Source: The National Geographic
An aerial survey of the world’s remaining elephants that began in February 2014 is almost complete and ready for the analysis, reports the National Geographic. Funded by Microsoft billionaire Paul G. Allen and staffed by 90 researchers, the initiative surveyed elephant populations in a combined distance of 285,000 miles throughout Africa.
The census data is being put into an open-source database, the information from which promises to be of unparalleled utility to conservation organizations like Elephants Without Borders, the project’s principal research party, and the Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute.
In March 2016, the data from the effort will be shared with the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, which will conduct further scientific review in order to update elephant conservation status.
Read full story at: The National Geographic