Elephants Airlifted: Upside-Down for Conservation
In an extraordinary conservation effort completed last week, more than 250 elephants were successfully rehomed in Malawi. The giant animals were airlifted upside down via cranes as part of a mammoth month-long operation to move them to a new national park.
The project, dubbed a “jumbo task,” involved translocating 263 elephants and 431 other animals—including impala, buffalo, warthog, sable, and waterbuck—from the Liwonde National Park to the Kasungu National Park, 250 miles away.
The upside-down airlift technique, which is considered safe and less stressful for the sedated animals, allowed them to be gently lowered into their new habitat. The move was undertaken by Malawi’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife (DNPW) in partnership with African Parks and the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW).
Officials stated the translocation was essential to maintain healthy habitat balances in Liwonde, establish a viable elephant population in Kasungu, and ensure the prosperity of local communities through conservation-driven tourism.
“The addition of elephants and other wildlife species to Kasungu National Park will benefit Malawi tourism as well as communities through job creation, thereby fuelling a conservation-driven economy,” said Brighton Kumchedwa, Malawi’s Director of National Parks and Wildlife.
The move is particularly crucial for Kasungu, the country’s second-largest national park. Covering 2,100 square kilometres—four times the size of Liwonde—Kasungu was once a major elephant habitat, home to around 1,200 elephants in the 1970s. Rampant poaching catastrophically reduced that number to just 49 by 2015.
“This exercise is especially important in the effort to increase the population in the park,” explained Kumchedwa. Authorities will closely monitor the herds as they adapt to their new surroundings, which are expected to support significant population growth.
The elephant population diminished with poaching activity so this exercise hopes to see an increase in the population. After the move was completed, the herd of elephants was seen enjoying its new surroundings in the Malawi national park.
Conservation partners hailed the project as a landmark achievement. “The translocation proves the DNPW’s approach to working with partners to secure its natural resources is a sound one,” said Patricio Ndadzela, IFAW’s Country Director for Malawi and Zambia.
Sam Kamoto, African Parks’ Country Manager, highlighted the long-term partnership: “Thanks to the Malawian Government’s commitment, Liwonde has re-emerged as a park hailed for wildlife recovery and tourism. Restoring elephants to Kasungu will contribute to local employment and fuel a conservation-led economy for the entire country.”
With the operation complete, the herds have been observed peacefully exploring their vast new home, marking a hopeful new chapter for elephant conservation in Malawi.
============
The full pictorial story is found in https://latedaily.com/more-than-250-elephants-have-been-rehomed-in-malawi-with-the-giant-animals-airlifted-upside-down-as-they-were-moved-to-their-new-national-park-2-thuy/
