By Barbara Crown, Editor
In
Mozambique, you'll recall Mike Daly's report in the December issue on an exploratory-type hunt in a newly opened area in Tete Province controlled by Graham Cawood and Pete Swanepoel of
Niassaland Safaris. Daly took an excellent lion and raved about the area's potential as a trophy hunting area. In my follow-up with Swanepoel, he told me they had picked up another area that should prove even better and would be online for hunting this season. The area lies in the Niassa Province and is called Mosale Private Reserve. It was created by the Malonda Foundation, a private nonprofit and public utility promoting and facilitating private sector development in Niassa. Malonda is a cooperative agreement between the Government of Mozambique and the Swedish government. Mosale was previously an ecotourism venture focused on photo safaris. This season it will be hunted by a safari operator for the first time.
Mosale encompasses 270,000 acres just off the southern point of the Niassa Reserve straddling the Lugenda River. When I saw Swanepoel at the SCI convention in February, he told me they had just signed the contracts for the property. During their reconnaissance of the area, he says their anti-poaching scout actually showed his partner what should be a 100-pound elephant, plus herds of buffalo and lots of sable. Neighboring concessions have taken quality lions. Because of the anti-poaching efforts previously done, he says game numbers are very good. They are offering some exploratory-style hunts to their first clients this season at a reduced rate. If all is as Swanepoel says, Mosale should produce some excellent trophies this season......
