Gorongosa, Mozambique, July 31, 2024 (Lusa) - The Mozambican President received the title of ‘Champion of the Big Five’ in Gorongosa on Wednesday for defending and reintroducing the five largest land mammals in the country after putting monitoring collars on a pair of lions.

‘We've ady done it. The male was baptised with the name ‘Master of Peace’, and the female became ‘Lady of Peace. In honour of the agreement for the Definitive Cessation of Military Hostilities, which was signed here [on 1 August 2019, with Renamo]. And we have to immortalise it. And they will have offspring,’ said the head of state, after attaching the necklaces in the middle of Gorongosa National Park.

Since November 2018, Filipe Nyusi, now ‘guardian of nature’, has placed six monitoring collars on the so-called ‘big fives’ (lion, leopard, rhinoceros, elephant, and African buffalo) in the country's parks and protected reserves. This has also earned him the title of ‘champion’, which the Ministry of Land and Environment awarded him today during the ceremony for the International Day of Forest and Wildlife Inspectors in Gorongosa Park.

‘On the day they [the pair of lions] join my gang [two elephants, a rhinoceros and a buffalo, to which he has attached necklaces]. These giant friends are my inspiration. When I get upset for whatever reason or when I want to get over an offence, I think of them. They represent my love of nature,’ he acknowledged in the same speech.

He also said that at the moment, with the monitoring collar programme, the country has around 420 animals whose movements are being tracked, namely around 166 families of elephants, 81 lions, 27 families of rhinos, 30 cheetahs, 11 leopards, 15 pangolins and 39 antelopes.

Nyusi explained that the aim is to stop these animals' illegal hunting and declare them protected.

‘It also helps us to know where the animal is and its family. We can also manage movement if they go outside the territory where they should stay,’ he said.

Gorongosa National Park, torn apart by the Mozambican war, was one of the examples pointed out by the head of state of what could be done to ‘restore ecosystems’ in the country.

‘In recent years, our conservation efforts in Mozambique have made it possible to increase the number of fauna, especially elephants, (...) African wild dogs, zebras, and impalas in parks and reserves,’ he said.

One of these strategies involved the introduction of 8,066 animals of various species into different parks and protected areas.

The reintroduction of the ‘big five’, which can already be seen in the Zinave park, Inhambane, in the south of the country, acknowledged that it was the argument for the title of ‘champion’ received in Gorongosa: ‘Now we're telling the world to go to Zinave and see it all, in one spot’.

In the same speech, the head of state emphasised the importance of the 2,000 or so forest rangers in Mozambique, lamenting the fact that last year, two of these professionals were murdered by poachers, both in Gorongosa National Park.

‘The inspector is a hero. But he's a silent hero who ensures that harmony is maintained in our protected areas,’ concluded Nyusi.

PVJ // JMC

Lusa/Fim