National Geographic - USA (2021-12)

5 mi

5 km

KE

NYA

TAN

ZA

NIA

Mar

a

M

ar

a

Mara

Kawai

Nyamongo

Gibaso

Mara Bridge

OLOISUKUT

MARA

NORTH

SERENGETI

NATIONAL PARK

Es

oi

t^

O

lo

ol

ol

o

E

sc

ar

pm

en

t OLORUKOTI

PLAIN

TANZANIA

Fences in the

Masai Mara

study area

Tracked wildebeest

locations since 2019

Cropland

Tracked wildebeest

locations 1999-2013

Tourist camp

or lodge

Built-up area

River Airstrip

Road

Core parks

Fully protected areas that

prohibit agriculture and hunting

Community-managed lands in Kenya

that prioritize wildlife conservation

and sustainable land use

Masai Mara wildlife conservancies

MAP

AREA

AFRICA

ASIA

KENYA

TANZANIA

1.06 million

(2018)

6.18 million

(2018)

Population in park-adjacent regions

30.4%

increase

KENYA

(NAROK COUNTY)

45.2% increase

4.74 million

(2009)

TANZANIA

(ARUSHA, MARA, SIMIYU)

0.73

million

(2009)

KEN

TANZYA

AN

IA

MARA

SIMIYU

NAROK

ARUSHA

SERENGETI

N.P.

MASAI MARA

NAT. RES.

Nairobi

Lake

Victoria

AREA

ENLARGED

Population density

Low High

HUMAN IMPACTS ON THE HERDS

More fences, more tourist traffic, more farms siphoning off water:

These factors aren’t the only reasons wildebeests are visiting

Kenya’s Masai Mara less often and staying a shorter time. But such

human-made changes are undeniably having an impact. This region

is where ungulates normally wait out the dry- season months, from

July to October. Many then chase the rains southward back into

Tanzania, while a smaller, resident group moves east to the Loita

Plains—a local migration experts fear may be going extinct.

POPULATION GROWTH

Large families and good jobs led to a

striking increase in the human popula-

tion around the Masai Mara from 2009

to 2018. Pastoral groups that historically

moved with their livestock now are

permanent fixtures on land where

wilde beests once roamed freely.

Thousands of miles of fences,
ranging from high-power electric
barriers to traditional enclosures
made from tangled branches,
have been installed since 2011.

GPS tracking collars help
experts document changes in
wildebeest migration patterns.

Tourist-packed jeeps

that can disorient and

intimidate wildebeests

could be contributing

to a troubling decline

in Mara River crossings.