Niassa Reserve

Niassa Reserve is located in the eponymous northeastern province of Mozambique, and partially in the Cabo Delgado province. With a total area of more than 40,000 km² it contains one of the largest protected miombo forest ecosystems in the world and the greatest contentration of wildlife in the country.

The core area of Niassa Reserve is 'only' 22,000 km², and an additional 20,000 km² are divided into six management concessions which are also officially part of Niassa Reserve. Altogether the park is twice the size of Kruger National Park in South Africa.

Vegetation in the Niassa Reserve is mostly Brachystegia (miombo) woodland, interspersed with open savanna and wetlands. Mountains and monadnocks throughout Niassa Reserve are homes to small, isolated forest communities, while riparian forests occur on the shores of the park's perennial rivers.

Niassa Reserve supports a diverse range of wildlife, including about 12,000 elephant, 9,000 of sable antelope, and thousands each of Cape buffalo, eland, Lichtensteins hartebeest, and zebra. Also found here are bushbuck, duiker, hippo, impala, kudu, reedbuck, wildebeest, and waterbuck and warthogs.

Leopard, lion, and spotted hyena are common, while there are probably little more than 200 of the endangered African wild dog. Nevertheless, that statistic makes Niassa Reserve one of the best places in Africa to see the African wild dog.

Three endemic subspecies will be of particular interest to wildlife connoisseurs: Boehms zebra, Johnstons impala and Niassa wildebeest.

More than 370 bird species have been identified in the park, particularly along the Rovuma river.

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