DAR ES SALAAM, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian wildlife authorities said on Wednesday they have started capturing 20 roan antelopes to be trans-located to Kenya.
"The capturing of the animals will take about five days before it is completed," Allan Kijazi, the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, told Xinhua in a telephone interview.
Kijazi said all the 20 roan antelopes will be captured from Rungwa game reserve, a protected area in central Tanzania that covers an area of 9,000 square kilometers.
The translocation of the 20 roan antelopes follows an agreement on Dec. 10 between Tanzania and Kenya to exchange roan antelopes and female black rhinos in a move aimed at boosting the reproduction of the two species.
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan offered Kenya the 20 roan antelopes at a request by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Tanzania has currently about 4,000 roan antelopes while Kenya has only 12 of the species, according to President Hassan.
President Hassan said President Kenyatta had accepted Tanzania's request for black female rhinos that will be sent to northern Tanzania's Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area where there are two black male rhinos, to boost reproduction. Enditem
