Wildebeests’ lives are threatened by tourists blocking crossing paths with vehicles, intimidating the animal’s behavior, pushing them to injuries and death.
Wildebeest migration season in the Maasai Mara has become a common tourist attraction, as the migration is one of Nature’s greatest events which attracts people from all over the world to witness.
The East Africa Great Migration is an extravaganza that can be viewed from space, as approximately one million wildebeest, alongside zebra, gazelle, and elands journey in a quest for fresh pasture.
Most tourists want proximity as the Wildebeests are crossing the Mara River for a better experience, but unfortunately their curiosity is ill-fated, as it causes deaths and injuries to the wildebeests.
During the Wildebeest migration, the numerous tourist vehicles cause a barrier between the wildebeest and crossing points, this intimidates the animals natural behaviour and they look for alternative paths which are risky causing injury and death of the animals.
According to Joane Scofield, writer, and director of ‘Running with the Beest’ documentary on PBS.Nature, wildebeest are predominant to all life in East Africa, as the ill-famed animal labeled ‘Stupid’, in their crowd of thousands they enable the savannah to go around, by fertilizing and cropping grasses and plains aside from being a food source to all the carnivores and vultures who live in East Africa.
Derrick Nabaala and Evalyn Sintoya are Maasai guides with 10-year experience in tracking the wildebeest through the Kenya Mara ecosystem, they explained how the tourists are a threat to the wildlife during the crossing in an interview with Scofield.
The Maasai guides claim that the tourists come close to the river, blocking their path to the crossing site, causing the animals to opt for riskier paths like high river banks. Some endure injuries due to a high fall, get trapped and most cases eaten by crocodiles leading to a loss in the numbers of wildebeests.
“We sometimes stop them from crossing the river”.
“The problem is everyone wants to be in the best position to watch them jump into the water, this blocks their path, pushing them to risky jumps from high river banks. Some hit the rocks and break their legs and get trapped between the high banks,”
“If your lucky you get drowned by a crocodile,” Nabaala noted.
“People don’t respect these animals, people drive there, some park their vehicle blocking their path to the crossing point, and intimidate the animal’s behavior.” Sintonya added.
Carnivorous families, such as hyenas, lions, leopards, and cheetahs reproduce their young ones in synchronicity with the migration arrival, they depend on these freakish beasts for food.
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However, limited control of vehicles around the river has led to over-tourism which is affecting the migration crossing points, intimidating wildebeest’s natural behavior.
Apart from tourism, climate change and modern-day conflicts are also posing threats to the delicate ecosystem balance.
