In the spring of 2006, I had the opportunity to travel to Botswana for two weeks with Professor Curt Griffin and a group of students from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The trip was a field study in Wildlife Ecology and Management, but the style in which we were accommodated made it more like a luxury safari. We were toured about the bush, making routine stops for tea and cookies. We sat in lawn chairs with drinks in our hands as members of the San tribe danced around a fire in makeshift hide clothing. At a restaurant in Victoria Falls, we were handed a drum and encouraged to participate in a call and response routine lead by men in bright, patterned outfits. This was my first glimpse into the tourism industry of Africa. I was charmed and bewildered by the veneer of idealistic tribal culture and shocked by the gross stereotypes that are acted out for an audience. The experience was nonetheless, completely amazing, despite the manner in which it was conducted. We visited three National Parks and learned the successes and challenges facing each region. By connecting with individuals of the Safari staff and constantly interrogating my professor and guide, I managed to learn a great deal about African wildlife and elephant conservation issues.
The following spring, I again traveled with students and Professor Griffin to Tanzania on a Wildlife Conservation and Management Study. This trip was the polar opposite of my visit to Botswana and the experience I was waiting for. We stayed at the College of African Wildlife Management at Mweka, on the foothills of Kilimanjaro. There we attended lectures in Tanzanian history, Kiswahili, wildlife ecology and management before visiting four major National Parks; Taraguire, Lake Manyara, Serengeti and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. I had the chance to meet Professor Griffin’s partner and graduate student Alfred Kikoti and learn of the wildlife issues that face the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania. I became fascinated with the social complexities of the Maasai peoples and how they fit into the struggles of wildlife conservation. It was on that trip that I felt I had to dedicate myself to understanding the dynamic of Human/Elephant conflict and to help broaden that understanding on a global level.
In many countries in Africa, tourism is the largest factor of the economy. In Tanzania, the social and political stability, unique landscape and diverse wildlife population make it a popular destination for travelers. Tourism, in fact, is the major economic benefactor for the local population. Tanzania is home to the Maasai peoples and several natural wonders, including fourteen National Parks and a thriving wildlife population. However, development around park borders is posing a threat to the migrating wildlife population, as well as putting people in harm’s way of larger or predatory species. It is a true paradox; in order to reap the financial benefits of the tourist economy, local peoples relocate themselves, often with their entire families, closer to areas that the tourists are visiting. Though this may provide the local people with much needed financial stability, they are actually indirectly harming the very wildlife that brought the tourists there in the first place.
One of the biggest issues, literally, is Human / Elephant conflict in the Kilimanjaro region, which is a direct result of the flourishing tourist economy, paired with rapid development around the parks. Tanzania does not have the highest elephant population in Africa; the issue is there are densely populated ‘pocket’ areas where elephant migratory routes have been blocked. Due to the large amount of traffic inside the National Parks, Elephants are becoming desensitized to vehicles and humans. Elephants are wandering dangerously close to villages and major roads, where the odds of conflict are very high. Because of this development, the Maasai and Elephant populations within Tanzania are competing for what open grasslands remain. Recently, many Maasai have been forced into a more agricultural based lifestyle due to the loss of open grazing land. In turn, many farmers’ crops are raided or destroyed by elephants attempting to travel between protected areas, a confrontation that often results in famine for a family or the death of an elephant.
A solution to this imbalance must be reached. The common methodologies of elephant conservation are proving to be ineffective. Elephants are a highly intelligent and resilient species. The most widely practiced method is the culling of entire breeding herds. This is a grossly inhumane solution to the overpopulation issue. Other techniques such as birth control or relocation from a herd have proved cost ineffective and futile. KERCP works to protect what is left of natural corridors created and used by migrating wildlife. By simply prohibiting development in those corridors, it allows elephants to move freely between protected areas, relying on natural dispersal of highly populated regions. This solution is simple and effective by conserving open land for migratory animals, providing space to the Maasai for cattle grazing and keeping elephants and humans at a safe distance from each other. By supporting the efforts of the KERCP, I hope to educate people on the various methods of elephant management and the real trials of living within a tourist destination in Africa. Placing humans and the largest living land mammal within such close proximity to each other is dangerous and unnatural. I hope to witness and document this close interaction and capture the dynamic of such a paradoxical situation.
The success of my project relies on complete cultural immersion. Although English is the primary language in Tanzania, I plan on spending the next year studying Kiswahili and Maa in order to conduct interviews without depending on a translator. While working closely with KERCP, I will have the opportunity to experience elephant interaction in Tanzania firsthand. At their research camp in West Kilimanjaro, I will be able to visit the local Maasai village, speak with individuals who have had personal encounters with elephants and gain a real sense of what it is like to live with such an immense and intelligent creature. While I will be working primarily with digital cameras, I plan to supplement my work with several different film cameras and digital video. I hope to publish my work in a way that represents the trials and delicacies of living in an eco-tourism based economy in modern day Africa.
We played hacky-sack with these Masai kids in the Ngorongoro Reserve.
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