Carcass counts stabilize as Amboseli begins the long road to recovery

Regular counts of live and dead animals within Amboseli National Park conducted by the Amboseli Conservation Program indicate that the extremely rapid drought induced loss of wildlife over the last few months of 2009 has begun to taper off in the first few week of 2010 (fig.1).  The onset of the rains and the  reduced grazing pressure following the collapse of the zebra and wildebeest populations has resulted in a green flush of new forage.  While this initial forage recovery has released some of the pressure on the remaining herbivores, the populations of zebra, wildebeest and buffalo, remain low (figs. 2 and 3).  The dispersal of zebra and wildebeest out of the  National Park with the rain has brought on a new set of challenges for predators as they face an acute prey deficit and begin concentrating their attention on livestock and the last remaining wildebeest and buffalo (see previous post). 

Data presented here is the property of the Amboseli Conservation Program and should not be reproduced or used for publication with permission.

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3