The Risks of Herding near the Park

If herders allow their livestock to cross the unfenced border into the park, they run the risk of having their herds seized by park rangers.   

Most Masai keep their livestock in herds that graze on unfenced communal land. The herds are looked after by young people, some as young as eight or nine, who move the cows, goats, or sheep in search of abundant grass and water. Masai are prohibited from grazing their livestock in the Mara conservation area—the park is off limits to livestock. But the conservation area is not fenced, and the conservation area—the park itself—represents only about one third of the total area that the plentiful wildlife need and use. Indeed, because the park’s carrying capacity is not sufficient to sustain the level of wildlife, the conservation plan assumes that wildlife will wander out of the park in search of food or water.

But if Masai herders take their livestock into the park, either deliberately, because the grass or water outside the park has dried up, or accidentally, park rangers can seize the animals, confine them to a small corral near the park headquarters, and hold them until the owner pays a fine of 10,000 Kenya shillings (about $140).

This situation is one of the local community’s most frequent complaints. Wildlife is free to wander across the unfenced park border, consume scarce grasses and water, and then retreat to the park. But in times of scarcity on the community’s land, their livestock is prohibited from entering the park on threat of seizure and fine.