The Zinave National Park, in southern Mozambique, counted more than 5,000 animals last year, the administrator announced today, highlighting the strengthening of surveillance to contain poaching within that conservation area.
“We are noticing that the population is growing. Last year we conducted a symbolic aerial count where, approximately, we have more than 5,000 animals within the system, which is very good,” said the administrator of the park located in Inhambane province.
According to Abacar, the park now has more than 16 species, including Africa’s “big five” – lion, buffalo, leopard, elephant, and rhinoceros –, the result of a restocking and biodiversity conservation effort associated with the decrease in poaching cases.
“Regarding hunting, it is minimal at this moment. We do not have the presence of large-caliber weapons within the system either. Lately, we found home-made weapons, but it is increasingly reducing because we did a great job in past years, I am talking about 2018 and 2019, of raising awareness among the communities, where there was voluntary surrender of weapons,” he explained.
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For the administrator of the Zinave park, logging is currently the major problem worrying the authorities of that conservation area, especially the felling of “specific species” such as the chanfuta tree.
“This worries us a lot. We are working on this with the communities,” noted António Abacar.
The Mozambican Zinave Park received nine white rhinoceroses from South Africa to restore the balance of ecosystems, as announced on Sunday by the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC).
“By returning white rhinos to Zinave, we are not only securing the future of a key species, but also restoring the balance of ecosystems, creating investment opportunities within the wildlife economy context, promoting the development of local communities, and demonstrating what is possible when partners work together for nature,” said Pejul Calenga, director-general of ANAC, quoted in the note.
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According to ANAC, the animals were donated to the Zinave National Park under a rhino reintroduction program, in a “complex cross-border conservation operation” carried out by the Mozambican body, Exxaro Resources, and the Peace Parks Foundation, with support from South Africa’s department of forestry, fisheries, and environment.
The Zinave National Park is the only one in Mozambique that hosts the “Big Five.” There, one can also find, among other animals, crocodiles, giraffes, wild boars, bushbucks, hippopotamuses, impalas, kudus, nyalas, oribis, reedbucks, waterbucks, wildebeests, and zebras.
The park also features more than 200 tree species and 200 grass species and covers 408,000 hectares, having been reclassified after the Mozambican civil war, which lasted 16 years.
According to data from the Ministry of Land and Environment, Mozambique has 12 national parks and protected areas, harboring 5,500 species of flora and 4,271 species of terrestrial wildlife.
