Wildlife Reserve · Malawi · 70,000 hectares
Majete Wildlife Reserve
From nothing left, to the Big Five.
Majete Wildlife Reserve: the numbers, sourced
As of July 2026.
- ~0 large animals — virtually all large wildlife lost to poaching by the late 1990s. African Parks, late 1990s.
- 2003 — African Parks' first-ever management partnership, with Malawi DNPW — the founding park. African Parks, 2003.
- ~3,000 animals, 17 species — reintroduced: rhino 2003, elephant 2006, lion 2012, giraffe 2018, cheetah 2019, wild dog 2021. African Parks, 2003–2021.
- 0 rhino poached since 2003, 0 elephants since 2006 — the protection record. African Parks, 2003–present.
- ~150 elephants — moved out to restock Nkhotakota — Majete became a source park. African Parks, 500 Elephants, 2016–2017.
What was lost at Majete Wildlife Reserve?
By the late 1990s poaching had emptied Majete of virtually all large wildlife. The elephants were gone. The rhino were gone. What remained was 70,000 hectares of miombo woodland along the Shire River with almost nothing large left in it.
What brought it back?
In 2003 Malawi's Department of National Parks and Wildlife signed the first management partnership African Parks ever made — Majete is the founding park of the whole model. Black rhino returned that same year. A herd of around 70 elephants followed in 2006, lions in 2012, giraffe in 2018, cheetah in 2019, wild dog in 2021. In total roughly 3,000 animals across 17 species were brought back (African Parks).
By 2016 Majete was doing well enough to give animals away: around 150 of its elephants were moved north to restock Nkhotakota in the 500 Elephants translocation.
What is it like now?
Majete is a Big Five reserve with a working tourism economy. Not a single rhino has been poached since 2003, nor an elephant since 2006 (African Parks). It is the proof-of-concept the rest of this list keeps citing: a park that was functionally dead, restocked and self-sustaining inside two decades.
Who does the work?
The reserve is staffed and patrolled by Malawian rangers and scouts, with entrance-fee revenue channelled to the neighbouring communities. Thawale Lodge inside the reserve is managed by the park, its profits reinvested in the reserve and its neighbours.
How do you visit Majete Wildlife Reserve?
Stay at Thawale Lodge, run by the reserve itself, or Mkulumadzi on the Shire River. Majete is an easy add to any Malawi journey — and the entrance fee is part of how the reserve pays its rangers.
Walk Majete with the rangers who rebuilt it
Or have the whole journey designed for you — Cape to Nile designs custom African safaris.
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