MOZAMBIQUE will allow hunting of wild elephants and buffalo should an international tender to be held later this month prove successful, a provincial governor said late last week. Governor Aires Aly of the northern Niassa province said the tender will aim to select a company or organisation that can successfully organise the safaris. A recent survey found there are some 14000 elephants and 10000 buffalo in the Niassa game reserve, one of Mozambique’s largest. Local residents have been pressing the government to authorise the shooting, particularly of elephants, because they destroy crops and houses and sometimes kill people. The residents of Niassa’s Mecula district see culling as a key issue despite electrified fencing being built as part of a project to rehabilitate the Niassa reserve.