First Elephant Sighting in 6 Years Sparks Hope for Species’ Return to a Senegal Park

Ghost Elephant Captured on Camera for the First Time in 5 Years

A rare “ghost elephant” was recently spotted on camera in Senegal’s Niokolo-Koba National Park for the first time in around five years. The animal was visually captured by the wildcat conservation organization Panthera and Senegal’s National Parks Directorate (DPN). The new footage shows the “ghost elephant,” named Ousmane after a park ranger, walking directly in front of the camera in the dark. According to Panthera, “When last spotted in Janu…

First elephant sighting in 6 years sparks hope for species’ return to a Senegal park

For the first time in six years, an elephant was seen in Senegal’s Niokolo-Koba National Park. Grainy black-and-white footage shows Ousmane, a bull 35 to 40 years old named after a park ranger, in the forest at night, stopping to look at the camera trap that recorded his presence. Ousmane hadn’t been seen since 2019. At the time, just five to 10 elephants remained out of the hundreds that once roamed there. With no recorded sightings for years, …