Presented during the 17h Annual Sahelo-Saharan Interest Group Meeting organized by the NGO Sahara Conservation Fund in Senegal, from 4 to 6 May 2017. The Sahara Conservation Fund (SCF) gathers every year about a hundred people who are interested in the field of Sahelo-Saharan species conservation.

1. 17th Annual Sahelo-Saharan Interest Group Meeting
2 days of talks on biodiversity conservation in the Sahara and in the Sahel
Lessons learned from the reintroduction of large mammals in Reserva Nacional do
Gilé, Mozambique
Philippe CHARDONNET et al., Directeur – Fondation Internationale pour la Gestion de la Faune
May 4 – 6, 2017

2. SSIG 17 – May 2017 – Saint-Louis, Senegal
Lessons learned from the reintroduction of large mammals
in Reserva Nacional do Gilé, Mozambique
Philippe Chardonnet, Alessandro Fusari, José Dias, Hugo Valls & Carlos Lopes Pereira

3. Reserva Nacional
do Gilé
4,500 km²/450,000
ha
Gile National Reserve
Governance = Co-management
between Government & NGO
Mozambique Government
&
IGF Foundation
Since 2007
10 years already!

4. Reserva Nacional
do Gilé
4,500 km²/450,000
ha

5. Gilé National Reserve: 4,500 km²

6. Pristine dry Miombo woodland

7. Core area: no inhabitants
Buffer zone: 12,500 people

8. Wildlife recovering
Several species extinct

9. E. q.
crawshayi
Feasibility study: IUCN guidelines

10. C. t. johnstoni

11. S. c. caffer

12. Feasibility study: IUCN guidelines

13. Feasibility study: IUCN guidelines

14. 1st operation in 2012:
Population source: Marromeu National Reserve (Zambezi delta to Indian ocean)
& Gorongoza Natinal Park

19. Reintroduction operation n°1:
- June 2012
- Taxon: African buffalo ssp. Cape (Syncerus caffer caffer)
- Source: Marromeu National Reserve & Gorongoza National Park
- Number: 20
Age pyramid of the first buffalo founder herd

20. 2nd operation in 2013:
Population source: Niassa National Reserve

21. Reintroduction operation n°2:
- September 2013
- Taxa:
- African buffalo ssp. Cape (Syncerus caffer caffer)
- Wildebeest ssp.
- Zebra ssp.
- Source: Niassa National Reserve
- Number: 47
Age pyramid of the second buffalo founder herd

22. Age pyramid of the wildebeest founder herd
Age pyramid of the zebra founder herd

26. Monitoring with satellite collars
ID Species Date release Date end Duration
B 373 Buffalo 24/06/2012 08/06/2014 2 years: 94% GPS success rate
B 374 Buffalo 24/06/2012 15/06/2014 2 years: 57% GPS success rate
B 375 Buffalo 24/06/2012 30/09/2013 1.3 years: 95% GPS success rate
B 893 Buffalo 05/10/2013 11/09/2014 11 months: 98% GPS success rate
B 894 Buffalo 28/09/2013 29/12/2014 1.3 years: 98% GPS success rate
B 895 Buffalo 05/10/2013 10/11/2013 5 weeks: dispersed 100km and killed
B 896 Buffalo 05/10/2013 26/11/2014 1.1 years: 80% GPS success rate
W 4 Wildebeest 30/09/2013 12/02/2014 4.5 months: 93% GPS success rate
W 5 Wildebeest 30/09/2013 27/07/2014 10 months: 93% GPS success rate
Z 2 Zebra 30/09/2013 30/03/2014 6 months: 91% GPS success rate
GPS collars to monitor reintroduced animals:
-programmed to collect 1 location/4 hours
-success rates indicate the percentage of recorded
locations.

27. Monitoring with ear tags

29. 3 phases:
• Post-release phase
• Exploration/establishment
• Residency/home range

30. Post-release dispersal
of collared Buffalo
during the first 5 days:
- in 2012 (full lines)
- in 2013 (dashed lines)

31. Distance from the release site of collared buffalo during the first 5 days:
-in 2012 (full lines)
-In 2013 (dashed lines)

32. Distance to the release site of collared wildebeest and zebra
during the first 5 days

33. Distance from the release boma of collared buffalo reveals the fusion-fission
dynamics following the 2012 reintroduction and 2013 reinforcement

34. Establishment of
reintroduced Buffalo
in GNR between 2012
and 2016.
Coloured lines show
the tracks of 5 Buffalo
equipped with GPS
satellite collars that
remained in the
reserve. The locations
of direct sightings are
shown by boxes. The
numbers in each box
indicate group size.
The total home range
of each collared buffalo
was estimated by
calculating the 95%
utilisation distribution
(2012-2014). The
general area used by
buffalo in 2015 and
2016 is given by the
dashed-purple ellipses.

35. Establishment of
reintroduced
Wildebeest in GNR
between 2013 and
2016.
Coloured lines show
the tracks of 2
Wildebeest equipped
with GPS satellite
collars. The locations
of direct sightings are
shown by boxes. The
numbers in each box
indicate group size.
The two original
herds remained
separate in 2014 but
appear to have
merged and moved to
the South-East of the
reserve in 2015
(purple ellipsis).

36. Establishment of
reintroduced Zebra in
GNR between 2013
and 2016.
The black line shows
the track of 1 Zebra
equipped with a GPS
satellite collar. The
locations of direct
sightings are shown by
boxes. The numbers in
each box indicate group
size. Following
extensive movements
throughout the North of
the reserve, Zebra
settled in the North,
individuals not
equipped with tracking
devices appear to have
followed the same
pattern.

37. Buffalo exploration patterns in 2012 (left) and 2013 (right) are given by the area of the
monthly home range (top row), the newly explored area (middle row) and the total area of
known habitat (bottom row)

38. Wildebeest and zebra establishment: monthly home range area (left) and exploration
(center) vary seasonally but decrease as individuals establish themselves. As a result,
the total known area rapidly increased during the first dry season (right)

39. Home range of the Nassere
Buffalo herd in 2014:
-Dry season: the home range
covers 243km2 (light orange, 95%
UD) with a core area of 60km2
(dark orange, 50% UD)
-Rainy season: the home range is
reduced to a third of it’s extent,
covering 78 km2 (light green,
95% UD), but Buffalo spend half
of their time within 16km2 (dark
green, 50% UD).

40. Home range of wildebeest W5
during the first 10 months:
- the dry season home range
covers 54 km2 (light orange,
95% UD) with a core area of 12
km2 (dark orange, 50% UD)
- the rainy season home range
is half as large covering 22 km2
(light green, 95% UD), but
Wildebeest spend half of their
time within only 5km2 (dark
green, 50% UD)

41. Home range of the Z2
zebra group for the first
6 months:
- Dry season: the home
range covers 512 km2
(light orange, 95% UD)
with a core area of 75 km2
(dark orange, 50% UD).
- Rainy season: the home
range is reduced to a third
of it’s extent, covering
164 km2 (light green, 95%
UD), but Zebra spend half
of their time within 29
km2 (dark green, 50%
UD)

42. Predicted age structure of the
Gilé buffalo population:
Dark bars overlaying the three
first years correspond to
recruitment inferred from field
observations of Buffalo calves in
2014, 2015 and 2016.

48. Proposed new
reintroduction site

50. Agro-ecology / conservation agriculture

51. Non-Timber Forest Products
(food, construction, handicraft,
traditional medicine, etc.) :
Development of a formal sector

52. Mitigation
of humans vs. wildlife
conflicts²

53. Thank you!