In the south of the Democratic Republic of Congo, amidst the remote wetlands of the Kamalondo Depression, a fleeting moment has reignited hope for one of Africa’s most elusive antelopes. The Upemba lechwe (Kobus anselli), unseen by science for decades, has finally been captured in a photograph—an image that may serve as both a testament to its resilience and a clarion call for its conservation.

In March 2025, during an aerial survey over the Zone Annex of  Upemba National Park, researchers observed a few of these rare antelopes moving through the swamps. While most of them vanished into the thick reeds, one individual paused just long enough for biologist Manuel Weber to take a photo—the first ever published photograph of this animal alive. Until now, the Upemba lechwe had been known only from museum specimens and field reports, its existence bordering on legend.

Vanishing Into the Marshes

Once numbering in the thousands in the 1970s, the Upemba lechwe’s population has plummeted due to decades of poaching. The recent aerial count found only ten individuals, suggesting that fewer than 100 survive. These antelopes, with their golden-brown coats and unique physical features, are now restricted to a single, shrinking range in the western portion of Upemba National Park.

With its long, lyre-shaped horns and swamp-adapted limbs, the Upemba lechwe is a wetland specialist—an ecological jewel in a vast floodplain. But without swift action, it may disappear before the world truly gets to know it.

Upemba – One of Africa’s Best-Kept Biodiversity Secrets

The Upemba landscape stretches over two ecological structures that are known for their endemism: The Kibara and Manika/Biano grassland plateaus, on the one hand, are known for their endemism particularly in dragonflies, plants, and birds. On the other hand, the Kamalondo depression wetlands  are a hotspot in fish diversity, with at least 2 endemic birds, and the Upemba lechwe.

Yet, although great work over the last 80 years has illustrated this, many of the elements are poorly documented, still unknown, or “lost to science” due to no recent records. Adding to that the mounting anthropogenic pressures, they are facing a situation with high stakes in terms of conservation.

“It is for this reason that we are trying to work on baselines of the status of Upemba’s biodiversity, to direct our management efforts where it is most needed,” said Manuel Weber.

The Upemba Lechwe is an important piece in the puzzle, since large mammals are the first taxon that vanishes, and because the population is endemic to the Kamalondo depression. This comes with great responsibilities for the park, since the success of the park’s efforts may be decisive on the survival or extinction of this population.

Conservation frontlines

Upemba National Park is no stranger to hardship. Once plagued by militia activity and dubbed the “triangle of death,” the park is now in the midst of a hopeful transformation.

The lechwe in Upemba National Park faces mounting threats, primarily from meat poaching and the increasing encroachment of agriculture into its habitat. Local poverty makes bushmeat a tempting source of income, placing significant pressure on this vulnerable species.

In response, targeted anti-poaching strategies are being developed, including the planned establishment of a new ranger outpost to boost surveillance and deterrence. Despite current resource limitations, efforts are underway to train and deploy 80 new rangers by September, strengthening the park’s protection capacity.

Community engagement is also a key pillar, with awareness campaigns focusing on the lechwe and other species. Alternative protein sources such as fish farming and improved fisheries are being introduced to reduce reliance on bushmeat and promote more sustainable livelihoods.

Immediate conservation actions

The following immediate conservation actions are being prioritized to safeguard the Upemba lechwe and reduce threats to its survival:

1. Establishing a permanent presence of rangers in the species’ core habitat to mitigate poaching and monitor the population.
2. Conducting additional ground and aerial surveys across the entire Kamalondo Depression to refine population estimates and assess human encroachment (and collect samples for genetic analysis).
3. Collecting data on the pressures affecting the species and evaluating the feasibility of in situ protection measures.
4. Deploying community conservation teams modeled on the successful “Hugo teams” from Virunga National Park. These teams will be composed of trained local residents who act as frontline conservation agents—raising awareness, monitoring wildlife, reporting threats, and serving as liaisons between the park and surrounding communities. Their presence will also help reduce pressure on the lechwe’s habitat and discourage poaching.

