An aerial wildlife count of the southern and central parts of Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique has shown a rebound in the populations of many animal species, and represents the success of the Gorongosa Restoration Project.
Director of Scientific Services at Gorongosa, Marc Stalmans, who led the count said: "The count confirms that wildlife populations are recovering rapidly in the park. There has been a marked increase in density since 2007 for species such as waterbuck, impala and kudu. The waterbuck have recovered to what is likely the single largest population in any protected area in Africa."
Pedro Muagura, head of the Department of Conservation, said: "I used to come to Gorongosa in the end of the 90's with my students from the Agricultural School of Chimoio and it was very depressing because we could see a beautiful Park, beautiful flora, plenty of fresh water but no animals. Now everything has changed and anyone just on the road to Chitengo, even before doing a proper game-drive will see hundreds of baboons and at least several different species of antelopes."
