Big game, such as elephant, are important factors in Tanzania’s tourism industry, and it has been proven that when the animals begin to dwindle, so do the safaris and the tourists. The Tanzania government, wildlife experts, and conservationists were not only surprised, but dismayed, when reportedly over 12,000 elephants from the Ruaha ecosystem were reported as “lost,” even when no carcasses had been found to make up that number.

The government, therefore, through the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute (TAWIRI), decided to hold a fresh census in the wider Ruaha area to determine the fate of the missing elephants.

Reports are now coming in from Dar es Salaam that the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, Dr. Adelhelm Meru, earlier in the week announced that a renewed census of elephant populations in the Ruaha ecosystem, carried out between mid-September and mid-November, shed some light on the data of an earlier census which had suggested that as many as 12,000 elephant had gone AWOL.

Dr. Meru was quoted to have said that the verification census agreed with the opinion held by government that the elephants were not seen and, therefore, not counted during the first count last year. Dr. Meru also said there was evidence of several previously undetected migration corridors used by these elephants to move in and out of the census zone even though the exact number of animals involved must still be determined.

He said researchers eventually found out that there was a significant number of elephants that were missed in the first count due to very likely changed migratory patterns.

The main objective of the repeat survey and count was to verify the unexpected low estimate of the elephant population estimated in 2014 compared to previous game counts. The 2014 wildlife census at the ecosystem put the number of the jumbos to 8,000 down from over 20,000 in the previous count in 2013.