In this report we review the counts of large herbivores in and around Amboseli National Park since the 2009 drought and consider some ecological and social consequences.
The sample ground counts and total aerial counts (Fig. 1 and Fig 2) show the heavy drought losses wildebeest, zebra and buffalo, the main prey species of Amboseli’s large carnivores, suffered in the last four months of 2009 drought. The remaining herds moved out with the rains of December 2009, leaving a few dozen animals in the park. In the following dry season we had expected only the remnant herds surviving the drought to return to Amboseli. Quite unexpectedly, the remnant herds were accompanied by an influx of over 1,400 wildebeest and several hundred zebra from adjacent populations, most likely Tsavo and northern Tanzania. The herbivore populations built up to a peak of some 1,500 wildebeest and 2,500 zebra in the late dry season of 2010. During the November-December rains the numbers fell sharply again with the migrations. The migrants were expected back at the beginning of the dry season in January of 2011, but unexpected cyclone rains fell across the region and kept them out of the park in the wet season dispersal areas.
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Monday, November 14, 2011 at 02:41AM