Elephant Database
African Elephant Specialist Group

Burkina Faso
2016 African Elephant Status Report

All Years for Burkina Faso: 201620132007200219981995

Summary Totals for Burkina Faso

Estimates from SurveysGuesses% Known and
Possible Range
Area (km2)
Survey categoryEstimate± 95% CLFromTo
Aerial Sample Counts5,9522,06359.89,032
Ground Sample Counts8935076.5990
Informed Guesses549516.81,022
Other Guesses15150.340
Degraded Data337.11,065
Totals 20156,8502,1236769  
Totals 20064,474320200200  
Assessed Range80.412,149
Unassessed Range19.62,961
Total Range10015,110

Summary Totals for Burkina Faso

Data Category Definite Probable Possible Speculative
Direct Sample Counts and Reliable Dung Counts4,7212,1242,1240
Informed Guesses50492
Other Guesses00018
Totals 20154,7262,1242,17320
Totals 20064,1543205200

Interpretation of Changes in Estimates from Previous Report

 Estimates from SurveysGuessesArea
Cause of Change Estimate ± 95% CL From To% Known and PossibleTotal
New Population00+15+150.340
Different Technique+2,961±2,1240066.310,022
New Guess-582±320-151-1496.81,022
Data Degraded-30+3+30.00
Totals+2,376±2,148-133-13173.412,149

Interpretation of Changes in Estimates from Previous Report

Cause of Change Definite Probable Possible Speculative
New Population000+15
Different Technique-1,747+4,708+5,3680
New Guess-262-320-471+2
Totals-2,009+4,388+4,896+17

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

Cause of Change Definite Probable Possible Speculative
New Population000+18
Different Technique+497+1,936+1,8120
New Guess+75-132-159+2
Totals+572+1,804+1,653+20

Area of Range Covered by Each Data Category (km²)

Data CategoryKnown RangePossible RangeTotal Range
Direct Sample Counts and Reliable Dung Counts10,022010,022
Informed Guesses1,02201,022
Other Guesses1,10501,105
Unassessed Range2,95832,961
Totals15,107315,110

Burkina Faso: Elephant Estimates

Cause ofSurvey Details2 Number of Elephants Area Map Location
Input ZoneChange1TypeReliab.YearEstimate95% C.L. SourcePFS3 (km²) Lon. Lat.
+ Bontioli Partial & Total Faunal ReserveNGOD200718 2*Bouché, 20072420 3.1W 10.8N
NGOD200718 2*Bouché, 2007420 3.1W 10.8N
+ Comoé-Leraba Classified Forests-ATE20053Bouché, 200511,204 4.6W 9.9N
-ATE20053Bouché, 20051,204 4.6W 9.9N
+ Mare aux Hippotames Biosphere ReserveNGOD20131Bouché et al., 2013b2192 4.2W 11.6N
NGOD20131Bouché et al., 2013b192 4.2W 11.6N
+ Mouhoun Protected Area ComplexNGOD201335Bouché et al., 2013b11,976 3.3W 11.6N
NGOD201335Bouché et al., 2013b1,976 3.3W 11.6N
+ Nazinga EcosystemDTGSB2012893 507Bouché, 2012b1970 1.5W 11.1N
DTGSB2012893 507Bouché, 2012b970 1.5W 11.1N
+ Niangoloko forestNPOE201515Karama, pers. comm., 2016282 4.9W 10.2N
NPOE201515Karama, pers. comm., 201682 4.9W 10.2N
WAP complex
+ Arly National ParkDTASB2015985 400Bouché et al., 201511,223 1.8E 11.7N
DTASB2015985 400Bouché et al., 20151,223 1.8E 11.7N
+ Koakrana Hunting ZoneDTASB20150Bouché et al., 20152265 1.2E 11.7N
DTASB20150Bouché et al., 2015265 1.2E 11.7N
+ Kourtiagou Partial Faunal ReserveDTASB20150Bouché et al., 20152485 1.2E 11.7N
DTASB20150Bouché et al., 2015485 1.2E 11.7N
+ Rest of Aires de l'Est Hunting AreasDTASB20153,8681,570Bouché et al., 201515,312 1.2E 11.7N
DTASB2015221 142Bouché et al., 2015756 1.2E 11.7N
DTASB2015445 508Bouché et al., 2015654 1.2E 11.7N
DTASB2015407 287Bouché et al., 2015839 1.2E 11.7N
DTASB2015736 398Bouché et al., 2015825 1.2E 11.7N
DTASB2015418 118Bouché et al., 2015708 1.2E 11.7N
DTASB201598 121Bouché et al., 2015404 1.2E 11.7N
DTASB2015790 742Bouché et al., 2015525 1.2E 11.7N
DTASB2015753 1,079Bouché et al., 2015601 1.2E 11.7N
+ W du Burkina National ParkDTASB20151,0991,276Bouché et al., 201512,511 1.2E 11.7N
DTASB20151,099 1,276Bouché et al., 20152,264 1.8E 11.7N
DTASB20150Bouché et al., 2015247 1.2E 11.7N
+ Zabré DepartmentNGOD20130Bouché, pers. comm., 20152600 0.6W 11.1N
NGOD20130Bouché, pers. comm., 2015600 0.6W 11.1N

* 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.

IUCNSpecies Survival Commission

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