Country Area - 2,345,410 km²
Range Area - 223,248 km² (10%)
Protected Range - 54%
Information Quality Index (IQI) - 0.08
CITES Appendix - I
Listing Year - 1990
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has the largest expanse of tropical forest of all the Central African countries, comprising around 61% of the total (Verhegghen et al., 2012). A civil war from 1996 to 2003 resulted in high levels of poaching as militias, refugees and military personnel occupied protected areas, and the Institut Congolais pour la Conservation de la Nature (ICCN) was forced to cease normal operations, in some cases abandoning entire protected areas, while many staff members were killed. Elephant meat and ivory was used to provision and fund insurgents and the military (Beyers et al., 2011). Even after the end of the civil war, there have been continuing impacts from the displacement of human populations, ready availability of weapons, the activities of remaining rebel groups and rogue elements of the army, as well as growing threats such as new road developments, growing human populations and immigration (Beyers et al., 2011; Nackoney et al., 2014). The consequence of this is that elephant populations, even in major protected areas, have been reduced to extremely low densities, and substantial areas of range appear to have been lost. Despite this, the only population recorded as having been completely lost is that of the Bushimae Reserve and Hunting Area, and there have probably not been elephants there for many years.
Most elephants in DRC are believed to be forest elephants. There are known to be forest-savanna hybrids in Garamba National Park and at other sites at the northern and eastern limits of the forest zone (Mondol et al., 2015; Roca et al., 2015).
There are a number of collaborative management partnerships in place. African Parks Network (African Parks, n.d.-b) has been managing Garamba NP since 2005, in 2015 WWF received a 3-year management agreement for Salonga National Park and the Virunga Foundation signed an agreement to manage Virunga National Park until 2021 (“Virunga National Park - Who we are,” n.d.).
DRC published an elephant conservation plan in 1991, although this is now out of date (Institut Zairois pour la Conservation de la Nature, 1991).
In recent analyses of seizure data in ETIS, prepared for CITES, DRC has been identified as a country with a worrying involvement in illegal ivory trade (CITES Secretariat, 2012; Milliken et al., 2013, 2016). DRC was requested by the CITES Standing Committee, at its 65th meeting, to prepare a National Ivory Action Plan. This was submitted in April 2015 and progress on this plan was reported on in September 2015 (CITES, n.d.-a) Although none of the 27 planned activities had been completed, 15 of them were considered to be in progress.
The estimated number of elephants in areas surveyed in the last ten years in DRC is 1,794 ± 52 at the time of the last survey for each area. There may be an additional 7,803 to 9,557 elephants in areas not systematically surveyed. These guesses probably represent a minimum number, and actual numbers could be higher than those reported. Together, this estimate and guess apply to 114,733 km², which is 51% of the estimated known and possible range. There remains an additional 49 % of the estimated range for which no population estimates are available.
There has been an approximately 70% reduction in elephant estimates for DRC since the AESR 2007 and a 50% reduction in the guesses.
The elephant population in Garamba NP in the north-east of the country has continued to decline in the last ten years as a result of intense poaching pressure from different groups, including the Lord’s Resistance Army, which raided the park headquarters in 2009 (Agger & Hutson, 2013). An aerial total count in 2014 gave an estimate of 1,718 elephants from the total count in the southern portion of the park plus 206 from an aerial sample count in the northern part of the park and the neighbouring hunting areas (Mònico, 2014). This replaces the 2004 estimate of 6,354 ± 4,081 from an aerial sample count (Hillman Smith et al., 2006) and a guess of 1,000 to 1,450 for the neigbouring Gangala-na-Bodio hunting area. Aerial total counts were also carried out in 2007 and in April and May of 2012, giving estimates of 3,696, 1,847 and 1,708 respectively (Bolaños, 2012). The northern part of Garamba NP was shown as non-range in the AESR 2007, but radio-tracking data shows that elephants use the entire park (Mararv, pers. comm., 2016).
Large areas to the west of Garamba are now settled by people, and residents reported that elephants have not occurred here for decades (Hart, 2014) so these areas are shown as non-range.
The eastern savanna sector of the Bili-Uere complex has been overrun by hundreds of Fulani pastoralists with their cattle, and by 2010 most of the elephants in this area were gone; it has been changed to doubtful range (Hart, 2014). A 2011 dung count of the Bili Gangu sector gave an estimate of 365–799 elephants (Hart, 2014), which is recorded as a new population since it had not previously been surveyed.
South of Bili-Gangu, elephant range in north-central DRC is now limited to five areas of possible range where elephant signs or information on their presence was recorded between 2006 and 2009 (C.T. Hicks, unpublished data, in Hart, 2014).
Between five and 25 elephants may remain in the central Rubi Tele Hunting Zone, based on reconnaissance surveys in 2007 and 2011 (Hart, 2014). Previously this was recorded as possible range with no estimate, so this is recorded as a new population.
A survey of the western part of the Lomako Faunal Reserve on the south bank of the Congo River in 2014 indicated that there were still small numbers of elephants present, with an estimate of 105 to 185 (Maputla, 2015) so this is recorded as a new population and an area of known range added to the map. An additional two small areas south of Lomako had elephant signs (Maputla, 2015).
