Growing elephant numbers create challenges for Mozambican national park
The Macao News
April 18, 2024
Elephants in Maputo National Park, once numbering less than a hundred, have
reached a population that exceeds the park’s capacity and increases
conflicts with the local community, prompting officials to investigate
different population control options, Lusa reports.
“Excess can become a problem,” park administrator Miguel Gonçalves told the
Portuguese news agency, explaining that the elephants are already starting
to have a significant impact on vegetation which in turn impacts other
animal populations. It has also led many elephants to expand their range
beyond the park, leading to conflict with people.
The park is now undertaking an assessment that will allow them to develop a
“concrete plan for managing the elephants.” Gonçalves cited contraception
to reduce the birth rate, and relocating elephants to other parks, as
possible measures.
The official census, carried out by aerial inspection, puts the elephant
population in the reserve at 400 but park teams estimate the actual number
to be just over 500. The noise of the helicopters, as well as abundant
forests in the park, may be why the aerial count seems to fall short.
Having more concrete population numbers is critical for moving forward with
measures like contraception. “[These] are not cheap operations and we need
to know exactly what we are dealing with,” Gonçalves told Lusa.
Transferring elephants to other parks or conservation areas is another
option. Gonçalves also expressed an openness to seeing more conservation
areas around the park, which is located some 70 kilometres south of the
capital.
https://macaonews.org/news/lusofonia/maputo-national-park-mozambique-elephant-population/