Africa’s most popular mass migration game reserves seem also to have come under threat from global warming. Even as wild beasts hoped to cross for calving, in search of grazing land and water as many as 15,000 wildebeest have drowned in the Mara river. The spectacle left for the tourists just includes a pile up of carcasses and an extremely foul smell.
An absolute drawback for the conservationists who say that say the wildebeest simply chose the wrong point to cross the river. As those in the front drowned, they trapped those behind them. Nature can be cruel, but sometimes it gets some help. The Mara River was especially high this year, speed of river water has been blamed on destruction of the nearby Mau forest, rampant deforestation has led to changing weather patterns and affecting tide levels. If the trees had been left intact, the speed of water in the river would have been checked and the wildebeest would not have been swept away.
Senior game warden, Michael Koikai is quoted to have said:
This incident happened while peak season is still on, but it has not affected it as there are more than 5 million wildebeest in the Mara-Serengeti eco-system.
The ‘great migration’ dubbed the world’s ‘eighth wonder’ last year by the US network ABC is a major tourist attraction for Kenya and Tanzania. At most times the tourists are seen jostling for position at the river-crossing points this time saw tourists covering their noses to get rid of the foul smell. Piles of wildebeest carcasses line the riverbanks.
The weather extremes on the African plains are getting so intense that it may no longer be enough for conservationists to simply protect nature. They might have to start improving on it.. Even though, the deaths are natural: each year, crocodiles and the strong current claim some victims the numbers this year are bizarre. About 1% of the wildebeest population was wiped out. Early last year, the Masai Mara saw a drought leave almost 100 hippos dead.
The Mara River was especially high this year, after the heavy rains that flooded parts of Africa, killing hundreds of people and uprooting thousands more. Climatologists are pointing to the downpours as proof that predictions that Africa will suffer the most from global warming and climate change are already coming true. The human numbers is what makes all the headlines, but the consequences for Africa’s wildlife are just as far-reaching.
Image credit
Source: Reuters