Community engagement

Currently, local communities are not involved in protecting the Upemba lechwe or included in awareness efforts—an urgent gap the park is now addressing. By engaging communities directly, the park aims to build local stewardship for the lechwe and its wetland habitat. This approach will be reinforced through broader sensitization campaigns and alternative livelihood options like sustainable fisheries and agriculture to reduce pressure on critical ecosystems.

Long term strategies

Saving the Upemba lechwe from extinction is about more than protecting a single species—it’s about securing an entire landscape with extraordinary but overlooked conservation value. By building Upemba’s profile around this rare antelope, the parks aims to raise awareness and catalyze action.

The lechwe share their habitat with Katanga’s elephants and other key species like the endemic black-lored waxbill. As a flagship species, the lechwe can serve as an umbrella for broader biodiversity conservation in the Kamalondo Depression, helping to protect this vital and vulnerable ecosystem as a whole.

How does the rediscovery of the Upemba lechwe influence broader conservation strategies in the region?

The rediscovery of the Upemba lechwe is a powerful reminder of the ecological richness of the Upemba landscape, one of the most unique ecosystems in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Although this species and the landscape itself have been largely overlooked for many years, the lechwe’s continued existence underscores the urgent need to refocus conservation attention and resources on this critical region.

This rediscovery reinforces the message that Upemba is not a forgotten landscape, but a national treasure that holds immense value for biodiversity, culture, and future generations. The lechwe, endemic to this ecosystem, is now a symbol of what is at stake. Its critically endangered status places a collective responsibility on all stakeholders, from local communities, government institutions, conservation partners, and to the international community to act decisively to prevent its extinction.

“We hope that the rediscovery of the Upemba lechwe generates attention for the landscape, and that this attention can be translated into conservation efforts that reflect the complexity of the landscape—in other words, that they yield ecologically sustainable outcomes while being socially acceptable,” said Tina Lain, park manager of Upemba.

How can the international community support the conservation of the Upemba lechwe?

The international community can play a critical role by elevating the Upemba lechwe to a global conservation priority—just as it did with the mountain gorillas of the Virunga Massif. With fewer than 100 individuals remaining, urgent and coordinated action is needed to prevent extinction, beginning with the protection of the species’ last remaining habitat.

Despite its ecological significance, the Upemba landscape remains under threat. An oil block overlapping this fragile area has been open for exploration since 2022, posing a major risk to the lechwe and the broader wetland ecosystem. Industrial developments such as oil extraction have no place in this irreplaceable biodiversity refuge.

Strong political will from the DRC, supported by sustained international technical and financial backing, is essential. Equally important is investing in alternatives that promote local development while safeguarding conservation goals—such as sustainable livelihoods, habitat restoration, and inclusive, community-led conservation.

Saving the Upemba lechwe is not only about protecting a species on the brink; it’s about securing the future of one of the DRC’s most biodiverse yet overlooked ecosystems. The time to act is now.

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The study found that the breeding success of the hornbills collapsed over a decade-long monitoring period (2008 – 2019), corresponding with rapid warming due to climate change. During the monitoring period, sub-lethal effects of high temperatures, including compromised foraging, provisioning, and body mass maintenance, reduced the chance of hornbills breeding successfully or even breeding at all.

“These temperature effects occurred even in good rainfall years,” said Nicholas Pattinson, a researcher at UCT’s FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology.

“While drought did negatively affect breeding success, our findings suggested that the rapid warming in the region was responsible for the collapse in breeding success: temperatures have been rising but drought return rates have remained stable in this area.”

The hornbills have an incredible breeding strategy, whereby the female actually seals herself inside the nest and moults all of her flight feathers. This strategy helps them avoid predation, and while it is common to many hornbills, it is a truly remarkable method of breeding.

