Questions 1-10. Read the text carefully then answer the following questions.
Across the world, migratory animals like wildebeest - which rely on movement to find food, water and calving grounds - are under threat. This is mainly because their migration routes are being cut off by settlements, farms, roads and other developments, and the areas where they roam are getting smaller. They also face the additional challenges of poaching and having less food to eat because of livestock overgrazing and agriculture. We found extreme declines in the numbers of migrating wildebeest and loss of most migration routes in Kenya and Tanzania.
The threats facing the various populations differ in each area. The leading causes of decline are poorly planned agricultural expansion, settlements, urban centres, roads and other infrastructure, poaching and competition with livestock for food, space and drinking water. Some threats are driven by increasing human and livestock numbers. The way land is used is changing and there’s also more human-wildlife conflict as more animals come into contact with people.
So, there have been failures on a number of fronts. These include policies that don’t regulate where people settle, wildlife conservation and management policies. A key government wildlife policy failure in Kenya is that it has focused primarily on protected areas. But these areas cover only 8% of the country’s land surface and support only 35% of the wildlife. The other 65% occupy private lands, which all the four threatened wildebeest migrations cross.
A huge problem here is that there isn’t incentive for private landowners to look after wildlife. They receive little to no benefit from wildlife. This is because Kenya banned the use of and trade in wildlife and wildlife products in 1977. This limits opportunities to game viewing. But tourists don’t visit many areas and so other land uses, like agriculture and livestock production, are more appealing.
Urgent action is needed to save these migrations. Saving the migrations means much more regulation, securing more land, collaborating with local communities and, ultimately, reducing human population growth, in particular, regulation of livestock numbers, settlements, farms and roads. Land must be restored - meaning settlements cleared and cultivation on migration routes stopped. Deforestation must also be better managed. And robust law enforcement is needed to reduce the illegal hunting of animals for bushmeat.
The consequences of not acting will be huge. Migrations of zebra and Thomson’s gazelle in Kenya’s Rift Valley and elephants in Kenya have already been lost. Wildebeest could go the same way.