Located in the central region of Malawi, Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve is 1,800 km² in size, lying within the miombo woodland zone and a major catchment area for Lake Malawi. Nkhotakota is the oldest and largest reserve in Malawi. Once, some 1,500 elephant roamed the miombo woodland, but decades of poaching reduced the population to fewer than 100 individuals, and other key species such as black rhino, lion, cheetah and wild dog were largely hunted out. Remnant populations of elephant, warthog, baboon, and various antelope species as well as over 320 bird species persisted
Since the Government of Malawi partnered with African Parks in 2015, Nkhotakota has been transformed, as elephant and other wildlife species have been translocated to repopulate the reserve, restoring hope not only for tourism, but ensuring the integrity of the park as an important wildlife habitat. Well managed, it has the potential to become an important area for elephant conservation in Malawi.
Species Restorations
When African Parks assumed management of Nkhotakota, we immediately began preparing for what would become one of the world’s largest wildlife translocations. Over a two-year period, Nkhotakota received 150 elephant from Majete and 350 from Liwonde in one of the largest elephant translocations in history, as well as over 2,000 other animals including sable, kudu, buffalo, waterbuck, impala, and warthog.
The next successful reintroduction of over 800 animals from Liwonde National Park took place in 2022, and was another landmark moment in conservation efforts to restore Nkhotakota’s wildlife and ecology. These included hippo – a first for African Parks, eland, kudu, zebra, impala, warthog, sable, buffalo and waterbuck. Following the translocation, wildlife sightings significantly increased, especially in the lower Bua area of the reserve.
Monitoring and Surveys
Camera trap monitoring suggests that some key species populations, such as leopard and elephant, are on the increase showing that restoration efforts are paying off. For example, the common eland increased from its original, translocated, population of 25 in 2016/2017 to 32 individuals.
An entomology survey for the reserve was conducted, and yielded nine species of insects not previously collected or identified in Malawi.
Conservation Law Enforcement
Nkhotakota’s adjacent communities use the reserve’s natural resources to support their livelihoods, which, prior to African Parks’ partnership, led to the extinction, or severe depletion, of many mammal species. However, community engagement along with improved conservation law enforcement efforts and ranger training have seen a significant decrease in unsustainable resource harvesting over the last six years, with no elephants poached in the last four years and no other key species being poached in 2023. However, the confiscation of 293 kg of poached bushmeat highlights the persistent threat of illegal hunting in the reserve.
Our ranger team undergoes annual refresher training in various subjects, from the newest members completing Basic Field Ranger (BFR) training to managers attending Lead Ranger Life Saving training in Majete.