Botswana to translocate 500 elephants to Mozambique

This was revealed by President Mokgweetsi Masisi throughout a three-day state go to by Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi that ends on Good Friday.

“I want to reiterate Botswana’s donation of 500 elephants to Mozambique. We stay up for their subsequent translocation to Mozambique within the close to future and are very eager to see them lastly roaming their new habitat,” Masisi advised journalists throughout Nyusi’s go to.

Masisi first made the supply in 2018.

The 15 000-strong elephant inhabitants in Mozambique is within the Niassa Reserve, a protected space, protecting 42 000km².

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Final yr, it was reported that conservationists had found feminine elephants in Mozambique’s Gorongosa Nationwide Park which had been born with out tusks.

Some researchers mentioned the rationale behind the tuskless elephants was an evolutionary response to the brutal killing of elephants for his or her ivory tusks throughout Mozambique’s 15-year civil struggle.

The massive-scale killings have been due to an increase in demand for tusks by felony networks to fund the civil struggle in Mozambique.

Preserve The World Wild, an animal conservation organisation, mentioned between 2002 and 2013, the Central African forest elephant inhabitants dropped by 65% and its vary shrank by 30%.

Some populations of savannah elephants have additionally suffered main losses in Tanzania and Mozambique, the place current surveys present their numbers have dropped by 60% and 40%, respectively up to now 5 years.

Mozambique’s Nationwide Administration for Conservation Areas (ANAC) mentioned the nation had misplaced an estimated 10 000 elephants between 2009 and 2011 within the Niassa Reserve.

In the meantime, in Botswana, the Journal of African Elephants studies that “two huge bulls have been killed in the previous few weeks in northern Botswana”.

The journal mentioned one of many elephants had tusks weighing 45.3kg, making it the biggest elephant to be hunted in Botswana since 1996.

The opposite elephant hunted had tusks weighing 40.8kg.

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