Anyone heard anything about some Selous concessions have been incorporated in the new park??

Last year Magufuli announced that the northern part of the Selous would become a national park.

I don't remember the boundaries but think it was apx. the north side of the Ruaha to the confluence with the Rufiji, then the northside of the Rufiji. The new park would abut Mikumi and be named for Nyerere.

This is all from memory so don't give it a lot of credence.

The north side of the Selous known as the photographic area which at one time was mixed with several hunting concessions; the hunting concessions were absorbed into photographic areas and are now being turned into National Park status, claiming it as being part of the Mikumi Nat. Park ecosystem.

Figure that one out.

The indications I got is that was that some of the returned concessions, and the one we hunt, are included in the park!!??

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
The indications I got is that was that some of the returned concessions, and the one we hunt, are included in the park!!??

Isn't that too far south west to the Nat Park project area in question?
Your concession, if I recall, falls under Mahenge which is a considerable distance from Mikumi.

Saeed,

They were floating ideas on creating a new park. However, there were doing some in country debate on what part would be included. The proposed boundary was a moving line, in the northern part of the Selous.

Again, I believe that the president was proposing to take 1/3 of the Selous to create a new national park. As they deemed the southern portion of the Selous would be the hunting concessions.

If memory serves me it had to do with the Photo destinations and they were not doing well, there were too many squatters moving into the photo concessions and the wildlife was leaving and the photo tourist were not happy. Spotting Cattle is not what they paid for.

https://www.busiweek.com/the-n...erere-national-park/

The Newly-Established Nyerere National Park
5th February 2020 EABW Editor0 Comments

It is no wonder that traversing through the legendary and mighty Nyerere National Park is a lifelong and memorable event for photographic safari tourists.

This newly-established national park could be referred as the Serengeti of Southern Tanzania by its wildlife concentration; most interesting as well, the wildest or wildest animals not found in any other park in Eastern and Southern Africa.

Nyerere National Park remains the best place to visit for journalists, travel book writers, and photographic safari makers.

What Makes This Park Unique?

Different from other parks in Tanzania, Nyerere National Park has been pegged off from the Selous Game Reserve, famous to be the biggest wildlife conservation tourist safari park in East Africa.

Nyerere National Park is a wildlife paradise with a unique habitat for wild animals whose interactions with humans have been limited, unlike other parks in East Africa frequented by tourists. It covers some 30,893 kilometres of natural land.

Carved from the Selous Game Reserve, Nyerere National Park is now under development to modernize its roads which traverse through its wilderness, along with camping sites and other tourist facilities. Most areas in this park are accessible all year except during the wet or rainy seasons.

The park is home to the shyest animals in East Africa. These are antelopes, elephants, lions, and impalas which keep a distance, gazing safely far enough away from tourist safari vehicles.

Unlike Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Crater in northern Tanzania where lions and cheetahs move closer to the tourist vans, even jumping on the roof of a safari vehicle, animals in Nyerere National Park are not used to vehicles and humans being in their habitat.

Wardens said that most animals found in the Serengeti of Southern Tanzania park have never seen fleets of tourist vans and people, taking into a reality that the Selous Game Reserve is one of the most remote or remotest wildlife sanctuaries in Africa.
What Tourists Will Enjoy

Tourists visiting this park can observe big herds of elephants looking cautiously at the tourists and vehicles with great care.

Nyerere National Park’s panoramic plains are decorated with golden grass, savannah forests, riverine marshes, and boundless lakes. River Rufiji, the longest river in Tanzania, cuts through the park with its brownish waters flowing into the Indian Ocean.
River Rufiji adds more romance to the park and is best known for its thousands of crocodiles. Rufiji River is the most crocodile- infested inland waterway in Tanzania.

Other than elephants which abound in its wilderness, the park harbours the biggest concentration of hippos and buffaloes than any other known wildlife park in the entire African continent, the wardens said.