Writing in the Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution journal, Pattinson said the study supports the proposition that even in the absence of large-scale mortality events associated with heat waves, cumulative sub-lethal consequences of increasing temperatures can and will likely cause population declines and even local extinctions.

Pattinson and his colleagues were surprised by how rapid climate warming acted so quickly on the breeding success of the hornbills.

“Within just a single decade we see a collapse in breeding success, correlating to the warming in the region and related to the inability of the hornbills to breed successfully at high temperatures. The most surprising thing is the finding that the hornbills, as we were monitoring, were fighting extirpation,” he said.

Commenting on the findings, Pattinson said there is rapidly growing evidence for the negative effects of high temperatures on the behaviour, physiology, breeding and survival of various bird, mammal, and reptile species around the world.

“Heat-related mass die-off events over the period of a few days are increasingly being recorded, which no doubt pose a threat to population persistence and ecosystem function,” he said. A team of researchers monitored the breeding of a population of the hornbills breeding in nest boxes at a study site in the Kalahari Desert from 2008 to 2019. They analysed the breeding success at the scale of entire breeding seasons and individual breeding attempts within seasons and correlated those with weather variables. The team also analysed South African Weather Service data for the Kalahari region to look at long term temperature and rainfall patterns to determine the onset and rate of warming due to climate change.

Out of the 118 breeding attempts the team monitored over the decade period, not a single attempt succeeded where the average air temperature during the attempt was equal to or greater than 35.7 °C. According to Pattinson, this shows a clear, dramatic negative effect of high temperatures on the breeding success of the hornbills.

“Current climate change predictions make it very unlikely that hornbills will persist across the hottest parts of their range even over the next decade. However, if they are going to occur anywhere across their current distribution in the future, the temperatures will have to remain below this threshold of 35.7 °C during their breeding,” he said.

This study may be about the hornbills in the Kalahari Desert, but it is relevant to people and systems worldwide, said Pattinson.

“Much of the public perception of the effects of climate change is related to scenarios calculated for 2050 and beyond. This renders the concept of the effects of climate change abstract to much of the general public not directly affected by extreme weather events, given that the effects are considered to concern future generations,” he said.

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Issued by: UCT Communication and Marketing Department
Photo: Marc/Unsplash

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OXFORD, 17 December 2020 – An international team has discovered the origin of the largest cargo of African ivory found from the oldest shipwreck in southern Africa.  

The discovery of a 16^th-century shipwreck has, with the aid of advanced scientific techniques, provided detailed insight into elephant herds living in Africa almost 500 years ago. But the study also highlights the extensive depletion of the West African forest elephant (Loxodonta cyclotis) due to the ivory trade, and the need for conservation of this majestic animal. The study, published today, was led by Oxford University’s Pitt Rivers Museum and School of Archaeology alongside partner institutions in Namibia (the National Museum of Namibia), South Africa (University of Cape Town, University of Pretoria) and the USA (University of Illinois). 

This unique story that links shipwrecks with elephants came to life off the coast of Namibia in 2008, when workers mining for diamonds discovered the remains of the Portuguese trading vessel Bom Jesus. The ship was lost in 1533 AD en route to India, making it the oldest shipwreck discovered in southern Africa.Incredibly some of the ship’s structure and over forty tons of valuable cargo were recovered intact – including thousands of copper pieces (ingots), gold and silver coins. 

But the most fascinating items recovered from the Bom Jesus were a collection of over 100 elephant tusks, the largest archaeological cargo of African elephant ivory ever found. The tusks were of varying lengths and sizes, ranging in weight from 2-33 kg, and came from both male and female elephants, young and old alike. The tusks were in good condition thanks to the cold waters off the coast of Namibia caused by the Benguela ocean current. 

Elephant tusks are the source of ivory, which was a valuable commodity in the 1500s and would have been used to make jewellery, mirrors and combs, decorative items and religious objects. Tusks were often traded from Africa to Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, but to find such a large number of tusks, and so incredibly well preserved, made this a unique find.  

