CASE STUDIES
Real surveys, verifiable results
Each case study shows what a client needed to know, what we did and what the data showed. Client names and exact locations are only shared with permission.
Wetland survey imagery, central Mozambique, 2026
FEATURED CASE STUDY
Counting what observers miss: photographic survey at Sango Wildlife Conservancy
AT A GLANCE
REGION
South-eastern lowveld, Zimbabwe
AREA
61,000 ha
ECOSYSTEM
Arid savanna
METHOD
Photographic survey, compared with an observer count
DATE
September 2024
IMAGES
16,082 over three flights
+69%
more impala recorded by the cameras than by observers
+87%
more kudu recorded by the cameras than by observers
THE CHALLENGE
Sango has counted its wildlife from the air with rear-seat observers since 1998. The conservancy wanted to know whether a photographic survey could give more accurate numbers, without losing that long-term record.
WHAT WE DID
In September 2024 we flew a photographic survey over the same 61,000 ha, a day after the observer count, and captured 16,082 images over three flights. Detection software flagged possible animals, trained annotators checked and labelled each one, and ecologists verified the results.
RESULTS
The camera count recorded 69% more impala and 87% more kudu than the observer count, and higher numbers of giraffe, elephant, eland and zebra. Both methods agreed on one worrying trend: wildebeest remain at critically low numbers.
WHY IT MATTERS
Observers miss more animals the further out they look, so wide observer strips undercount. Photographic counts give a fuller picture that can be checked.
MORE CASE STUDIES
Recent surveys
2026 · ANALYSIS UNDERWAY
Survey complete: now the analysis begins
About 150,000 ha photographed across three survey areas in south-eastern Zimbabwe. Now our team turns the images into numbers.
JUNE 2026 · BASELINE SURVEY
A baseline for a wild floodplain: photographic survey in central Mozambique
148,482 images across 205,700 ha of floodplain: an estimated 30,600 buffalo, and a repeatable map of wildlife and human activity.
