Tourism collapse in Masai Mara could lead to poaching

Any day now an estimated 500,000 wildebeest will arrive in the dusty flats of Western Kenya’s Masai Mara as part of their annual migration.

This awesome spectacle — just part of over one million animals that move north from Tanzania every July — would usually be watched by thousands of tourists. This year there are none.

Jackson Looseyia, a Masai conservationist and lodge owner in the Mara, said “From a nature-loving point of view, it has been beautiful — no vehicle tracks, rest for the animals.

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“However, in conservation terms it is a crisis. We have no money coming in whatsoever, and the future is so bleak.

“We are terribly worried about poachers, they have already laid thousands of snares (to trap wildlife). I’ve had to set wildebeest free with my bare hands.”

That the iconic Masai Mara — one of the world’s most famous, important and protected landscapes — could fear such an onslaught of killing shows the extent of the crisis facing conservation in the wake of Covid.

 There were recent cases of giraffes being killed for commercial purposes. TNS

Hunting of any kind is illegal in Kenya, where a pre-Covid 80 per cent conviction rate for wildlife criminals was among the highest in Africa.

However, the pandemic threatens to plunge whole communities reliant on revenue from tourism into poverty, which is a massive driver of poaching.

Looseyia has had to lay off four members of staff already, with other conservancies in The Mara doing likewise, amid financial uncertainty that stretches long into 2021.

Brian Heath, CEO of The Mara Conservancy, said “thousands of people will be unemployed for as long as the disruption exists.

“It has affected not only conservation but the whole supply chain of support industries, such as food producers, flower business, transport and fuel.”

 Wildebeests run across a sandy riverbed of the Sand River as they arrive into Kenya's Masai Mara National Reserve. AFP

Kenya as a whole is suffering the health and economic impacts of the pandemic. Although the Masai shun killing wildlife to eat, for others hunting ‘bushmeat’ is now a vital means of survival.

Traders supplying meat to city butchers also mix wild and farmed meat as a lucrative way to boost profits, which if left unchecked risks attracting organised crime groups, fuelling the illegal trade of wildlife.

A report this month from the Kenya Wildlife Service found a 56 per cent increase in bushmeat seizures in Kenya since lockdown began.

Dickson Kaelo, CEO of Kenya Wildlife Conservancies Association, told The Independent. “Due to the high rates of unemployment, commercial bushmeat has become rampant in some areas.

“Recently there were even cases of giraffes killed for commercial purposes.”

 Initial herds of wildebeest and zebra arrive at the Sand River. AFP

Many conservancy operators in the Mara feel confident about providing sufficient ranger patrols to prevent poaching. Heath’s record in this field is formidable, having arrested over 4,500 poachers and collected 50,000 snares in the past two decades.

However, another deadly threat to conservation looms large. The land surrounding the Mara is a patchwork that is leased by tourism partners from nearly 2,000 different land owners.

Heath said: “if ecotourism organisations are unable to pay their rent, there is a real danger that land owners will look for alternative incomes. 

 A young cheetah male rests on a mound on the plains of the Masai Mara. AFP

“That could mean putting a fence around land and ploughing it up, which would have a huge and potentially irreversible impact on wildlife.”

With the tourism money machine obliterated, Looseyia admitted land owners “could not be blamed” for looking for other ways to earn.

Masai land-owners in several areas around the Mara have agreed to accept rent reductions during the pandemic. But many warn that this can only be a short term measure.

Conservationist Jonathan Scott, said; “We are at a tipping point, yet we don't seem to be able to think ‘long term’ to protect conservation.

“The need to tackle poaching and the illegal wildlife trade has never been more important. But animals can't vote.“

If you would like to donate to help the Mara Triangle through the crisis you can donate to www.maratriangle.org

The Independent