 There were estimated to be 250,000 lechwe living on the Kafue Flats in 1931, one of the highest animal carrying capacities in the world at 11,000 kg per km2.By 2005 the number of lechwe was estimated to have fallen to 38,000, a number which remained mostly stable until the next census completed in 2009.The declining numbers of Kafue lechwe has been attributed to the building of the Itezhi-Tezhi Dam and subsequent change in intensity and timing of flooding as well as illegal poaching and the pressures of rising numbers of people and cattle.