Late final month, fires engulfed Namibia’s most visited wildlife reserve – Etosha Nationwide Park. An evaluation of satellite tv for pc imagery by Bellingcat has discovered that greater than a 3rd of the park was affected, impacting essential grazing lands for endangered species, together with black rhinos, giraffes and elephants.
Wildfires started on Sept. 22 and swept by the reserve and surrounding areas for 5 days earlier than an emergency authorities assembly on Saturday, Sept. 27. After days of in depth burning, the federal government deployed 500 troops to the area the next day.
Optical satellite tv for pc imagery from NASA exhibits an space of at the very least 6,000km² was impacted, together with agricultural areas past the park’s northern border, within the time taken for the federal government to name an emergency assembly.
The satellite tv for pc imagery beneath from Sept. 25 exhibits burn marks from the fires breaching the park’s northern border, surrounding villages and farmland. Talking to native media, residents and volunteers mentioned the hearth was unimaginable to extinguish with out extra assist, together with hearth vans and helicopters.
By Oct. 1, worldwide media experiences said between 7,500 to 8,500 km² of the park had been scorched by the hearth. Bellingcat’s evaluation of NASA satellite tv for pc imagery confirmed at the very least 7000km² – greater than a 3rd of the nationwide park – was affected.
As an enormous space of savanna grassland, fires – usually ignited by lightning – are a pure a part of the park’s ecosystem, says Prof. Theo Wassenaar, a specialist in biodiversity conservation from Namibia College. Nevertheless, the size of this most up-to-date hearth is uncommon.
“Savanna with out fires will not be a savanna” says Prof. Wassenaar. However “this Etosha hearth was notable as a result of it was very giant,” he says – “a gigafire (greater than 1,000,000 ha)”.
The Namibian Ministry of Setting, Forestry and Tourism didn’t reply to our request for touch upon the time taken to deploy troops to battle the hearth.
Nevertheless, in a public launch the Ministry mentioned: “The wildfire disaster in Etosha Nationwide Park and surrounding areas poses a big menace to Namibia’s biodiversity, native livelihood and demanding infrastructure.
Origins of the hearth
In a publish on Fb, Prime Minister Tjitunga Elijah Ngurare claimed the fires “started on 22 September 2025 within the south-western a part of the park because of suspected charcoal manufacturing actions on bordering industrial farms.”
NASA FIRMS information matches the Prime Minister’s assertion, indicating the hearth originated simply past the park’s south-western borders. As seen beneath, NASA FIRMS employs a color classification system to point out how way back an energetic hearth was detected. The yellow sq. beneath signifies this newest Etosha wildfire was first detected at 15:25 on Sept, 22.
Additional evaluation of the yellow sq.’s location utilizing satellite tv for pc imagery confirms hearth harm occurred on Sept.22, the primary day of the occasion. Climate information from the identical day, by way of Zoom.Earth, additionally helps this, with the hearth’s outward unfold aligning with a north-easterly wind course.
Google Earth imagery additionally confirmed the presence of a small village and several other charcoal kilns close to the situation recognized because the earliest energetic hearth by NASA FIRMS. Nevertheless, with out an in depth floor investigation, the precise reason behind the hearth can’t be decided.
The Ministry didn’t reply to Bellingcat’s request for remark as to why they believe the hearth started on this location.
Casualties of the Fireplace
Inside days of the fires engulfing giant swathes of the park, a picture of an injured elephant, badly burned, started circulating on social media.
In response to a flurry of commentators difficult the authenticity of the picture, the Minister of Setting, Forestry and Tourism, Indileni Daniel, instructed reporters at a press convention they may not verify the picture had been taken inside Etosha Park, nor may the elephant be confirmed as one of many casualties of the latest fires. At the moment, the one confirmed animal losses – recognized by authorities helicopters monitoring the world – have been 9 antelopes, one elephant and one injured pangolin.
In an interview with a neighborhood information outlet, Community Media Hub, the photographer Koos Reyneke described taking the picture of the injured elephant close to a watering gap “simply earlier than Charl Marais Dam.” Bellingcat was in a position to geolocate the picture to Ozonjuitji m’ Bari, a waterhole near the Charl Marais Reservoir.
Three termite mounds are seen in each the photographer’s picture of the burned elephant posted to Fb and in a 2023 YouTube video filmed in Etosha Park. Termite mounds can take years to construct and will final for tons of of years. Further matching options embrace the horizon line rising to the left, comparable bush patterns, and the mud pool within the foreground, which is overflow water from the close by waterhole.
Shadow evaluation utilizing SunCalc – a device that helps customers analyse the place of the solar and shadows to estimate the time a picture was taken – lined up with the photographer’s assertion that the pictures, together with that of the injured elephant, have been captured at round midday on Sept. 28.
Prime Minister Tjitunga Elijah Ngurare posted on Fb on Sept.29, stating, “All fires contained / mop-up and monitoring continues.” The Ministry says it can proceed conducting aerial surveys by helicopter to evaluate the extent of the harm. NASA FIRMS continued to detect energetic fires in Etosha up till Oct. 5.
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