Aug 4, 2026 |
The construction of dams and the sinking of boreholes were decisive in settling the buffalo transferred between conservation areas in recent years, researchers argue in a new study.
According to the study published in the African Journal of Ecology, what separated the successful operations from those that failed was not climatic similarity between origin and destination, but the presence of interventions capable of offsetting the ecological limitations of the release sites.
The paper is authored by Carlos M. Bento, Paulo E. Cardoso, Richard D. Beilfuss and Christian T. Chimimba, and was funded by Eduardo Mondlane University and the Swedish International Development Agency.
The clearest case is Coutada 9, a 4333 square kilometre hunting area in Macossa district, Manica. According to the same study, the destination had a habitat suitability index of almost zero, the lowest in the entire analysis, and the drop relative to Marromeu Reserve, where the animals came from, was 0.92 points. The operation worked because 36 dams were built to secure permanent water. From the 287 animals translocated in 2015 and 2017, the population rose to 350 individuals by 2020.
In Gorongosa, the authors link the success of the transfers from Kruger and Limpopo national parks to the sinking of boreholes and targeted water provisioning. A total of 210 buffalo were released between 2006 and 2011 and, by 2014, the herd numbered around 400 animals.
At Gilé National Park, the transfer came from Niassa and involved a suitability loss of 0.6 points. Even so, the more stable rainfall regime and habitat improvements carried out before release allowed the animals to establish. The 67 animals that arrived between 2012 and 2013 had reached 138 by 2016.
The study adds a second criterion for future planning. Mozambique is divided into six zooregions defined by the assemblages of terrestrial vertebrates that characterise them, and transfers within the same zooregion proved more viable than those crossing faunal boundaries, since the latter expose the animals to new predators, competitors and parasites.
The authors propose that these indices be incorporated into national translocation protocols as a decision support tool for the National Administration of Conservation Areas. They add one caveat, however. The works that underpinned these successes require continued investment, which raises questions about the long term viability of populations dependent on artificial water.
The area where that dependence is greatest now forms part of a restoration project on a far larger scale. As reported by NATURA Moçambique, the association, which manages neighbouring Coutada 13 under a concession granted by ANAC, has entered into a partnership with the holder of the management rights to Coutada 9 for integrated management of the ecosystem, expanding the intervention area to around 8500 square kilometres.
Photo: ic.pics.livejournal.com
