Last “Ghost Elephant” Spotted on Camera

For the first time in years, the “Ghost Elephant” of Niokolo-Koba National Park in Senegal has been captured on video. 

New remote camera footage captured by Panthera and Senegal’s National Parks Directorate (DPN) shows the "Ghost Elephant" — Ousmane, named after a park ranger — pausing in front of the camera as he moves through the park at night.  

When last spotted in January 2020, Ousmane was considered one of only 5 to 10 elephants remaining in the park — a stark contrast to the hundreds that once roamed Niokolo-Koba, and a reminder of the devastating impacts of poaching and habitat loss.

Observations suggest that the elephant population in Senegal may now be critically low. This male is the only individual that’s been photographed in the park since 2020. And DNA analysis, collected through dung samples, confirms he’s potentially the only individual left. 

Still, there is hope for this solitary creature. This sighting has sparked discussions on what can be done to protect the elephant and the technical feasibility of translocating a group of female and male elephants to restore a breeding population in Niokolo-Koba National Park.

These images also come just months after another camera trap in the park captured an endangered giant pangolin for the first time in 24 years, another discovery that revives hope for this nearly extinct species. 

Niokolo-Koba National Park is of outstanding global importance for the conservation of threatened, iconic wildlife. It’s home to one of only two remaining populations of Critically Endangered West African lions, a distinct genetic clade, and the largest remaining population of leopards in West Africa. It’s also home to small cats such as serval, caracal and African wild cat, and many other species. 

We began conservation work in Niokolo-Koba in 2011, when DPN invited us to conduct the park’s first-ever lion survey. Only 10-15 individuals remained in the park at the time. Today, their population has more than doubled.  

Over the past decade, we've built a strong working relationship with the government of Senegal, formalized through a long-term agreement with the DPN to strengthen park management and security. We provide direct support to ranger teams for effective large-scale patrols, the rebuilding and expansion of the park’s infrastructure and intensive ecological monitoring, including monitoring of lions using GPS collars.  

Protection efforts in the park benefit not only lions but also a whole suite of threatened species, helping us realize Panthera’s vision of restoring lions and other wildlife to this precious landscape. 

Learn more about our work in Senegal or read more about the ghost elephant in this coverage from IFLScience and Newsweek.