After a 30 year absence, three lions (Sapitwa, Chimwala and Shire have successfully been introduced Malawi's Majete Wildlife Reserve!

(TRAVPR.COM) UNITED KINGDOM - September 20th, 2012 - After a 30 year absence, three lions (Sapitwa, Chimwala and Shire have successfully been introduced Malawi's Majete Wildlife Reserve!

The three lions landed in Malawi on the 30th July and were released into the Reserve on Saturday 25th August, making theMajete Wildlife Reserve now a Big Five destination! This represents the final step in a ten year programme, which attempts to rehabilitate/restock this once exhausted reserve.

The Lions were kept in quarantine for several weeks, giving time for their conditions to be monitored. With confirmation of good health, the lions were loaded onto vehicles and taken to the release site, where a fresh impala carcass awaited.

The lions are monitored through satellite collars (as well as on the ground) which transmit each lion’s location every two hours, but once settled, however, this will be reduced to every four hours.

Since their release, Sapitwa, Chimwala and Shire have moved 2kms upstream of the Mkulumadzi River and will be closely monitored over the next few months, in the hope that once familiar with their surroundings, the Lions will breed and help to grow the population of lions in Malawi.

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