This photo of a month old baby elephant killed by poachers was taken in the Niassa National Reserve in Mozambique. The poachers killed the baby and its mother whose tusks they brutally hacked off for the ivory. The Great Elephant Census will provide the unavoidable statistics of the true scale of the poaching crisis in Mozambique. Horrors such as this image which was taken this summer, coupled with hard data, will drive the nation's elephant strategy.

Hard Data Needed to Better Address Elephant Poaching Crisis

Government of Mozambique, Paul G. Allen, USAID And WCS Partner on Census

Maputo, Mozambique, Sept. 26, 2014 –The Wildlife Conservation Society is partnering with the government of Mozambique, Paul G. Allen, and USAID to conduct a national elephant survey to collect data essential to protecting Mozambique's highly threatened and diminishing savannah elephant population.

The survey is a part of the Great Elephant Census- an effort to count savannah elephant populations across sub-Saharan Africa in response to the current escalating wave of poaching sweeping across Africa. The census will provide an essential baseline of data that can be used to inform conservation approaches toward protecting Africa’s savannah elephants.

The Mozambique survey will take place in October and results will be available in early 2015. WCS will use three, four-seater Cessna aircraft to fly over six protected areas and three other regions. Observers in the plane will count both live elephants and elephant carcasses to understand the rate of poaching. Other large wildlife such as zebra and buffalo will be counted within the Niassa National Reserve.

“While I am aware that this survey very likely could bring shocking news about elephant numbers in Mozambique, I know that the results are critical to providing the hard data that the Government of Mozambique and conservation partners, including WCS, need to be effective,” said Alastair Nelson, Director of the WCS Mozambique Program. “WCS thanks the Government of Mozambique, Paul G. Allen, and USAID for coming together to make the survey happen.”

The last national elephant count in Mozambique was done six years ago in 2008 and put the total elephant population at 22,000. Within the Niassa National Reserve, which is home to Mozambique’s largest elephant population in the remote far north of the country, more than 4,000 elephants have been killed since 2010. The last count in Niassa was in late 2011, and at that time, it was estimated that there were only 12,000 elephants living in the reserve.

There is plenty of evidence that the current continent-wide elephant poaching crisis is affecting Mozambique. It is estimated that 100,000 elephants have been killed across Africa in the last three years. This is being done by organized criminal networks that are also negatively impacting the security, governance, and development potential of local communities and African nations. Niassa Reserve has not been spared and one to two elephants are killed each day at the hands of these criminals, who enter the reserve armed with hunting rifles and AK-47's.

In western Mozambique poachers are poisoning waterholes to kill elephants which also kills all other wildlife. This is the same method that has been reported from neighboring Zimbabwe.

“We need this survey to count the live elephants and the carcasses,” said Nelson. “This information will help us know the actual population numbers, and where the elephants are getting hammered. Other information, such as the ratios of carcasses to live animals, of males to females, and of adults to juveniles will help us to understand what is happening in each elephant population. This will allow the Mozambican Government, WCS, and other conservation partners, to allocate our scarce resources for maximum impact.This, and other recent action, is the start of turning things around in Mozambique.”

By the end of 2014, the Great Elephant Census will have surveyed elephants in 18 countries, covering more than 80 percent of the savannah elephant range with the aim of counting 90 percent of Africa savannah elephants.

Altogether 50 scientists, thousands of aerial transects and 600,000 km will be involved. In addition to the Wildlife Conservation Society, many African governments, the IUCN African Elephant Specialist Group, African Parks, Frankfurt Zoological Society, Elephants Without Borders, and Save the Elephants are participating in the survey. Survey teams will also explore how new technologies can improve on current aerial survey methods and allow for enhanced data gathering.

The Great Elephant Census continues Paul G. Allen’s history of supporting global initiatives with the potential to catalyze solutions that accelerate scientific and social progress. Allen’s strong ties to Africa include his investment of more than $10 million since 2008 to help support wildlife and landscape conservation efforts, and community and economic development projects.

CONTACT:
Mary Dixon – 718-220-3711; mdixon@wcs.org
John Delaney -718-220-3275; jdelaney@wcs.org
Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)
MISSION: WCS saves wildlife and wild places worldwide through science, conservation action, education, and inspiring people to value nature. VISION: WCS envisions a world where wildlife thrives in healthy lands and seas, valued by societies that embrace and benefit from the diversity and integrity of life on earth. To achieve our mission, WCS, based at the Bronx Zoo, harnesses the power of its Global Conservation Program in more than 60 nations and in all the world’s oceans and its five wildlife parks in New York City, visited by 4 million people annually. WCS combines its expertise in the field, zoos, and aquarium to achieve its conservation mission. Visit: www.wcs.org; http://www.facebook.com/TheWCS; http://www.youtube.com/user/WCSMedia Follow: @thewcs.