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Fifty years ago, Banahine National Park mozambique There was a wildlife refuge filled with herds of giraffe, buffalo and antelope. Then, decades of civil war and uncontrolled poaching left it almost bare.
But a project is underway to restore Banhin to its former glory. fence Reconstruction has been carried out and roads have been repaired. Finally, the trickiest part: bringing in the animals.
Private conservationists working with the Mozambican government have moved about 400 animals – zebra, wildebeest and several species of antelope – to Banahine by truck. It is an effort to reintroduce the game reserve which is part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, a chain of reserves in Mozambique, South Africa and South Africa. zimbabwe Which forms a wildlife corridor and a major conservation area.
The animals repopulating Banahine came from Maputo National Park, a success story following a similar relocation 15 years ago.
The process of bringing the animals to Banhin was difficult and delicate. They were flown with a helicopter to a large funnel-shaped enclosure. From there, they were transported up a ramp and in boxes placed on the back of trucks for the 18-hour drive north. In total, the operation took 12 days.
385 animals were brought to the 8-square-mile “sanctuary,” the size of which will be expanded until they are fully acclimated and ready to roam the larger park, Donald said. SuttonHead of Operations and Development at Banhin.
“Now we are contributing to the biodiversity of Bunahine National Park, the big biodiversity,” he said. “Hopefully this means that slowly but surely as the numbers of animals here increase and we release them into the greater Banhine National Park system, our tourism will also increase.”
Banhin is the latest reserve identified for rehabilitation in Mozambique, which once boasted some of the richest wildlife resources in the region, only to have the reserve become desolate due to hunting, drought and a bloody 15-year civil war between 1977 and 1992.
The Peace Park Foundation works to restore cross-border conservation areas in Southern Africa and was involved in the rehabilitation of animals in Banahin.
It is also leading a project to repopulate Mozambique’s Zinawe National Park, another reserve that is part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park and has been denuded of wildlife over the years.
In Zinawe, critically endangered black rhinos have been reintroduced after being moved from South Africa and now have the first black rhinoceros population in Mozambique in decades.
Peace Park says it has relocated more than 18,000 animals to previously destroyed conservation areas that are being revived.
Sutton said it took 2 1/2 years of “hard work” to get Banyahin ready for wildlife again, but he now expects to see herds migrating in and out of the reserve once again.
“I see the future of the Banhine the same as it was 50 years ago,” he said.
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AP Africa News: https://apnews.com/hub/africa