In this Peace Parks TV episode, we are revelling in a wildlife revival in Mozambique’s Zinave National Park! Through a remarkable, ongoing ecosystem restoration journey, the landscape is blooming. Species are finding their feet and beginning to flourish, leading to increasing, and exciting, sightings; it is an enormously encouraging sign that the ecosystem is thriving and now able to support them!
The park’s ambitious #Rewilding programme is reaping great rewards, engineering the return of plains game to their historical ranges, as well as predators such as leopard and hyena. With growing numbers of prey to dine on, natural rewilding is occurring to further boost the carnivore guild.
Intuitively, lions are making their own way into Zinave using ecological linkages between protected areas, instinctively attracted by a plentiful food supply and the safety offered by the protected area.
Relative newcomers to the park, the founding lion population previously kept a low profile in small numbers – revealing themselves now and then on camera trap images and rangers’ glimpses of the animals and their tracks. Now, as they settle in their new home, they are becoming easier to spot, and pilot Delport Bothma’s routine helicopter flights offer the perfect viewpoint.
Working in collaboration with Mozambique’s National Administration for Conservation Areas and expert partners, and with the generous support of funders and donors, the restoration of the greater ecosystem and reestablishment of wildlife populations has driven the transformation from a silent park, devoid of life, to a vibrant one. Progress continues apace; recently, both white and black rhino have joined the cohort of species, thanks to three landmark translocation operations from South Africa, and founder herds are already growing naturally.
Join us in celebrating Zinave’s boundless revival, firmly establishing it as a resounding conservation success story and Mozambique’s first Big Five national park. Visit peaceparks.org/parks/zinave-national-park/ to learn more.
