this is Kenya’s Masai Mara one of
Africa’s great natural wonders filled
with the wonder of life but these days
political unrest has scared away many
tourists and fewer visitors means less
revenue to protect the animals that live
here the nearly 600 square mile reserve
is funded by entrance fees and private
donations last year thousands of people
came to the Mara now numbers have
dwindled hotels are shut down and
workers are without jobs and as Kenya’s
civil unrest continues the Mara and it’s
animals face an uncertain future teams
go out every day to combat the threat of
poachers but with funds drying up the
reserve can’t afford the manpower they
need security patrols are being limited
from kids on both the worry is that
poachers will fill the vacuum left by
fewer Rangers this is Joseph chemo Gino
he hunts daily for snares that either
kill animals or leave them maimed and
vulnerable to attack from predators soul
and animal and animal is going and then
this man may end up holding the neck oh
maybe pulling it with his legs being
caught in a snare and left to die as a
painful grueling Death Brian Heath
director of the Mara Conservancy says he
has less money now to combat poachers
the biggest effect has been in the huge
reduction in tourists and almost
instantaneous drop about eighty percent
in the numbers of tourists we rely on
our share of revenue to maintain the
park tech meet our expenses to cover
security and operational costs so it had
a huge impact on our ability to operate
this patrol manages to apprehend some
suspects and scare off others when I
live on mobile web why bother back at
base the Rangers discovered the men are
not from Kenya but from neighboring
Tanzania this suspect says he’s a 40
year old father of eight children who
needs to hunt in order to feed his kids
and pay for their school fees
his hunting partner says he has six
children to support they both say they
have no other way to make a living
the men claim this is their first foray
into the Masai Mara but the Rangers
don’t believe it
the suspected poachers are led away they
may face a prison sentence or a fine
they cannot afford to pay poaching is
not a lucrative profession the meat from
an entire hippo would generate only
about a hundred US dollars by comparison
the Rangers may be in line for a bonus
as an incentive they received extra
money each time they apprehend a poacher
Joseph blogs about his experience as a
ranger his blog gets more than a
thousand hits a day and readers in Japan
recently contributed some 23,000 dollars
in a single month it may be the reserves
only hope and recouping lost revenue I
think we’re on the edge of a crisis I
know that all of the wildlife management
authorities in this country both private
such as the Mara Conservancy and the kws
are facing drastic cuts to their budget
to the point where clearly they don’t
have the presence on the ground anymore
now how quickly this will be taken up
that they can start poaching again
remains to be seen hopefully the crisis
will be short-lived and in the meantime
we have to find ways of finding
alternative funding these days fewer
people may be seeing this spectacular
reserve in person but perhaps through
the world-wide-web they will experience
the Masai Mara and understand it needs
global support sponsored by National
Geographic mission programs taking
science and exploration into the new
millennium
Africa’s great natural wonders filled
with the wonder of life but these days
political unrest has scared away many
tourists and fewer visitors means less
revenue to protect the animals that live
here the nearly 600 square mile reserve
is funded by entrance fees and private
donations last year thousands of people
came to the Mara now numbers have
dwindled hotels are shut down and
workers are without jobs and as Kenya’s
civil unrest continues the Mara and it’s
animals face an uncertain future teams
go out every day to combat the threat of
poachers but with funds drying up the
reserve can’t afford the manpower they
need security patrols are being limited
from kids on both the worry is that
poachers will fill the vacuum left by
fewer Rangers this is Joseph chemo Gino
he hunts daily for snares that either
kill animals or leave them maimed and
vulnerable to attack from predators soul
and animal and animal is going and then
this man may end up holding the neck oh
maybe pulling it with his legs being
caught in a snare and left to die as a
painful grueling Death Brian Heath
director of the Mara Conservancy says he
has less money now to combat poachers
the biggest effect has been in the huge
reduction in tourists and almost
instantaneous drop about eighty percent
in the numbers of tourists we rely on
our share of revenue to maintain the
park tech meet our expenses to cover
security and operational costs so it had
a huge impact on our ability to operate
this patrol manages to apprehend some
suspects and scare off others when I
live on mobile web why bother back at
base the Rangers discovered the men are
not from Kenya but from neighboring
Tanzania this suspect says he’s a 40
year old father of eight children who
needs to hunt in order to feed his kids
and pay for their school fees
his hunting partner says he has six
children to support they both say they
have no other way to make a living
the men claim this is their first foray
into the Masai Mara but the Rangers
don’t believe it
the suspected poachers are led away they
may face a prison sentence or a fine
they cannot afford to pay poaching is
not a lucrative profession the meat from
an entire hippo would generate only
about a hundred US dollars by comparison
the Rangers may be in line for a bonus
as an incentive they received extra
money each time they apprehend a poacher
Joseph blogs about his experience as a
ranger his blog gets more than a
thousand hits a day and readers in Japan
recently contributed some 23,000 dollars
in a single month it may be the reserves
only hope and recouping lost revenue I
think we’re on the edge of a crisis I
know that all of the wildlife management
authorities in this country both private
such as the Mara Conservancy and the kws
are facing drastic cuts to their budget
to the point where clearly they don’t
have the presence on the ground anymore
now how quickly this will be taken up
that they can start poaching again
remains to be seen hopefully the crisis
will be short-lived and in the meantime
we have to find ways of finding
alternative funding these days fewer
people may be seeing this spectacular
reserve in person but perhaps through
the world-wide-web they will experience
the Masai Mara and understand it needs
global support sponsored by National
Geographic mission programs taking
science and exploration into the new
millennium
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