Effects of habitat on visibility of elephants during aerial census

Relocating individual radiocollared elephants during an aerial survey in northern Zimbabwe provided an opportunity to assess the effects of habitat and topography on the aerial visibility of elephants. Sightings were considered 'failed' when no elephants could be seen by aerial observers...

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Main Author: Richard Hoare
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IUCN 2000-12-01
Series:Pachyderm
Online Access:https://pachydermjournal.org/index.php/pachyderm/article/view/1013
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author Richard Hoare
author_facet Richard Hoare
author_sort Richard Hoare
collection DOAJ
description Relocating individual radiocollared elephants during an aerial survey in northern Zimbabwe provided an opportunity to assess the effects of habitat and topography on the aerial visibility of elephants. Sightings were considered 'failed' when no elephants could be seen by aerial observers after the aircraft had flown in a tight circle around the radiocollar signal for some 8 minutes. These situations, which amounted to 15% (n=88) of the sightings, all occured in steep, rocky hills covered with high-canopy woodland and incised by narrow, thickly wooded valleys. This type of terrain did not cover enough of the study area to affect the accuracy of the census estimate. However, this trial served to illustrate localized failure rates of elephant visibility which can be appreciated by those seeking to improve routine census techniques.
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spelling doaj-art-e932a02a393143db90f2f176729f93aa2025-08-20T02:29:13ZengIUCNPachyderm1026-28811683-50182000-12-0129110.69649/pachyderm.v29i1.1013Effects of habitat on visibility of elephants during aerial censusRichard Hoare Relocating individual radiocollared elephants during an aerial survey in northern Zimbabwe provided an opportunity to assess the effects of habitat and topography on the aerial visibility of elephants. Sightings were considered 'failed' when no elephants could be seen by aerial observers after the aircraft had flown in a tight circle around the radiocollar signal for some 8 minutes. These situations, which amounted to 15% (n=88) of the sightings, all occured in steep, rocky hills covered with high-canopy woodland and incised by narrow, thickly wooded valleys. This type of terrain did not cover enough of the study area to affect the accuracy of the census estimate. However, this trial served to illustrate localized failure rates of elephant visibility which can be appreciated by those seeking to improve routine census techniques. https://pachydermjournal.org/index.php/pachyderm/article/view/1013
spellingShingle Richard Hoare
Effects of habitat on visibility of elephants during aerial census
Pachyderm
title Effects of habitat on visibility of elephants during aerial census
title_full Effects of habitat on visibility of elephants during aerial census
title_fullStr Effects of habitat on visibility of elephants during aerial census
title_full_unstemmed Effects of habitat on visibility of elephants during aerial census
title_short Effects of habitat on visibility of elephants during aerial census
title_sort effects of habitat on visibility of elephants during aerial census
url https://pachydermjournal.org/index.php/pachyderm/article/view/1013
work_keys_str_mv AT richardhoare effectsofhabitatonvisibilityofelephantsduringaerialcensus