Selous is one of the most remote and least visited game areas in Africa, but at 15,000 square miles, it is the world's largest game reserve. The name derives from hunter-explorer Frederick Courtenay Selous, a keen naturalist and conservationist as well as a hunter. He was killed in the First World War in the Beho Beho region of the reserve.
 The defining feature of the Selous is the great Rufiji River , which naturally splits the ecosystem into two distinct parts. The area can be explored by boat, through swamps and lagoons where elephant often come to bathe, or even by foot, as the Selous is one of few Tanzanian reserves to allow walking tours. It has the world's largest number of big game, more than 120,000 elephant, 160,000 buffaloes and about 2,000 rhinoceros. In addition, the Selous contains Africa's greatest concentration of hippopotamus, crocodile and wild dogs. |
