Shocking game losses in Kenya's Maasai Mara

• A study published in the British Journal of Zoology found six species -- giraffes, hartebeest, impala, warthogs, topis and waterbuck -- had declined "markedly and persistently" throughout the 1,500 square km (580 square mile) reserve.
• Growing human population in the area had cut wild animal numbers by taking over wildlife grazing land.

The Maasai Mara, one of the world’s most visited wildlife sanctuaries, has lost almost all its giraffes, warthogs, impala and hartebeest in the last 15 years. Researchers at the International Livestock Research Institute say in a new study that the phenomenon could herald disaster for the local tourism industry.

Published in the British Journal of Zoology, the study says losses were as high as 95 per cent for giraffes, 80 per cent for warthogs, 76 per cent for hartebeest and 67 per cent for impala. “The situation we documented paints a bleak picture and requires urgent and decisive action if we want to save this treasure,” said Joseph Ogutu, the lead author of the study and a statistical ecologist at ILRI.

“Our study offers the best evidence to date that wildlife losses in the reserve are widespread and substantial, and that these trends are likely linked to the steady increase in human settlements on lands adjacent to the reserve.” The study monitored seven-hoofed species, ungulates, monthly between 1989 and 2003 in the 1,500-square kilometre Maasai Mara National Reserve and concluded that six species — giraffes, hartebeest, impala, warthogs, topis and waterbuck — had declined markedly.

The study provides the most detailed evidence to date on declines in the ungulate populations in the Mara and how this phenomenon is linked to the rapid expansion of human populations on the boundaries of the reserve. The ILRI said the main reason for the decline is the encroachment of wildlife grazing by the local Maasai.

“Some traditional farming cultures to the west and southwest of the Mara continue to hunt wildlife inside the reserve for food and profit,,” says the study. The team also found an increase of permanent settlements by the Maasai, who for years have been nomadic.

In just one of the ranchlands adjacent to the reserve — the Koyiaki ranch — the number of bomas surged from 44 in 1950 to 368 in 2003, while the number of huts increased from 44 to 2,735. The study warns that retaliatory killings of wildlife that break down fences, damage crops, degrade water supplies or threaten livestock and humans is “common and increasing” in the ranchlands.

Grave consequences

“The various forces threatening wildlife could have grave consequences for protecting game because, given the seasonal movements of animals in and out of the reserve, most of the wildlife in the region regularly grazes outside the protected reserve,” said Dr Ogutu.

ILRI director general Carlos Sere says all is not lost. “With the significant tourism revenue that the Mara wildlife generates, it is possible to invest in evidence-based approaches that can protect this region’s iconic pastoral peoples, as well as its wildlife populations.”