Like Serengeti in Northern Tanzania, all animal species are easily seen in this park. It is easy to spot animals closer as they contemplate the tourist vans. Big herds of buffaloes, elephants, Thomson gazelles, and giraffes are found grazing all in one place.

Lodges inside the park organize motorboat excursions for tourists wishing to sail downstream on the river in the late afternoon, passing amid the awesome hippos and crocodiles.

Visiting Selous’ Grave

Beho Beho area where Captain Frederick Courteney Selous’ Grave is located inside the Serengeti of Southern Tanzania is a place worth a quick visit. Captain Selous’ grave is a popular attraction inside Nyerere National Park as well as the rest of the Selous Game Reserve.

The grave is the eternal resting home for Captain Selous, one of the greatest hunters who killed over 1,000 elephants in the reserve. He was shot dead by a German sniper on January 4, 1917, at Beho Beho area while scouting for British allies during the First World War.

Beho Beho is an area where animals concentrate to feed on lush grass and tree leaves.

Visitors to this vast park will be able to enjoy the widest diversity of safari activities in the country, like boating safaris as well as standard game drives, walking safaris, and legendary fly camping trips.

For birders or bird lovers, there are more than 440 bird species having been spotted and recorded, park wardens said.Some of the birds that can be spotted here include the pink-backed pelicans, giant kingfishers, African skimmers, white-fronted bee-eaters, ibises, yellow-billed stork, malachite kingfishers, purple-crested turaco, Malagasy squacco heron, trumpeter hornbill, fish eagles, and many other birds.

After the establishment of Nyerere National Park, Tanzania will rank as the #2 tourist destination in Africa that owns and manages a good number of wildlife protected national parks, second only after South Africa.

Currently, Tanzania is developed with 4 tourist zones which are the Northern, Coastal, Southern, and Western circuits. The Northern Circuit is fully developed with key tourist facilities which pull most of its tourists visiting Tanzania every year with high-end tourist revenue.

At SCI this year, The folks at Kilombero North Safaris told me that they were losing their Selous block LU2. It was becoming part of a National Park along with several other blocks in the area. I have hunted this block several times and I believe it is adjacent to the one Saeed hunts.

quote:

Originally posted by GMyers:
At SCI this year, The folks at Kilombero North Safaris told me that they were losing their Selous block LU2. It was becoming part of a National Park along with several other blocks in the area. I have hunted this block several times and I believe it is adjacent to the one Saeed hunts.

True.

Some outfitters have already been informed of this.

Shame really, as our concession was great!

I'm glad I was able to hunt a block on the Ruaha, bordering Mikumi, before this happened. Had hoped to return and ride the train from Dar. The tracks separated Mikumi from the block and there was a basically unoccupied train station there.

quote:

The tracks separated Mikumi from the block and there was a basically unoccupied train station there.

Typically one that would come in handy for poaching operations.

If someone sends me their email or whatsApp I can send them some maps to post.

I've seen the map and the new NP is a large area of the western side of the Selous from Tunduru in the south and extending north to the Kisarawe Villages in the extream NE corner, covering some 30K sq. kms.

The hunting portion is generally the east side and covers around 19k sq. kms.

I've got a photo of the map on my phone but can't figure out how to post!

Also, the map I have could be an early rendition and may have changed.

Fulvio,

Hadn't thought of that. Were a lot of elephants there then. Encountered elephants every day. But that empty train station was where we met the game scouts from the park to give them meat. Wanted to return and ride the train from Dar.

Everyone thought that was a horrible idea because my Swahili is rudimentary, but I hoped to improve it, and because there were a lot of derailed cars all along the narrow gauge line. But my PH thought it was a famous idea. Sadly, I'll never do it now.

You know the PH and probably knew his father a lot better.

Sorry I missed that train ride.

Would be nice to see the New NP Map.
Sure many prime Hunting Blocks will be a thing of the past inside the Selous in the Northern/Western Sector