Cattle and conservation don’t typically mix. For centuries, East African pastoralists like the Maasai trudged across the region’s savannas with their herds, passing by elephants and lions in their search for life-giving grasses. But times have changed. Today, landscapes that were once a no-man’s-land are a bordered maze of ranches, farms and national parks. Cattle are especially unwelcome in the latter. Letting livestock graze freely inside areas set aside for wildlife, the argument goes, can bring them to ruin. Grasses that a wildebeest or buffalo might eat are instead consumed by cattle, turning green areas barren and forcing the non-domestic animals into smaller pockets. It’s an argument with a lot of traction, undergirding policies in conservation areas across East Africa that amount to “no cattle allowed.” And there’s research to back it up. But a group of scientists say data they gathered over 19 months in Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve (MMNR) tells a different story. Their study, published in September, is causing a stir in the world of ecologists who work in the Maasai Mara — and among tourism operators there. The Maasai are barred from bringing their herds into the MMNR, and if they’re caught they face stiff penalties. Still, some do it anyway, especially when there are droughts or during the annual dry season. The new study’s findings say that when they do, the reserve’s wildlife don’t much seem to mind. “Given the data that we had — at the current livestock density and the range of…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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