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Rare 'Ghost Elephant' Sighting Comes with Grave Warning About the Species
An elephant not seen for several years was captured on camera walking through a national park in Senegal
The "Ghost Elephant," named Ousmane, was considered to be one of five to 10 elephants left at Niokolo-Koba National Park in 2019
"Elephants are under immense pressure in West Africa. Only a few populations of the pachyderms survive in this region," an expert saidAn elusive elephant that hasn't been photographed in several years was recently caught on camera strolling through a national park in Senegal. This is the first time an elephant has been documented in the location since 2020.
In footage captured by a camera trap at Senegal's Niokolo-Koba National Park (PNNK), both the wild cat conservation organization Panthera and Senegal's National Parks Directorate (DPN) caught a glimpse of what is being called a "Ghost Elephant" — a name the African forest elephant has earned because of its infrequent appearances in Senegal.
The video marks the first time an African forest elephant has been photographed or filmed in the park in five years, and the first time the specific elephant in the clip — Ousmane, who was named after a park ranger — has been seen since 2019.
At the time, Ousmane was considered to be one of five to ten African forest elephants left at Niokolo-Koba, which used to house hundreds of elephants before the "devastating impacts of poaching and habitat loss," according to the organizations.
In the footage, Ousmane walks in the dark, gets an up-close glimpse at the camera set-up, and continues on.
As the World Wildlife Fund points out, the African forest elephant was declared Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in 2021.
"Elephants are under immense pressure in West Africa. Only a few populations of the pachyderms survive in this region," Philipp Henschel, west and central regional director of Panthera, said in a statement to Newsweek. "Niokolo-Koba National Park, where this individual was filmed, is the last area in Senegal where this endangered species survives."
As Henschel told the outlet, Panthera and the DPN had "gradually increased the protection" of Niokolo-Koba National Park since their joint park support program launched in 2017.
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Additional successes for the program include a significant increase in the West African lion population, which has doubled in the park since Panthera and the National Parks Directorate began working on initiatives.
As for the "Ghost Elephant," there are now organized surveys to "assess if the elephant we recently filmed is the sole survivor in the park and therefore in Senegal," Henschel told Newsweek.
"If this was found to be the case, we will assess the feasibility of translocating a herd of females into the park, so as to found a new breeding elephant population in Senegal."
Read the original article on People
