Tourism is vital to conserving the Serengeti, says ZSL researcher Dennis Minja, but could too much tourism be affecting the survival of Tanzania’s rarest big cat?
“Imagine endless grass plains, thousands of wildebeest and zebra grunting and whinnying to each other, backed by a ruby-red sunset,” says Dennis, with a grin. “It’s a special place to work,” he adds – a bit of an understatement!
Dennis Minja is a ZSL researcher studying for his PhD in Tanzania’s Serengeti. He grew up in Tanzania’s highlands, inspired by television documentaries about African wildlife. He’s now tasked with understanding the effects that human activities could be having on a fragile cheetah population: namely, the tourism industry and local livestock herders.
Does tourism impact how cheetahs behave?
The Serengeti has drawn tourists from all over the world to experience it, who bring with them important cash and jobs for the country’s economy. But could too many tourists have an impact on how cheetahs behave? To find out, Dennis is studying their movements for clues.
“What we’ve found so far, is that cheetahs are avoiding areas where tourist activity is high,” says Dennis. “They’re avoiding roads, and they’re staying away from cattle herders too. In fact, they’re treating humans just like they would a large predator, like a lion.”
Cheetahs are much smaller than lions and leopards, who will kill cheetahs and their cubs if they can catch them. It means they have to be more mobile than their larger cousins, covering great distances to find prey and stay ahead of other predators.
“Cheetahs rely on movement to survive,” says Dennis. “If we restrict their routes in the savannah too much, will they be able to cope? And can they access the habitats they need to find food and raise their cubs?” Dennis hopes to find out, using the GPS data from specially made collars fitted to 10 wild, Serengeti cheetahs.
