See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313698963 Current Population Status and Distribution of Large Herbivores and Floodplain Birds of the Kafue Flats Wetlands, Zambia: Results of the 2015 Wet Season Aerial Survey Technical Report · September 2015 DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.29983.76967 CITATIONS READS 0 164 3 authors: Griffin Shanungu Chaka Harold Kaumba International Crane Foundation 2 PUBLICATIONS 0 CITATIONS 6 PUBLICATIONS 39 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE Richard Beilfuss International Crane Foundation 85 PUBLICATIONS 381 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: Biogeography of Mozambique Mega Fauna View project Restoration of Mesopotamian Marshes of Iraq View project All content following this page was uploaded by Richard Beilfuss on 14 February 2017. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. Current Population Status and Distribution of Large Herbivores and Floodplain Birds of the Kafue Flats Wetlands, Zambia: Results of the 2015 Wet Season Aerial Survey Griffin K. Shanungu Chaka Kaumba Dr. Richard Beilfuss 1 | P a g e SEPTEMBER 2015 AUTHOR DETAILS Griffin Kaize Shanungu Senior Wildlife Ecologist, Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) & Program Coordinator, Zambia Crane and Wetland Conservation Programme, International Crane Foundation Chaka Harold Kaumba Senior GIS officer, Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) Dr. Richard D. Beilfuss President and CEO, International Crane Foundation Cover photo curtesy of Griffin K. Shanungu, 2010. Citation: Shanungu G.K., Kaumba C.H. and Beilfuss R. 2015. Current Population Status and Distribution of Large Herbivores and Floodplain Birds of the Kafue Flats Wetlands, Zambia: Results of the 2015 Wet Season Aerial Survey. Zambia Wildlife Authority, Chilanga, Zambia. NOTE: Views and opinions expressed in this report are of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of WWF, ZAWA and ICF. 2 | P a g e ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) would like to thank the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-Zambia) for financial support for this aerial survey. The International Crane Foundation (ICF) for providing technical and financial support as well as software for carrying out this survey. Furthermore, we thank the Flying Mission Zambia (FMZ) for the excellent flying services. Diilwe Syamuntu, Wilfred Moonga and Chuma Simukonda are acknowledged for having significantly contributed to the success of this survey both in its design and execution. 3 | P a g e EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In April 2015 we conducted 29 hours of intensive aerial surveys over the Kafue Flats. The survey was a partnership between the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA), WWF-Zambia, and the International Crane Foundation. We flew 81 transects across the Kafue Flats at 150 kph, about 100 meters above the ground. The survey team counted and mapped all conspicuous wildlife on the flats, including large mammals and large waterbirds, and recorded all evidence of the human involvement in the park (including settlements, cultivation, fishing camps, and cattle posts, incidents of burning, logging, poaching, and charcoal production, and counts of all livestock, especially cattle - which number in the hundreds of thousands. These population estimates and distribution generated from the survey, along with detailed mapping of human impacts on this protected area, will be the basis for management of the Kafue Flats Wetlands for the coming years. Three important discoveries resulted from the survey. First, the Kafue Flats has very high global significance for waterbirds. We recorded the highest count of endangered Wattled Cranes in more than 30 years, with an estimated population of 2,962. We directly observed 920 Wattled Cranes on the floodplain, including one huge flock of more than 400 birds. This places the flats as the most important wetland for Wattled Cranes in the world, home to more than 25% of the estimated 8000 total population. The survey will be followed with ground visits to locations where we observed Wattled Crane breeding grounds and large flocks, to determine population structure, monitor nesting success, assess field conditions (hydrology, vegetation, grazing), and evaluate human threats over time. Endangered Grey Crowned Cranes also occur on the flats, but are less common. We also counted thousands of Spur-winged geese and African openbills, and recorded more than 40 species of wetland birds overall. Second, the population of Kafue Lechwe shows evidence of continued decline. Our estimated population of 28,711 is the lowest ever recorded for the Kafue Flats, down from historical high population counts that exceeded 100,000 in the 1970s. The Kafue Flats is the only place in the world where the endemic Kafue Lechwe occurs, a wetland-dependent antelope that grazes down vast areas of floodplain grasses as annual floodwaters recede. Lechwe are increasingly concentrated in Lochinvar and Blue Lagoon National Parks, having abandoned much of their historical range across the GMA. Other important large mammal species on the Kafue Flats include Plains Zebra (estimated population 580), Africa Buffalo (estimated population 897), Common Reedbuck (estimated population 234) and smaller numbers of Hippopotamus, Blue Wildebeest, Greater Kudu, and deep marsh-dwelling Sitatunga. Third, there is very substantial human encroachment into the Kafue Flats. Our survey showed that significant proportion of land on the edges of Blue Lagoon and Lochinvar NP boundaries and the surrounding Kafue Flats Game Management Area (GMA) have been heavily settled. Many villages/settlements are spread across the entire landscape. Cattle posts and fishing villages however are widespread on the floodplain and along watercourses. From the survey, we observed that the fishing villages are now expanding in size and number and are encroaching 4 | P a g e onto the core habitat for Kafue Lechwe, Wattled Cranes and the many species of waterbirds that depend on the Kafue Flats. While the Kafue Flats is a very important resource for human livelihoods, a balance is needed to ensure that animals move freely and have access to feeding and breeding grounds. Thus, we recommend extending the boundary of Lochinvar NP to join with Blue Lagoon NP and form a single, unified national park to better protect critical habitat for fauna and flora that occurs between these two parks. This will subsequently restrict access and movements of people and prevent settling and building of permanent fishing villages, ensuring that the remaining pristine habitat for the Kafue Lechwe, Wattled Cranes, and important wetland flora and fauna is safeguarded for the future. To reverse the declining trends in animal population, we recommend improving resource protection of the Kafue Flats by equipping ZAWA personnel at Lochinvar and Blue Lagoon NPs with adequate resources to enable effective protection of the Kafue flats wetlands, including invasive species and fire management. The spread of invasive species such as Mimosa pigra as well as encroachment of aggressive native shrubs such as Dichrostachys cinerea, for example, is affecting critical areas for Kafue Lechwe and cranes and has had significant negative impacts on their populations. Habitat restoration by way of controlling the spread of invasive and aggressive species and damaging fires is a matter of urgency. The implementation of environmental flows to improve water conditions on the Kafue Flats is also essential Lastly, we recommend repeating these aerial surveys bi-annually and to further conduct more research and monitoring of Kafue Lechwe, Wattled Cranes and other species of conservation concern so as to ensure good management based on accurate counts and trends, and to conduct additional reconnaissance surveys at other times of the year, as funding permits, to assess seasonal movements related to water conditions, human activities, and other factors. 5 | P a g e Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................ 4 1.0 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 9 2.0 METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................................... 13 2.1 Survey Area ............................................................................................................................... 13 2.2 Survey Design ............................................................................................................................ 13 2.3 Fight Procedure and observations ........................................................................................... 15 2.4 Data Analysis ............................................................................................................................. 16 3.0 RESULTS ...................................................................................................................................... 17 3.1 General ....................................................................................................................................... 17 3.2 Herbivore population estimates and distribution .................................................................. 17 3.3 Large floodplain bird population estimates and distribution ............................................... 18 3.4