By Abbas Nazil
A newly published photograph has captured, for the first time, a living Upemba lechwe (Kobus anselli), one of the world’s rarest antelopes, bringing global attention to the species that experts now warn is on the brink of extinction.
The image, taken during a recent aerial survey of the Kamalondo Depression in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, is being hailed as both a scientific breakthrough and a conservation call to action.
The Upemba lechwe, a species of antelope found only in the Kamalondo Depression—a vast sunken area in the southern part of the DRC—was long thought to be extinct or nearly so.
The elusive antelope had not been documented in a living state since its formal description in 2005, which was based on museum specimens collected in the 1920s and 1940s.
Now, thanks to a brief moment captured by lead researcher Manuel Weber, the world has its first published photograph of the species alive in the wild.
“It was in the morning of the second day, that a single individual stopped for just a few seconds – long enough for me to press the trigger – before running off like the other individuals we have seen,” said Weber, who is part of the Department of Research and Biomonitoring at Upemba National Park.
The same survey that produced the historic photo also delivered sobering news. While the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has previously estimated the number of mature Upemba lechwe between 600 and 1,000 individuals, Weber’s team recorded just 10 animals in total. This leads researchers to believe that fewer than 100 may now remain in the wild.
“This is a species on the very brink,” Weber stated. Once numbering between 5,000 and 20,000 in the early 1970s, the Upemba lechwe population has experienced a catastrophic decline over the past few decades, largely due to unchecked poaching.
Following the 1980s, protective measures in Upemba National Park began to deteriorate, allowing illegal hunting to escalate.
The lechwe, hunted primarily for meat, has been pushed to the edge of extinction.
Weber and his team are urgently calling for the reinstatement and strengthening of conservation protections within the park.
They emphasize that without immediate intervention, the species may vanish completely.
“The fact that they’re still hanging on at all is extraordinary,” said Weber. “But without urgent protection, they’ll vanish.”
With hopes that the photograph will ignite public and governmental support, Weber added, “We hope this image becomes a rallying cry—because this may be our only chance to save this species.”