Around 200 people have died since 2019 in Mozambique, victims of attacks by animals such as elephants and crocodiles, according to data released this Saturday by the National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC).
According to the new director general of ANAC, Pejul Calenga, who took office this week, wildlife attacks in Mozambique also destroyed, from 2019 to 2023, a total of 955 hectares of agricultural crops, such as corn and cassava.
The problems caused by the elephant, according to ANAC, occur mainly in the provinces of Maputo, Manica, Sofala, Nampula and Niassa. The consequences of the action of the crocodile and hippopotamus are being felt in the provinces of Tete, Sofala and Manica, but the authorities still record problems with hyenas and buffaloes in the provinces of Maputo, Gaza and Sofala.
ANAC is studying the possibility of translocating animals to other areas and reinforcing fences or slaughtering problem animals, among other measures.
Problems that are also present in the Maputo National Park, which has been in decline for a few years, but where the elephants have fully recovered, to an estimated 500 animals, causing conflicts with the population and putting the introduction of contraception on the table.
“Excess can become a problem. We are going to carry out this assessment of the elephants (…) and it is already starting to have a major impact on the vegetation, which will consequently have an impact on different populations, including the elephant”, said, in an interview with Lusa, on April 15, Miguel Gonçalves, the administrator of the Maputo National Park, around 70 kilometers south of the Mozambican capital.
Officially, the population census carried out regularly points to 400 elephants in that park, but the technical team estimates that there are just over 500 in reality, which will lead to a review of counting methods and the definition, in the coming months, of a plan for the species in Maputo National Park.
“This assessment will then lead to us having a concrete plan for managing the elephant. It could include things like, for example, contraception, to reduce the birth rate, so that the growth is not as great as it is now and translocation, if possible, for other areas, among other measures”, he explained, pointing out the completion of the definition of this plan within a period of three months.
“We have a concept, we want to get more concrete numbers, but we are already on the ground to see the possibility of contraception. But we want to have concrete numbers to know exactly what investment we have to make, what financing we have to get, because These are not cheap operations and we need to know exactly what we are dealing with”, he assumed.
The presence of elephants in that area is historic, which led to the creation of a hunting reserve in 1932. Previously, elephants in that area were hunted for ivory which, according to history, was then sent to Europe, especially to England, from the Island of the Portugueses, off Maputo, and which was called Elefante Island for that very reason.
During the 16 years of civil war, after Mozambique’s independence, the decline in the number of elephants in that area was such that it is estimated that they reached “less than a hundred”.
“But the protection we put in place and the enforcement effort, the elephant population grew naturally, to the point that, in 2022/2023, we translocated more than 40 elephants. We are in a position to be successful now and be able to donate to other conservation areas “, highlighted Miguel Gonçalves.
