Aerial Wildlife Surveys

Banhine National Park, known for its wetlands, used to be home to notable herbivores, including buffalo, sable, tsetsebe, hartebeest, zebra, and wildebeest. Sadly, those populations were decimated in the civil wars of the 1980s and early 1990s. Today, Banhine National Park is still home to a host of migratory birds, and several large herbivores and, with AWF’s help, the park is gearing up for a comeback.

Established in 1973, Banhine National Park measures more than 7,000 km2 (2,700 mi2). The park is part of AWF’s Limpopo Heartland and is comprised of a variety of landscapes, including grasslands and wetlands. To assess both the populations and distribution of Banhine’s wildlife populations, AWF conducted an aerial survey of the landscape in October 2004.

Preliminary results show that Banhine still supports healthy populations of ostrich, kudu, impala, reedbuck, duiker, steenbok, porcupine, warthog, and the increasingly rare oribi. The distribution of wildlife was particularly noteworthy. Grasslands and wetlands that were once dominated by large herbivores are now dominated by medium and small ungulates.

The results of this survey are helping to inform and shape park practices. AWF and the Mozambique Ministry of Tourism (MITUR) are working on restoring the park. AWF and MITUR are also working to engage the local communities, as well as the private sector, in the management of the park. These conservation efforts will allow Mozambique’s wildlife to recover and become the basis for a sustainable ecotourism industry, similar to that in South Africa.