Majete Wildlife Reserve

Wildlife & Animals

Expert

Philip is the author of the Bradt guidebook to Malawi.

Due to extensive restocking since 2003, Majete Wildlife Reserve now hosts a good variety of wildlife. Lion, cheetah, leopard, African wild dog, elephant, black rhino, giraffe, buffalo, sable, waterbuck, warthog, nyala, Lichtenstein's hartebeest, impala and zebra have all been successfully reintroduced. Greater kudu, Sharpe's grysbok, suni, hippo and spotted hyena were already in the reserve and their numbers are increasing in the secure environment.

ElephantCommon

GiraffeOccasional

HippoCommon

BuffaloCommon

ZebraCommon

WildebeestNone

White RhinoNone

Black RhinoRare

LionCommon

LeopardOccasional

CheetahOccasional

HyenaOccasional

Wild DogOccasional

Wildlife Highlights

Majete is now a Big Five reserve. Lions were reintroduced in 2015 and have been so successful that the population is now estimated at 100. Park management has introduced contraception to prevent it growing further. Elephants are also thriving, so much so that several herds have been translocated from Majete to other parks in Malawi since 2017. More recent reintroductions to Majete include cheetah in 2019 and African wild dog in 2021.

Best Time for Wildlife Viewing

The Dry season (May to October) is the best time for seeing animals in Majete, with ideal conditions from July to October. At this time, wildlife is easier to spot because vegetation is thinner, and animals gather around the Shire River and other water sources.