Wildlife Reserve · Malawi · 180,000 hectares
Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve
500 elephants, moved to safety.
Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve: the numbers, sourced
As of July 2026.
- 1,500+ → <100 elephants — the poaching collapse, before African Parks took management in 2015. African Parks, by 2015.
- 520+ elephants moved in — plus ~2,000 other animals — one of the largest elephant translocations in history. African Parks, 500 Elephants, July 2016 – August 2017.
- 620+ elephants — now in the reserve. Africa Geographic, current.
- ~50% decline — in poaching and criminal activity since management changed. Africa Geographic, 2015–present.
- 215 scholarships — awarded to vulnerable schoolchildren in one year. Africa Geographic, 2021.
What was lost at Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve?
Nkhotakota once held more than 1,500 elephants across its 180,000 hectares of miombo and river valley. By 2015, when African Parks took over management, fewer than 100 remained — the reserve had been hollowed out by poaching from end to end.
What brought it back?
Between July 2016 and August 2017, in one of the largest elephant translocations ever attempted, more than 520 elephants and around 2,000 other animals were moved into Nkhotakota — roughly 350 elephants from Liwonde and 150 from Majete (African Parks, 500 Elephants). Families were moved whole: matriarchs, calves, bulls, sedated, lifted and driven north in convoy.
What is it like now?
More than 620 elephants now move through the reserve, and criminal activity has fallen by about half since 2015 (Africa Geographic). Nkhotakota is Malawi's largest wildlife reserve, and the Bua River running through it is its spine.
Who does the work?
Around 400 schoolchildren visit the reserve each year for environmental education, and 215 scholarships went to vulnerable schoolchildren in 2021 (Africa Geographic). The lodges inside the reserve employ locally and fund the reserve through their concession fees.
How do you visit Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve?
Stay on the Bua River — Tongole Wilderness Lodge or Bua River Lodge sit inside the reserve. You will likely see the descendants of the moved herds drinking below your deck.
Or have the whole journey designed for you — Cape to Nile designs custom African safaris.
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