The Okapi Faunal Reserve in the north-east of DRC used to form part of a continuous elephant population including Maiko National Park, although numbers and range have been greatly reduced in this area. The presence of illegal miners and militias severely affected the conservation status of the reserve, but the situation has improved since 2012 (Okapi Conservation Project, 2014). A dung count was carried out from December 2010 to January 2011 (Vosper et al., 2012), which gave an estimate of 1,701 (1,031-2,831). This replaces an estimate of 2,688 ± 1,348 from 2006 (Grossman et al., 2006). The 2006 survey covered less than half the area of the 2011 study. However, almost the whole area was surveyed in 2007 giving an estimate of 2,698 (1892-3836) elephants (Vosper et al., 2012). Just to the east of the Okapi is an area known as Mai Tatu. Surveys in 2008 and 2015 here show elephants are still present but very rare.
A guess of 3,000 elephants for Maiko National Park from 2006 (Hart, 2006a) has been replaced by a guess of 100-750 (Nixon & Plumptre, pers. comm., 2016). Most of the Park has been reclassified from known to possible range apart from some small areas on the periphery, where elephant presence was confirmed during surveys and patrols between 2013 and 2015 (Plumptre et al., 2015).
Virunga National Park has elephants both in savanna and forest areas (Owiunji et al., 2004; Wanyama et al., 2014a). The park has come under sustained assault from poachers and displaced people seeking sanctuary over many years of civil unrest (Virunga National Park, 2016). An aerial sample count of the Virunga National Park savanna sector in 2014 gave an estimate of 35 ± 60 (Wanyama et al., 2014b), which replaces an estimate of 348 ± 177 from 2006 (Kujirakwinja et al., 2006). Elephants move back and forth across the border into Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda (Douglas-Hamilton, pers. comm., 2016) so changes in numbers may reflect movements as much as mortality. Older guesses for the forest populations of Virunga NP have been retained – 75 for the southern section (Mubalama, pers. comm., 2003) and 43 for the Mikeno section (Gray, pers. comm., 2005).
There is a new guess of 20 elephants for the upland section of Kahuzi-Biega National Park (Plumptre, pers. comm., 2010), which replaces one of 20 to 50 from 2005 (Hart, 2006b). Also, there is a new guess of 50 to 100 for the lowland section (Plumptre, pers. comm., 2010) which is recorded as a new population, although in 2002 there was an estimate of 1,125, which was not recorded in the AESR 2007 (Hart, pers. comm., 2003).
The western section of the Sankuru Natural Reserve was surveyed in 2008, and it seems that no elephants remain at this site (Liengola et al., 2009).
A major, previously undocumented population of elephants was discovered in the centre of the country in the newly-designated Lomami National Park and its surrounding area, the Tshuapa Lomami landscape. A dung count carried out in 2008 gave an estimate for the core zone of 551 elephants (353-860) with an additional estimate of 265 elephants (120–700) in the adjoining peripheral zone (Hart, pers. comm., 2016), resulting in an informed guess of 500-1000 from the survey author (Hart, 2009). Subsequently, a 2012 dung count of the core zone gave an estimate of 462 elephants (261-813) (Hart, pers. comm., 2016). In late 2014, patrols reported small numbers of elephants (estimated at 10-15 animals) in the south of the park in an area that had not been occupied by elephants since 2007 (Hart, pers. comm., 2016). There was no previous estimate for the Tshuapa Lomami landscape, which is treated as a new population although it was recognized as known range in the AESR 2007.
In 2015 and 2016 the existence of several additional areas of elephant range in Central Congo were documented through arrests and seizures of ivory (Hart, n.d.) and these are marked as new areas of known range to the west and south of Tshuapa Lomami.
Salonga National Park has experienced poaching for decades, although anti-poaching operations starting in 2011 appear to have improved the situation (Dianzenza, 2015). Surveys have been carried out of different parts of the park. Partial surveys give an estimate of about 400 elephants in about 24% of the park (Reinartz, 2016; WCS, 2015a). Surveys outside the park in 2006 showed that only a few pockets of this vast landscape were occupied by elephants (Steel, 2007). Since the recent surveys did not cover the entire area, the estimates of 1,186 ± 692 inside the park in 2004 (Blake, 2005) and 2,800 outside the park in 2006 (Hart, 2006b) have been retained. There was no significant difference in dung density in the Lokofa area between 2006 and 2015 (WCS, 2015a).
A new guess from the Luama Hunting Zone of 21 elephants (Mubalama, pers. comm., 2013) replaces the guess of 110 ± 15 from 2002 (Mubalama, pers. comm., 2006). A new guess of 40-60 for Upemba National Park (Hasson, pers. comm., 2013) replaces a guess of 145 from 2005 (Mubalama, pers. comm., 2006).
In the AESR 2007 there is possible range shown close to the southern town of Lubumbashi. It has been many years since elephants occurred in this area, and this has been degraded to non-range (Hasson, pers. comm., 2013).
There are no longer believed to be any elephants in the Bushimaie Reserve and Hunting Area so this has been reported as a lost population (IUCN PAPACO, 2010).
Reports were received in 2012 of more than 20 elephants moving across the border from Angola and spending time in the Swa Kibula hunting area (Mbende et al., 2012). The map now shows this area as known range.
Low densities of elephants were found in the area south-west of Lake Tumba, close to the Congo River north of Kinshasa (Mbende et al., 2012). This has been changed from doubtful to known range.