Africa-Press – Mozambique. Nine buffaloes have been found dead in mysterious circumstances in Niassa Special Reserve (REN) in the north of Mozambique, local authorities announced.
“The reserve has a large number of veterinarians and they are discussing [this situation]. Some suggest the possibility of drowning, with the animals washed to that area,” said Terêncio Tamele, administrator of the Niassa Special Reserve, this Friday.
Park authorities also hypothesize that the wild animals ingested toxic substances, leading them to seek water in the Lugenda River, which runs through the southern region of the reserve.
“Having consumed the water without controlling the limits, since they are irrational animals, they may have drowned due to the increased flow,” explained Tamele.
According to the REN administrator, the communities living around the protected area took some of the buffalo meat for consumption.
“When we arrived, we found that some locals had already taken some [of the animals’ meat], and a small amount was recovered so we could conduct analyses and prevent health problems in the communities, in the event of poisoning,” he added.
Established in 1960, the Niassa Special Reserve, created as a hunting reserve on October 9, 1954, is the largest protected area in Mozambique, covering 42,400 square kilometres. It is home to the largest populations of some species in the country, such as elephants, lions, leopards, buffaloes, and others.
The reserve is part of the Niassa-Selous Transfrontier Conservation Area, which is the result of a bilateral agreement between Mozambique and Tanzania.
According to the Ministry of Land and Environment of Mozambique, investments and legal reforms over the past 10 years have “brought new dynamism and enormous gains to conservation areas, particularly the Niassa Special Reserve”.
The REN is managed under a public-private partnership agreement involving the Government of Mozambique, through the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC), and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS).
According to WCS data, the Niassa National Reserve is estimated to represent 21% of Mozambique’s Protected Areas Network and 51% of its terrestrial parks and reserves, forming “part of an elite and increasingly rare group of only seven protected ‘mega-areas’” in Sub-Saharan Africa.
According to WCS, the main challenges in the Niassa National Reserve are the need to increase and train its ranger staff, increase aerial surveillance, increase resources that allow for greater reactive, proactive, and efficient monitoring and enforcement capabilities, and establish more partnerships to cover training costs and acquire resources to mitigate human-wildlife conflict and community outreach.
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