[NAIROBI] Kenya and Tanzania are at risk of losing a significant amount of tourism revenue from the world-famous annual Serengeti wildebeest migrations due to rapid urban development and farming activities, a study shows.
The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, shows that roads, oil pipelines, farmlands, fences and new road and rail corridors in the region could impinge on the annual migration, which sees close to 1.4 million wildebeests cross the plains of Kenya and Tanzania.
It is a spectacle that attracts tourists from around the world, making it a major source of income for Kenya and Tanzania.
Xiaodong Liu, the study’s lead author and assistant professor from the University of Copenhagen’s Department of Biology, said: “The wildebeest is an iconic ungulate [hoofed animal] species, whose migrations are important both ecologically and economically.
“About 150 years ago, there were many wildebeest populations that made great migrations, but by 40 years ago, only two large intact wildebeest migrations remained in Africa – the great migration of Serengeti (Tanzania) – Masai Mara (Kenya), and one in the Kalahari Desert in Southern Africa.
“Today, the only remaining large migratory population is that of the Serengeti-Masai Mara,” he said.
Genetic impact
The researchers discovered that migratory blue wildebeest populations exhibit a mix of genes which enhanced their genetic diversity and lowered inbreeding levels compared to their neighbouring populations that have recently experienced a disruption in migration.
The wildebeest migration is made up of the blue wildebeests, which are the migratory species while the black wildebeests are territorial and they live within their acquired territory.
“Our study highlights the detrimental genetic consequences of limited migration in wildebeest,” Liu told SciDev.Net. “We hope that the new results will inspire investigations into other species, for whom migration is an essential part of their biology.”
The researchers say their findings could also be relevant to other migratory ungulates, such as gazelles and antelopes, that are threatened by similar risks of genetic deterioration as natural habitats become degraded.
Joel Ochieng, programme leader for Agricultural Biotechnology and Wildlife at Kenya’s University of Nairobi, said the presence of physical barriers such as roads and buildings will ultimately interfere with the continuous movement of large ungulates such as wildebeest populations.
Ochieng told SciDev.Net that there is a need for deliberate political decisions to create a migration corridor for wildebeests and other affected species.
“We just have to conserve species, but at a political cost.
“The alternative of waiting to do firefighting through population restoration once the effects of our inaction have resulted in a conservation emergency will be costly,” said Ochieng.
Liu called for caution in disrupting the migration routes of animals that rely on movement to survive, as such species will struggle to survive in a human-dominated world unless special attention is paid to preserving their old and natural migratory routes.
He also warned that “the iconic migratory population in the Seregenti-Masai Mara will very likely collapse if their migration route is disrupted, undermining East Africa’s tourism industry and national economies significantly.”
This piece was produced by SciDev.Net’s Sub-Saharan Africa English desk.