
A landscape without fences for hundreds, if not thousands of kilometres. Our brief in this magnificent area was to do an ecological and management evaluation of a private hunting concession area that is controlled by the Tanzanian National Parks Authority.
The area is relatively unspoilt as approval to graze the area with cattle was withdrawn by the conservation authority some time ago. In sharp contrast the community grazing area beyond the protected area is in a comparatively poor condition with the over-utilization of the grass cover beginning to give way to surface soil erosion.
Wildlife is still abundant, the herds of which move across the landscape in the well-known annual migration which passes through our survey area and into the Serengeti National Park. Elephants favour the more wooded vegetation of this part of the area and one bumps into groups around every bend in the road network which, in the wet season, is something of a challenge.
Another major challenge is ecological management of fire. There is a need to establish a more formal approach to burning in place of the current haphazard “toss a match if it looks burnable” approach. In fact, our overall recommendation was that such a jewel needs to be managed by means of an ecological management plan.
For South Africans, used to our more restricted game reserves and ranches, a visit to this Eden-like landscape was something of an emotional experience. Unrestricted wildlife, natural spring waters, habitat variation at scale, endless swampy grasslands and mature woodlands were simply like a dream.
Also of interest were the wildlife species not known in our home country such as Thomsons gazelle, Grants gazelle, Coke’s hartebeest, topi, bohor reedbuck, Kirk’s dik-dik
and olive baboon. What a pleasure. We look forward to our following visit to pull all of this wonder together in a practical management plan.