“The shipwreck cargo contained materials from different parts of the world – Central European copper, German finance, Portuguese ship and perhaps crew, African ivory all destined for western India. This is an amazing snapshot of how connected the world was by the 1530s,” said Professor Shadreck Chirikure, School of Archaeology at Oxford University who led the study at Oxford University alongside Dr Ashley Coutu, Research Fellow at Pitt Rivers Museum. 

A team of experts – scientists, archaeologists and curators – came together to study the tusks and learn more about the elephants who bore them, before they were killed for their ivory. This is the first study to combine genetic, archeological and historical methods, providing much greater detail than ever before about the origin, ecological, and genetic histories of an archaeological ivory cargo.  

Scientists extracted ancient DNA – the chemical in the cell of every living thing that contains its genetic code – from the ivory to trace the source region and family history of the elephants. Ancient DNA analysis of 44 tusks determined that the elephants were Loxodonta cyclotis, or African forest elephants, rather than Loxodonta africana, savannah or grassland elephants. Further DNA sequencing traced the elephants to West Africa, which was surprising as it was expected the elephants would be from different locations across both Central and West Africa where trading networks to move ivory over long distances had been established thousands of years before the sailing of the Bom Jesus.    

Another surprise was that the elephants did not live in deep forests as most forest elephants do today. Dr Coutu studied the chemical elements in the tusks (stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen – isotopes are also used to determine the age of fossils through radiocarbon dating) to reveal that these elephants actually lived in scrubby woodland savannahs, not the deep tropical forests along the West African coast where almost all forest elephants live. “This information gave us a picture of the ecology of the West African forest elephant in its historic landscape. Knowing more about historic environments in which forest elephants thrived will benefit wildlife conservation today,” said Dr Ashley Coutu. 

But the research also reveals a loss of West African forest elephant herds in the last 400 years. The team found that the cargo came from 17 different herds with a distinct family lineage. Of those 17, only 4 of those same lineages still exist and are known from modern West African elephant populations. This means that the other lineages have been lost, primarily due to the hunting of elephants for ivory that took place in the centuries that followed.  

“The other lineages disappeared because West Africa has lost more than 95% of its elephants in subsequent centuries due to hunting and habitat destruction,” said Alfred Roca Professor of Animal Sciences from the University of Illinois who worked together with Oxford University on the project. The genetic information recovered from these lost herds adds a huge amount to the relatively limited amount of data available for scientists to study the remaining forest elephants across the African continent.     

The ivory trade, which continued up until the 20^th century, devastated Africa’s elephant population. Estimates suggest the population reduced from 26 million elephants in 1800 to fewer than one million today. A worldwide ban on ivory sales was instituted in 1989, which reversed the downward trend in the population. Despite the ban, the ivory trade continues illegally, and an estimated 20,000 elephants are killed in Africa annually. 

This research study was led by Pitt Rivers Museum at Oxford University, one of the leading and best-known museums of anthropology, ethnography and archaeology in the world. It holds over 500,000 items acquired across 130 years, covering all periods of human existence.  

Pitt Rivers leads research on its collections and is actively exploring difficult histories and addressing the colonial past. Oxford School of Archaeology hosts world-class research facilities fundamental to addressing big questions relating to humans and their interaction with the environment in the past. This collaborative research across continents has provided an opportunity to look at the legacy of the ivory trade. But it has also introduced a new way to examine the vast collections of historic and archaeological ivories in museums across the world and showed the vital significance of science in this work.

“There is tremendous potential to analyse historic ivory from other shipwrecks, as well as museum collections. These scientific techniques are vital for understanding the histories of elephant populations, people who hunted and traded the ivory, as well as the global history of the ancient ivory trade, which increasingly drew Europe, Africa, and Asia together via the Atlantic Ocean,” said Dr. Ashley Coutu, Research Fellow, Pitt Rivers Museum. 

Source: Oxford University
Photo credits: National Museum of Namibia
Map created by Alida de Flamingh

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