Posted on 10/12/2025 4:11:33 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — Fifty years ago, Banhine National Park in Mozambique was a wildlife haven, teeming with herds of giraffe, buffalo and antelope. Then, it was stripped nearly bare by decades of civil war and unchecked poaching.
But a project is underway to restore Banhine to its former glory. Fences have been rebuilt and roads fixed. Finally, the trickiest part: bringing in the animals.
Private conservationists working with the government of Mozambique have moved nearly 400 animals — zebra, wildebeest and several species of antelope — by truck to Banhine. It’s an attempt to restart a game reserve that is part of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, a series of reserves in Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe that form a wildlife corridor and a key conservation area.
The animals that will restock Banhine came from the Maputo National Park, itself a success story after a similar rehabilitation 15 years ago.
The process of getting the animals to Banhine was difficult and delicate. They were herded toward a large funnel-shaped enclosure with a helicopter. From there, they were guided up a ramp and into crates on the back of trucks for an 18-hour drive north. In all, the operation took 12 days.
The 385 animals were introduced into an 8-square-mile “sanctuary” that will be increased in size until they have acclimatized fully and are ready to roam the larger park, said Donald Sutton, head of operations and development at Banhine.
“We are contributing now to the biodiversity, the bigger biodiversity, of Banhine National Park,” he said. “Which hopefully means that slowly but surely as the number of animals here increase and we release them into the greater Banhine National Park system, our tourism will increase as well.”
Banhine is the latest reserve identified for rehabilitation in Mozambique, which once boasted some of the...
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
I want to go on safari and hunt velociraptors.
They tried to do that with the deer on Angel Island-SF Bay Area. Didn’t work. $50k later they all died after being helicoptered to Mendocino County.
Actually, the trickiest part will be keeping the poachers and locals out from killing off the animals off.
Sub Saharan Africans have no concept of time. planning, future, or past tense. Their languages and actions reflect it.
On my first African safari, my PH told we were to kill any poachers we came across.
The locals will not kill the animals if they have an economic value to the locals. If hunting is allowed, then the locals benefit by having jobs (skinning, tracking, etc.) and by getting most of the meat.
Oh geez. You and my son would get along just fine 🤪
I was in Tanzania in 2012. Experience of a lifetime. I will never forget. The wildlife was so beautiful, but even more beautiful than the wildlife were the people. God have mercy, a beautiful place and beautiful people.
I agree, that area is amazing. I was there with my daughter in 2020. She was working in Dar es Salaam. She gave me an option to climb Mount Kilimanjaro or a safari. We did the safari in tents and then spent a few days at a resort in Zanzibar. We meet many interesting people; a television reporter from England, a cast member from Cats, a USAID person who setup FM radio stations in Sudan(they are now run by Muslim clerics). Great trip. My son lived in Mozambique and I visited him last year. He was familiar with the idea of revitalizing the game preserve. It will be difficult since things are cheaper in South Africa and there is a well established safari industry associated with the Kruger national park.
Are you the one who made them extinct?
I think some reasonable facsimile is planned sometime after the dire wolves magic.
No, but that was my dream.
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