Tanzania intends to reintroduce Chimpanzees on Saa Nane Island, the country’s smallest National Park floating in the Lake Victoria.
The Chairperson of the Tanzania National Park’s Board of Trustees, General George Waitara, who recently visited the Island in Mwanza, pointed out that Chimpanzees used to prowl the islet in the past and people loved to watch their antics.
According to Waitara, Saa Nane is a small island which can only sustain a few grass eaters, therefore the management is not about to cram it with more animals than it already has.
It is believed that some mischievous Chimpanzees were once found on the Islet.
How the cheeky chimps disappeared from Saa Nane, nobody knows but if the management claims are anything to go by, then the primates may soon make a scene in the area again.
Saa Nane was gazetted in 2013 to be a national park measuring 2.2-square-kilometre including the land surface area and surrounding water precinct. It is a small, rocky island in Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest freshwater body.
The island was named after one Mzee Saanane Chawandi, a local farmer and fisherman who is believed to have once resided on the Islet. Some say he was also a traditional healer.
The Island is a home to free roaming mammals such as zebra, impala, rock hyrax, velvet monkey and wild cat.
It’s the only place in Tanzania where you might encounter the De-brazza’s monkey, an old World primate species that lives in the riverine and swamps forests of eastern and central Africa.
Saanane Island can only be accessed by boat from the Capri Point port of the mainland’s Victoria shores.
The island which is essentially mapped within the Mwanza City is an ideal place for game viewing, bird watching, rock hiking, boat cruise, trekking, sport fishing, picnics, bush lunch and photography.