National News

Kasungu National Park elephants increase by 100%

The Department of National Parks and Wildlife says Kasungu National Park has registered over 100 percent increase in elephant population.

Director of parks and wildlife Brighton Kumchedwa said this in Kasungu when Ministry of Environment, Tourism and Wildlife Principal Secretary Isaac Katopola visited the national park.

Elephants walk past a building at Kasungu National Park

He said: “As you know that we are on our way to rehabilitating Kasungu National Park, we are excited to register an increase in elephant population.

“The last count of elephants at the park was in 2015 and there were 50 elephants, but now it has over 130 elephants.”

He said the joint operation agreement Malawi and Zambia signed in 2015 has contributed to the increase.

Said Kumchedwa: “Since we signed an agreement of joint operations with the Department of National Parks in Zambia, there is a huge difference in the numbers of wildlife.

“This is because poachers from the Zambian side no longer enter the park.”

In his remarks, Katopola described the increase as a good development to the ministry and the nation, saying the lost glory of the national park has come back.

“In the early 1990s, we used to know Kasungu as one of the best national parks in this country, but things became worse after being hit by poachers and animal migration from our side to Zambia,” he said.

Katopola said it was government’s hope that tourists from within and outside the country will start patronising the park.

Kasungu National Park is the second largest wildlife reserve in Malawi and was established in 1970 North West of Kasungu Town which shares an international boundary with Zambia.

Related Articles

Back to top button