The Minister of Land and Environment, Ivete Maibaze, revealed that national conservation areas have received more than 1,400 animals from South Africa in recent years, including elephants, lions, rhinos, hyenas, leopards and buffaloes.
“Of the conservation areas that have received animals, the highlight goes to Zinave National Park, in Inhambane province, which is now the only one in our country to house the terrestrial ‘big five’ – elephant, lion, leopard, hippopotamus and rhinoceros,” he emphasised.
According to the minister, the animals helped develop the national parks, and the sector has adopted measures to guarantee their integrity and that of the entire natural heritage.
“We set up the anti-poaching operations coordination centre in the district of Mabote, in Inhambane, and gave priority to telemetric monitoring of animal movements using 40 collars,” she added.
Speaking at the opening of the organisation’s Coordinating Council, the minister also said that 21 people involved in poaching in the country had recently been sentenced to “exemplary sentences”.
According to data from the Ministry of Land and Environment, Mozambique has 12 national parks and protected areas, with 5,500 species of flora and 4,271 species of terrestrial wildlife.
