We are delighted to announce that WCS - working with TANAPA and TAWIRI - have successfully reintroduced 24 zebra into Kitulo National Park. First envisioned and designed by WCS Country Director Tim Davenport in the 2000s, and the result of 2 years background work led by WCS’s Noah Mpunga and Sophy Machaga – including feasibility and ecological studies, sensitisation programs, and education in the villages around the park - these zebra are a very significant step in the restoration of Kitulo's natural ecology. Zebra were historically found on the Plateau until being hunted to extinction and removed for sheep ranching in the 1960s.
Kitulo contains the best remaining example of one of eastern Africa's rarest biomes: montane grassland – a habitat that needs to be grazed to maintain the natural balance of plants. Kitulo is home to a unique array of flowering plants, most notably rare terrestrial orchids. So, while the reintroduction of these charismatic animals should be good for tourism and hence the local economy, they will also be hugely beneficial to the ecology of this unique and beautiful area.
Four of the animals have been equipped with satellite collars so their movements can be tracked and their wellbeing monitored. Carried out in collaboration with TANAPA and TAWIRI, the relocation was funded by WCS with support from USAID and Ashley Scott and the Dula Foundation.
WCS has been involved with Kitulo since before it became a park. Carrying out orchid trade assessments that led to its gazettement, biodiversity surveys, education programs, invasive species removal and discovering the kipunji in the Livingstone Forest and producing the first guidebook to the plateau's flowering plants....We remain committed to this key site
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO
For more information see; https://newsroom.wcs.org/News-Releases/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/11647/Amazing-Video-Shows-Recent-Release-of-Zebras-to-Tanzanian-Highlands-After-Nearly-50-Year-Absence.aspx
Source: WCS facebook page
Kitulo contains the best remaining example of one of eastern Africa's rarest biomes: montane grassland – a habitat that needs to be grazed to maintain the natural balance of plants. Kitulo is home to a unique array of flowering plants, most notably rare terrestrial orchids. So, while the reintroduction of these charismatic animals should be good for tourism and hence the local economy, they will also be hugely beneficial to the ecology of this unique and beautiful area.
Four of the animals have been equipped with satellite collars so their movements can be tracked and their wellbeing monitored. Carried out in collaboration with TANAPA and TAWIRI, the relocation was funded by WCS with support from USAID and Ashley Scott and the Dula Foundation.
WCS has been involved with Kitulo since before it became a park. Carrying out orchid trade assessments that led to its gazettement, biodiversity surveys, education programs, invasive species removal and discovering the kipunji in the Livingstone Forest and producing the first guidebook to the plateau's flowering plants....We remain committed to this key site
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO
For more information see; https://newsroom.wcs.org/News-Releases/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/11647/Amazing-Video-Shows-Recent-Release-of-Zebras-to-Tanzanian-Highlands-After-Nearly-50-Year-Absence.aspx
Source: WCS facebook page
Comments
Post a Comment