ELEPHANT TRANSLOCATION PROJECT IN MALAWI

The Majete Wildlife Reserve is a 700 km 2 wilderness in the Shire Valley and the site of an innovative wildlife rehabilitation project. A reserve devastated by poachers is being rebuilt. The Majete area was introduced to the Western world by the explorer, missionary and campaigner against the slave trade, Dr. David Livingstone. In 1859 he established a small camp at Matithi, the present day headquarters. When Majete was proclaimed as a sanctuary by the Colonial Government, almost a century after Livingstone’s stay, wildlife was abundant. By 1990, however, most had been exterminated.

The African Parks Foundation – a non-governmental organization with offices in The Netherlands and the United States - concluded an agreement with Government in 2003 to take responsibility for Majete. A local company, African Parks (Majete) Ltd, was set up to rehabilitate, develop and manage the Reserve. The objectives are to rebuild and conserve biodiversity and contribute towards sustainability by maximizing revenues from tourism and natural resource utilization.

Nearly 800 animals have been moved to Majete from other parks in Malawi , and a further 111 animals purchased from private ranches in Zambia . Black rhino, waterbuck, sable antelope, buffalo, impala, nyala, warthog, zebra, eland and hartebeest are now back in Majete. Yet, the elephant and the lion, the most important species for tourism, are still missing. The project envisages the translocation of 70 elephants to Majete. Fifty of these will come from the Liwonde National Park and 20 from the Mangoche area.

An adventure expedition for paying participants is offered to use the elephant translocation experience to leverage funds for the monitoring efforts and for fencing the reserve. It is anticipated that 14 capture operations can confidently be made available for guests, and that each guest will see two separate operations (bulls and family group).