The road to ruin.

The Serengeti

The Serengeti National Park is an area of Tanzania and Kenya which is home to one of the most incredible wildlife spectacles in the world: the mass migration of wildebeest, gazelles and zebras as they track the rainfall and grass growth from the Serengeti to the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Bell (1971) observed that zebras were the first to migrate, followed by the wildebeest and then the Thomson's gazelle. The migration of any species is a facinating phenomenon to behold; the drive behind this behaviour is so strong that animals have been known to ignore opportunities to feed due to this 'larger purpose'.

The Road

In 2005 the Tanzanian president, Jakaya Kikwete, made a promise to voters that a highway would be built to connect the town of Arusha with the port of Musoma at Lake Victoria. The road will shorten the route between the two locations and will improve trading. It will start at Mto Wa Mbu and pass through Engaruka, Lake Natron, Loliondo and the Serengeti before reaching Musoma. In late July 2010, Kikwete confirmed that the goverment had plans to go ahead with the highway plans. A full feasibility study has been conducted to assess the impacts of the highway and construction will begin when there are sufficient funds. It has been reported that TANAPA (Tanzanian National Parks) have been prompted by the government to keep their concerns about the project quiet.

The Problem

The effects that this road will have on wildebeest populations is nothing short of devastating. As if the stress levels it would cause for the migrants were not enough concern, vehicle collisions are also inevitable. It is estimated that the wildebeest population may decrease from 1.3 million animals to about 200,000. It is not only wildebeest that will suffer, but all species migrating to the Masai Mara in Kenya. It has been suggested that predators will also be affected during the construction process - lions may scare construction workers and are at threat from attack.


Make a stand - the construction of the Arusha-Musoma road is scheduled to begin in 2012.

Find out more and join the Serengeti Watch at: http://www.savetheserengeti.org/

Sources
BBC Wildlife Magazine, November 2010, pages 40-41
http://www.savetheserengeti.org/
Zoologische Gesellschaft Frankfurt (Frankfurt Zoological Society) - http://www.zgf.de/
National Geographic Magazine, November 2010
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2010/08/100817-science-environment-wildebeest-migration-tanzania-road/
A Grazing Ecosystem in the Serengeti - Richard H. V. Bell - 1971