An Elephant has been observed in the Niokolo-Koba National Park in the east of Senegal for the first time since January 2020. The Elephant, identified as a 35-40-year-old bull called Ousmane, was observed at night by a camera trap earlier this month. Five years ago, Ousmane was one of five-to-ten Elephants living in the park, but no sightings have been made, and it was assumed that Elephants had become locally extinct in Senegal.
Senegal was once home to hundreds of Elephants, bur they were hunted heavily during the colonial period, and a combination of the value of their tusks and competition for land with Humans has led to their population continuing to fall. Even before their apparent disappearance in 2020, Elephants were thought to be in almost irreversible decline in Senegal, with the population being both very small and very inbred. Ousmane, the last known surviving Elephant in Senegal is known to be a hybrid between two Elephant species, African Forest Elephant, Loxodonta cyclotis, and African Savanna Elephant, Loxodonta africana (both of which are considered to be Critically Endangered), and it is unclear if he would be able to breed if the opportunity arose.
Founded in 1981 the Niokolo-Koba National Park covers 9130 km² of gallery forests, savannah grass floodplains, ponds, and dry forests, cut through by the Gambia, Sereko, Niokolo, Koulountou rivers. As well as Elephants the park is home to one of two (known) remaining populations of Lions in West Africa, and populations of Giant Eland, Taurotragus derbianus, the largest extant Antelope species, Gianr Pangolin, Smutsia gigantea, African Wild Dogs, Lycaon pictus, and West African Chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes versus.
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