De Beers to move 200 of its elephants to Mozambique to boost the population
The diamond producer says the elephants will be moved to Mozambique’s Zinave National Park, which has more than 400,000ha and an elephant population of only 60
Diamond producer De Beers said on Monday that it was relocating 200 elephants from its private reserve in SA to neighbouring Mozambique, part of wider efforts to restore wildlife populations ravaged by conflict there. The Anglo American unit said its 32,000ha Venetia Limpopo Nature Reserve could support about 60 elephants but now had 270, causing "extensive damage to an ecosystem that must sustain a diverse wildlife population". The world’s largest land mammals have a jumbo-sized effect on their terrain and in many South African parks, which are fenced to contain them, populations have reached levels where the vegetation cannot support their numbers. De Beers said the elephants would be moved 1,500km to Mozambique’s Zinave National Park, which has more than 400,000ha and an elephant population of only 60. Mozambique’s wildlife numbers were badly hit by a 15-year civil war that ended in 1992. In more recent years, its remaining elephant populations have been targeted by ivory poacher...
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