Tuesday 7 August 2012

Do fires stop the Serengeti migration?

Dr Kate Parr lighting a controlled fire in the Serengeti Ecosystem
There's been a bit in the East African press recently claiming that Tanzania has been deliberately setting fires in the Serengeti NP to block the migration. The Tanzanian National Park Authority (TANAPA) have, of course, denied this. Reading the articles and press releases there's obviously both some serious ignorance and some seriously bad journalism going on here, and I thought it might be useful to share a few of my observations.