AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE Selous Game Reserve originates from Captain Frederick Selous Courtney, an English man lived in the area some many years back, but was killed by Germans in the First World War and buried in the same area.
It is the largest protected game reserve on the African continent covering an area of 54,600 square kilometers comprised of a vast wilderness with forests, grassy plains, mountains
and open woodlands.
Selous Safari Holidays are highly recommended as in size this reserve is twice the Serengeti National Park in Kenya and three times Kruger National Park in South Africa. This reserve
was established in 1922, and in 1982 it was declared a UNESCO world heritage site thanks to its rich diversity of wildlife and uninterrupted nature.
The Tanzanian national park authority (TANAPA) in 2019 proposed and declared a change of identity of the northern sector of this reserve such that it is known as The Nyerere National Park as a way of honoring President Julius Nyerere who was the first president of Tanzania.
Today the boundaries of this Nyerere National Park are being properly established but according
to sources it is believed that this park will encompass the photographic sector in the northern part of the reserve and stretch out all the way to the wilderness area of River Rufiji to the south.
Selous Game Reserve is crossed by River Rufiji (which is the largest river in the country) in the center and forms a network of swamps, channels and lakes to create a very unique ecological system. The reserve is separated into 2 major sections by the river which are the northern and southern Selous.
There are a number of wildlife mammals found within this national reserve among which are: approximately 145,000 buffalos, 4,000 L ions, 100,000 wildebeests, large hands of giraffes, 35000 zebras, 40000 hippos, 250,000 impalas, large numbers of L ichtenstein’s hartebeests, waterbucks, elands and bushbucks, in addition to leopards, crocodiles and hyenas. Furthermore this is among the few wildlife sanctuaries on the African continent where you will find the puku antelopes the African wild dogs as well as the sable antelope.
Previously the Selous was home to a very large number of elephants but because of excessive poaching these numbers have greatly reduced and all these can be seen during the game drives on the Selous Safari Holidays.
