Selous Game Reserve

About Selous Game Reserve

The Selous Game Reserve was first protected in 1896 under German rule, became a hunting reserve in 1905 and was named after Frederick Selous, the hunter and naturalist killed at Beho Beho in 1917. For most of the twentieth century it was Africa's largest game reserve at around 50,000 km², and UNESCO inscribed it as a World Heritage Site in 1982, placing it on the danger list in 2014 after elephant numbers collapsed from about 109,000 in 1976 to some 13,000 by 2013.

In 2019 the northern part along the Rufiji River — the photographic-tourism sector — was carved out as Nyerere National Park. The name Selous now refers to the remaining reserve to the south and west, roughly 19,000 km² of miombo woodland, seasonal rivers and wetlands managed by the Tanzania Wildlife Management Authority and let mostly as hunting blocks.

The reserve retains elephant, buffalo, lion, leopard, sable and wild dog, but it has almost no photographic lodges or public roads, so visitors on safari itineraries are in practice in Nyerere rather than the reserve proper.

Highlights

• Protected since 1896, named after Frederick Selous
• UNESCO World Heritage Site (1982, in danger since 2014)
• Remaining reserve south of Nyerere National Park
• Miombo woodland and seasonal rivers
• Managed by TAWA, mostly hunting blocks
• Beho Beho, Selous's grave site