Maputo — Unknown criminals, believed to be poachers, have poisoned a lake in the northern Mozambican province of Niassa, resulting in the deaths of thousands of fish, according to a report on the independent television station STV.

There is a danger that animals who drink from the lake may also be poisoned. Indeed, this may be the poachers' intention.

The lake is in a conservation area known as the Marangira Game Reserve. This borders on the Niassa Special Reserve, which is the largest conservation area in the country, and has long been a target for unscrupulous poachers.

Carlos Queiroz, one of the owners of the company that runs Marangira, told STV "on 5 September we detected bush fires and unusual movements. Immediately, we sent our surveillance team there, and on the morning of 6 September they confirmed the poisoning of a large lake, which borders a river that is very important for Marangira'.

"When we arrived there', Queiroz added, "what we saw was devastating. What we saw was hundreds and hundreds, or rather thousands, of dead, poisoned fish'.

The company launched a campaign to collect the dead fish and to warn the local communities not to eat the fish.

A team from the Niassa Provincial Land and Environment Services went to Marangira on Tuesday to inspect the situation. It hopes to announce on Wednesday measures to reduce the risk of poisoning of people and wild life.