Hayadan > Extinct wanderers

Extinct wanderers

In the areas of Kenya and Tanzania, only a few percent of the number of animals that did so thirty years ago migrate today. The person is to blame

Animal migration in the Serengeti. Photo: shutterstock

Not long ago we reported that Human impact on the Serengeti Reserves in Tanzania and the Masai Mara in Kenya is causing enormous damage. This time we will refer to one of the most prominent of them.

In the coming months thousands of tourists will visit East Africa where one of the more attractive, fascinating and exciting sights is migration. More than a million Genoese (Connochaetes) migrate following the rains and grass.
The wildebeests are joined by zebras and deer, which increase the number of migrants to close to two million Persians. The great sight of huge herds racing and crossing rivers is one of the more recognizable symbols of Kenya and Tanzania, but according to a survey done on the migration routes it turns out that there is a serious danger of the great spectacle disappearing.

Like the wildebeest, there are nomads all over the world who must wander to find sources of livelihood and reach areas where they eat, nest, mate and reproduce. It turns out that the nomads face obstacles. The main obstacles for migrants are: settlements, fences, roads and barriers that prevent passage and interrupt migration routes, on top of that there are wild hunters and competition with farm animals such as goats and cows.

In a study that examined the five populations of Genoese that migrate in East Africa, a sharp decrease in the number of individuals and the loss of most migration routes was found in Kenya and Tanzania. Among four of the migratory populations, danger has been diagnosed to the point of general collapse, which increases the danger of extinction of the wildebeest populations and their rich and diverse environmental systems, due to the animals' inability to reach essential resources.

The nomadic population in East Africa is found in five regions. With the help of aerial photographs and data collection for about sixty years in Kenya and Tanzania it was found that four of the migratory populations are collapsing.
The habitat of the Serengeti-Mare is about 40,000 square kilometers. In Kenya and Tanzania, the wildebeest population has remained stable since 1977, about 1.3 million individuals, but the number migrating between the Serengeti and the Masai Mara has fallen by 73%, from close to 600 in 1979 to 157 in 2016 (the latest available figure ).
The Amboseli area in southwestern Kenya, which borders Tanzania, includes 7,730 square kilometers. In this area, the migratory population fell by 85%, from 16,000 individuals in 1977 to 2,400 in 2016.

Athi-Kaputiei area in the center of Kenya (near Nairobi) with a size of 2,200 square kilometers. In this territory, the migratory population fell by 95% from 27,000 individuals in 1977 to 3,000 in 2014.

In the Tarangire-Manyara region of northern Tanzania there are settlements and agricultural lands. The total area is 35,000 square kilometers. Here the number of migrants has decreased by 72% from 48,000 individuals in 1990 to 13,600 in 2016.

The nature of the threats to the migratory populations varies in each region, with the main reason for the collapse being poor planning of the agricultural areas, where fences are placed and settlements, roads and infrastructure are built. More on this: wild hunter and competition with farm animals for water and food.

In Kenya, the government promotes the allocation of land to private individuals and companies, which results in the division into more fenced areas. The fragmentation of large farms in Mara Levita has caused an increase in the number of landowners, more landowners lead to more violent encounters with wild animals, as well as more farm animals that graze in open areas and are competition for the wildebeests.

The lack of policy in planning the location of settlements versus the conservation and management of the wildlife population creates violent encounters that harm the wildlife. In Kenya there is a focus on preserving protected areas or reserves, but only 8% of the country's land is reserves where about 35% of all wildlife exists.
The other 65% of the wild animals exist in private areas that are not protected. Areas that endanger the wildebeest migration. This situation causes a huge problem as landowners have no incentive to preserve wildlife. The ban on wildlife trade since 1977 also limits opportunities to generate income from wildlife as well as limiting tourist visits, pushing landowners to rely on agriculture and grazing.

Despite the urgent need to save the migrants and warnings like in this study, the authorities ignore the urgency, therefore the researchers suggest ways to improve the situation to save the migrants. There is a need for land use planning and securing more areas in collaboration with local communities. In the end, the growth of the human population and the number of farm animals, fences and roads must be reduced. All these are part of the solutions. There is a need for land restoration, which means the clearing of agricultural areas and settlements in favor of corridors for the migrants.
It is necessary to preserve rivers and groves and prevent cutting down trees. It is necessary to regulate passages (above or underground) on main roads that interrupt migration routes. There is a need to enforce laws to prevent poaching.

There are attempts to protect migration routes by declaring reserves by private landowners in collaboration with tourism entrepreneurs. Such reserves protect the animals and at the same time provide a livelihood for the locals. These reserves are not considered government protected areas, therefore there is a need for wider support from local populations as well as tourism investors to develop and expand the reserves. The weakness of these reserves is the fact that the areas are leased for a limited time and are expensive to maintain and manage.
The researchers suggest that the state and conservation investors will purchase the areas. Giving the management of the areas in the hands of the locals who will benefit from keeping the animals by working with tourists or maintenance and conservation, thus creating a situation in which there will be a reverse incentive for poachers and environmental damage. Also, there is a need for coordination and cooperation to preserve the migration corridors that cross the borders between Kenya and Tanzania.

More frequent and more severe droughts make the need for the proposed changes more urgent.

So much for the research and the suggestions of the researchers, and I will add what was "implied" in the body of the research that in order to change and improve the situation it is appropriate that instead of controlling the environment for the sake of the human population, there should be control of the human population for the sake of the environment!