BLANTYRE-(MaraviPost)-The country’s African Parks, is expected to resume translocation of elephants this month, after a ten-month recess.
The development follows the successful globally-acclaimed drive to move 500 elephants from Liwonde to Nkhotakota Game Reserve.
Last year’s exercise attracted the high-level attention of Prince Charles of the United Kingdom (UK), who witnessed the translocation of the elephants.
This is year’s process targets 150 elephants, who will travel over 600 kilometres from Majete Wildlife Reserves, in the Lower Shire district of Chikwawa to the central grasslands and woodlands.
The African Parks Country Director Patricio Ndadzela, told the Nation newspaper that the company will move another 100 elephants from Liwonde National Park to the tourism destination on the shores of Lake Malawi in the central region by end of July this year.
Ndadzera said the exercise was necessitated by overpopulation of animals at Majete, and Liwonde national parks, which are considered as their habitat.
He added that completion of the exercise, will create three sites with potential for tourism as Nkhotakota which is along the lakeshore, will be accessible to tourists.
“While we are trying to take these animals to an environment where they can have abundant space and resources, we are also restocking Nkhotakota,” Ndadzera said.
“I think it will be easier this year, since we are just finishing the translocation exercise. All the 261 trans-located elephant are thriving well in their new habitat,” he said.
The initiative came in due to the depleted wildlife sanctuary, where the population of the jungle giants-elephants had dipped from 1,500 to fewer than 100 before the replenishment of their feeds.
Due to the translocation, conflict between elephants and surrounding communities of the reserves sites, have lessened.