Interpretation of Changes in Estimates from Previous Report

 Estimates from SurveysGuessesArea
Cause of Change Estimate ± 95% CL From To% Known and PossibleTotal
Repeat Survey+30006.5590
Different Technique+760±1,1210056.75,162
Different Area-2700029.02,639
Data Degraded00000.00
Totals+736±1,1210092.18,391

Interpretation of Changes in Estimates from Previous Report

Cause of Change Definite Probable Possible Speculative
Repeat Survey+3000
Different Technique-842+1,602+1,8880
Different Area-27000
Data Degraded0000
Totals-866+1,602+1,8880

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

Cause of Change Definite Probable Possible Speculative
Repeat Survey+1000
Different Technique-374+1,121+1,1210
Different Area-12000
Data Degraded0000
Totals-385+1,121+1,1210

Area of Range Covered by Each Data Category (km²)

Data CategoryKnown RangePossible RangeTotal Range
Aerial or Ground Total Counts3,22803,228
Direct Sample Counts and Reliable Dung Counts5,16205,162
Unassessed Range7170721
Totals9,10809,112

Benin: Elephant Estimates

Cause ofSurvey Details2 Number of Elephants Area Map Location
Input ZoneChange1TypeReliab.YearEstimate95% C.L. SourcePFS3 (km²) Lon. Lat.
+ Atakora Hunting ZonesDTGSB2013600647Bouché et al., 2013b1791 1.9E 11.3N
DTGSB2013240 329Bouché et al., 2013b217 1.9E 11.3N
DTGSB2013360 557Bouché et al., 2013b574 1.9E 11.3N
+ Djona Hunting ZoneRSATA201239Bouché, 2012b11,187 1.3E 11.6N
RSATA201239Bouché, 2012b1,187 1.3E 11.6N
+ Goungoun Classified Forest-ATE20030Bouché et al., 20041806 3.2E 11.5N
-ATE20030Bouché et al., 2004806 3.2E 11.5N
+ Pendjari Biosphere Reserve DTGSB20131,291915Bouché et al., 2013b11,997 1.9E 11.3N
DTGSB2013100 92Bouché et al., 2013b925 1.9E 11.3N
DTGSB20131,191 910Bouché et al., 2013b1,072 1.9E 11.3N
+ W du Bénin National ParkDAATA201229Bouché, 2012b12,733 1.3E 11.6N
DAATA201229Bouché, 2012b2,733 1.3E 11.6N

* 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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