Threats to the Serengeti Herds

Abstract

The Serengeti National Park in Tanzania is famous for its huge herds of migrating wildebeest, zebras and other ungulates. But these herds spend much of the year in neighbouring reserves where their survival depends on preserving the right conditions. The authors made a study of two of these reserves with disturbing results. The Maswa Game Reserve they found was seriously threatened by invading (illegal) settlement with a fast-growing population cultivating land and felling trees; in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area they report that the Maasai have taken to poaching, both for subsistence meat and for trophies to sell – skins, ivory and rhino horn. In both places the guards are so poorly equipped they can do little to stop poaching.

Woody Encroachment Extent and Its Associated Impacts on Plant and Herbivore Species Occurrence in Maswa Game Reserve, Tanzania

“…A decrease in woody plant cover is often associated with storing fire intensity (Dempewolf, 2007) as well as an increase in local human population (Venter et al, 2018). Hence, our results conform with other studies in the Serengeti ecosystem (Makacha et al, 1982), where a local increase in human populations has led to pressure over natural resources through, e.g., land for settlement, cultivation, illegal fire wood harvesting, as well as weak law enforcement (Venter et al, 2018). We found a high woody plant encroachment in the eastern side of the Maswa Game Reserve, i.e., close to the boundary of Serengeti National Park, and in the middle of the Maswa Game Reserve.…”

“…However, our indirect observations were just a snapshot of the area within the wet season. Since this area is also an important great migration resting area (Makacha et al, 1982), herbivore abundances might change strongly over season. In additon, studies including camera traps and direct observation transects would help obtain a more detailed picture on how bush encroachment in the Serengeti system affects mammalian herbviore assemblages.…”

“…Maswa Game Reserve located on the western side of the two major world heritage sites (Serengeti National Park and Ngorongoro Conservation Area) is an ecologically essential area of the Serengeti ecosystem in Tanzania (Makacha, Msingwa, & Frame, 1982). Its open grassland areas have been severely encroached mainly by Acacia drepanolobium in the recent years, but locations and the extent of these areas have not been assessed.…”

The Great Game: conservation in East Africa 1950–2016

“…The retiring conservator might claim the Ngorogoro Conservation Area a success as a ‘coordinated experiment in multiple land usage’, thanks to ‘the strong support which the nation's leaders are giving to wildlife conservation’ (Fosbrooke, 1965, p. 167) but conflicts persisted around Serengeti, as elsewhere, over land rights and poaching (e.g. Makacha et al, 1982). Belatedly it became clear that hunting by rural people is about more than subsistence (e.g.…”

Modeling the Spatial Distribution of the Economic Costs and Benefits of Illegal Game Meat Hunting in the Serengeti

“…How many hunters operate inside conservation areas (Arcese et al [1995], Campbell and Hofer [1995]), how many animals are taken out by hunters (Campbell and Hofer [1995], Hofer et al [1996]), what impact hunting might have on the population dynamics of single species (Makacha et al [1982], Dublin and Douglas-Hamilton [1987], Dublin et al [1990], Hofer et al [1993], Arcese et al [1995], Mduma [1996]) and the community of herbivores as a whole (Arcese et al [1995], Campbell and Hofer [1995], Hofer et al [1996]). However, less attention has been paid to the assessment of the costs and benefits of hunting and the spatial distribution of hunting activities, both issues of considerable practical importance to the management of protected areas: How profitable is hunting?…”