Re-wilding a Wilderness: Coutada 9, Mozambique

Staff Writer

26 Jan 2023 — 6 min read

By Neil Duckworth and Ed Rosenfels

Coutadas: Mozambique’s Unique Conservation Areas

In Mozambique, coutadas are officially designated National Conservation Areas created to protect fauna and flora through a combination of safari hunting and ecotourism. Governed by the National Administration for Conservation Areas (ANAC), these territories are leased to private safari operators who manage and protect the land.

Coutada 9: History and Location

Coutada 9, one of the original 15 coutadas established in 1959, is located in Mozambique’s Manica Province, bordered by Coutada 13 to the south and east and Coutada 7 to the north.

Size: 4,333 sq km (953,260 acres)
Initially leased to the Beira Tourism Agency, owned by the Pires family. Adelino Serra Pires documented this era in his book The Winds of Havoc.

From Glory Years to Decline

In 1964, Coutada 9 and eight other coutadas were taken over by the Banco Nacional Ultramarino and operated by Safari Safrique, one of the largest safari companies in the world during the 1960s and ’70s. These were the glory years of African hunting.

The decline began in 1973 with the outbreak of the war for independence. Mozambique gained independence in 1975, but by 1977 a civil war had erupted, lasting until 1992. During this period, wildlife in National Parks and coutadas was decimated, with both sides hunting animals for rations.

Rehabilitation Under Rio Save Safaris

Safari hunting reopened after the war, and Rio Save Safaris (RSS) began managing Coutada 9 in 2002. At that time, only remnant populations of buffalo, kudu, zebra, eland, lion, leopard, and impala remained, while species like jackal, hyena, wildebeest, and waterbuck had been wiped out.

The shareholders of RSS realized that a major rehabilitation of the area would be required if safari hunting were to become viable again.

Infrastructure and Water Projects

Since 2002, RSS has:

Built 4 safari camps and 3 operational bases with workshops, storage, and staff housing.
Opened 1,500 km of roads.
Constructed 13 dams and deepened numerous natural pans.
Drilled 25 boreholes and installed drinking troughs.

These measures ensured year-round water availability for wildlife, even in the dry season.

Two of the thirteen dams that have been constructed on Coutada 9

Wildlife Reintroductions

Lions

In 2009, 10 lions were introduced from South Africa’s Pinda Game Reserve, the first relocation in Mozambique outside a National Park by a private organisation.
Today, the lion population exceeds 50 animals.

Waterbuck

In 2013, a swap with Gorongosa National Park saw Coutada 9 receive 146 waterbuck in exchange for 20 Crawshay zebra and 40 eland.
Current waterbuck population: 600+ animals.

Buffalo

2015: 50 buffalo relocated from the Zambezi Delta.
2017: 200 more introduced.
Current population: ~500 buffalo, with plans (and government approval) to reintroduce another 800.

Poaching Threats

As wildlife numbers grew, poaching threats increased.

Bushmeat Poaching

Tools: homemade muzzle-loaders, snares, bows, arrows, spears, axes, clubs.
Gin traps are most common, keeping the animal alive until poachers arrive, ensuring fresh meat but causing severe suffering.
Many non-edible species are caught accidentally.

Game scouts with captured poaching tools of the trade

Ivory Poaching

Usually involves AK-47 rifles.
Inexperienced marksmen often wound elephants, leaving them to die slowly and making them aggressive.
Ivory poachers are more likely to shoot at scouts when confronted.

Game Scout Operations

65 game scouts (1 per 65 sq km), many recruited locally, including former poachers.
Advantages of employing ex-poachers:
- Removes them from illegal activity.
- They know the terrain and poaching patterns.
- They have local networks for gathering intelligence.
- Provides income for the community and inspires conservation.

Patrol Methods

Scouts work in “sticks” of several days in areas with high game concentration.
Capture of poachers involves coordination with local police stations at Macossa, Guro, or Tambara, a process that can take up to 6 hours.

Incentives

Bonuses for capturing poachers or confiscating equipment.
Captured gin traps are embedded in concrete foundations of new buildings.

Sticks are deployed into areas with high game concentrations, such as near natural springs or dams, for 5 to 7 days. Patrols occur each day in different directions from the camp, which is the most efficient strategy to cover such a vast area.

When poachers are caught, the Area Manager is contacted, and everyone is taken to the local police authorities for criminal processing. Coutada 9 is so vast that there are three police stations, Macossa, Guro or Tambara, to take the poachers to, depending on where they are caught.

The whole process can take up to 6 hours which ties up the scouts, manager, and vehicle for the entire time, after which the scouts are dropped back at their post, a round trip of 100 km.

Other Threats

Honey gathering: damages large trees and sometimes used as a cover for poaching.
Illegal logging: particularly targeting African mahogany, over 100 large trees lost before operations were stopped.
Illegal gold mining: hundreds of miners, often accompanied by increased poaching to feed workers.

Enforcement Achievements (Past 10 Years)

10,000+ gin traps recovered.
100+ homemade muzzle-loaders destroyed.
~1,000 poachers apprehended.
2,000+ miners and 100+ loggers arrested and handed to authorities.

Currently, each operator is responsible for anti-poaching operations within their management block of the coutada. Although there is collaboration, the long-term goal is to employ a dedicated anti-poaching manager to coordinate the different units.

Future Needs and Improvements

Manpower and Equipment

Goal: double the number of scouts.
Needs: training, weapons, radios, uniforms, boots, camping gear, more patrol vehicles, and fuel.

Technology

SMART tracking devices in trial phase, providing real-time patrol data.
Mobile Scouting Base (MSB) concept for self-sufficient patrols in remote areas.
Aerial reconnaissance with microlight aircraft (Bat Hawk donated by Dallas Safari Club).
Tracking collars on lions, buffalo, and planned for elephants to monitor herds and reduce human-wildlife conflict.

Creating a Mobile Scouting Base (MSB) using a tractor and trailer will allow scouts to be self-sufficient and cover larger parts of the coutada, especially in areas where water is scarce. This will be beneficial in the more remote sections of the coutada.

Aerial reconnaissance is a very effective way to cover large distances quickly, and the microlight is the most efficient aircraft. The Dallas Safari Club has donated a bat hawk to the coutada, but funding will be needed to cover operational costs.

Tracking collars help monitor wildlife movement, which assists with protection. Two collars have been placed on lionesses and three on buffalo cows, and the plan is to expand the project to include elephants. By collaring matriarchs, breeding herds can be monitored. Young bulls are notorious crop raiders, and monitoring can reduce human-wildlife conflict.

Ongoing Challenges

Theft: radio repeaters, solar panels, and water pumps stolen, impacting anti-poaching efficiency.
Funding: over USD 5 million invested since 2002, but further investment is needed to reach full conservation potential.

Table 1. Population estimates for select species within Coutada 9, calculated from the Arial survey and actual observations in the field. Note Buffalo, lion and waterbuck had animals introduced to boost the population.

Coutada 9’s transformation since 2002 is a remarkable example of re-wilding success in Mozambique. But sustaining these gains will require continued funding, expanded anti-poaching capacity, and strong community partnerships.