Five hundred animals have been translocated from the Kruger National Park in South Africa to Zinave National Park in Mozambique, over the past two months.

The animals were donated by South Africa’s Department of Environmental Affairs to Mozambique’s Ministry of Land, Environment and Rural Development in a collaborative effort between the governments to further develop key wildlife areas as part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area, which spans Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe.

The current animal populations in the KNP are doing well, with certain species having enough numbers to move some animals across to Zinave without causing any adverse ecological impacts. On the other hand, the 408 000ha Zinave National Park is still recovering from a civil war that left it almost devoid of wildlife.

In 2016, Mozambique’s National Administration of Conservation Areas and Peace Parks Foundation (PPF) signed a co-management agreement with the objective of restoring Zinave National Park to its former glory. The agreement confirms that two organisations collaborative strategy to rewild Zinave by investing in anti-poaching, infrastructure development, tourism development and community development interventions, with the end goal being to attract tourism back to the park.

Through the support of the DEA and SANParks, a total of 291 impala, 153 wildebeest and 85 zebra were moved from KNP into Zinave this year, with PPF funding the translocation costs. The overall goal is to reintroduce 7 500 game animals in Zinave over the next five years, and to date over 1 300 animals have been rewilded to the park.

Glenn Philips, Managing Executive of the KNP, says: “In protecting key natural resources one can no longer have a fortress conservation mentality, and the Great Limpopo Transfrontier treaty is leading the way towards the formulation of a new conservation management plan for Kruger National Park that looks beyond our borders. If we can share our surplus wildlife with our neighbours and, in so doing, eventually share our 1.9 million annual visitors into Mozambique, it will not only benefit the people of Mozambique, but contribute to a balanced and sustainable ecotourism system for the whole region.”

This is echoed by Werner Myburgh, CEO of the PPF: “Collaboration such as this is what developing Peace Parks is all about. It promotes cross-country collaboration, through which nations have the opportunity to work together on projects that directly impact and promote the well-being of their citizens. The rewilding of Zinave National Park is a vital next step in reconnecting traditional wildlife dispersal areas within the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area, and eventually reconnecting the Zinave, Banhine and Limpopo National Parks in Mozambique with Kruger National Park in South Africa and Gonarezhou National Park in Zimbabwe – a vast landscape spanning almost 100,000 square kilometres. Wildlife corridors are essential to enable animals to move naturally along ancient migratory routes, strengthening the significance of maintaining healthy ecosystems which is a cornerstone of transboundary conservation efforts.”