One of the rarest and least-known antelopes – sometimes called Africa’s ‘forgotten antelope’ – has had its photo published for the first time, as part of the first population survey in more than 50 years.
The Upemba lechwe (Kobus anselli) is a species of antelope endemic to the Kamalondo Depression area of Upemba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Once numbering in the tens of thousands, a variety of pressures has meant that numbers have dwindled.
An aerial survey was undertaken in early 2025, and a herd of ten antelopes was spotted shortly before they ran out of sight. Fortunately, before they completely vanished from view, one paused long enough – and actually looked upwards up at the plane – for a photo to be taken by Manuel Weber from the park’s Department of Research and Biomonitoring.
Later published within a study estimating the species’ population size, it’s thought to be the first photo of a live individual published.
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The Upemba lechwe was only described as a distinct species in 2005, following detailed analysis of museum specimens collected in the 1920s and 40s. Previously, it had been considered a subspecies of the red lechwe (Kobus leche, also known as Southern lechwe), and some still consider it to be a subspecies.
With only ten individuals sighted, the study estimates that the population numbers fewer than 100, “in an area with little protection, this species faces imminent extinction due to poaching. Urgent conservation measures are needed to prevent its disappearance.”
"We are currently working out conservation strategies [for the lechwe]," says Weber. “This is a species on the very brink. The fact that they’re still hanging on at all is extraordinary, but without urgent protection, they’ll vanish. We hope this image becomes a rallying cry, because this may be our only chance to save this species.”
This rare lechwe photograph comes not long after another notable photograph taken by Weber. In September 2023, he snapped a photo of a black-lored waxbill – the first time this species had ever been photographed in the wild, and the first documented record of the species since 1950.
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Main image: Upemba lechwe. Credit: Manuel Weber
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