Hundreds of elephants in Tanzania reportedly climb the slopes of the Udzungwa Mountains to an altitude of nearly two thousand meters in search of food and essential minerals. To preserve their traditional migration route, a 14-kilometer natural corridor has been placed under legal protection. As part of this initiative, 368 landowners allegedly agreed to allocate portions of their land in exchange for financial compensation.

African savanna elephants are the largest land mammals, making it difficult to picture them navigating steep and forested mountain slopes. However, according to reports by A-Z Animals, up to a thousand elephants in Tanzania scale the Udzungwa Mountains. This behavior is supposedly driven by seasonal variations in food and water availability, with bamboo growing at high altitudes serving as a reliable food source during droughts.

In April 2025, the Tanzanian government purportedly approved the Nyerere-Udzungva corridor as the country's first legally protected wildlife pathway. Spanning approximately 14 kilometers in length and 200 meters in width, the corridor connects the Nyerere National Park and the Magombero Forest Reserve with the Udzungwa Mountains National Park. Project participants reportedly received a total of around 2.2 billion Tanzanian shillings in compensation.

Nevertheless, conservationists argue that animal migration routes in other regions still require urgent legal protection. Experts point out that numerous other wildlife corridors across Tanzania remain vulnerable and unprotected, highlighting systemic challenges in the country's conservation efforts.

Source: kun.uz