Mary's Blog

Up to 500,000 wildebeest migrate through Africa’s Serengeti – but numbers overall are in decline

The future of Africa’s wildlife is hanging in the balance. Lions, cheetahs and hyenas are all experiencing declining populations. These animals once roamed majestically across the African continent. Today they can only be found in pockets of their former wilderness.

The once vast herds of grazing animals that follow climatic seasons in search of fresh grass across the plains have been decreasing for decades. The wildlife organisation SAVE is working to recover declining wildebeest populations.

And what of the elephant and rhinoceros poached for their tusks on demand by an insatiable oriental appetite for ivory?

An endeavour to keep Africa’s people free from the scourges of disease is paramount, but let’s not forget the fragile African ecosystem that depends on this fauna too. Let’s not develop a taste for Africa wildlife on our western dinner tables, that can only accelerate its extinction.

I am not a purist when it comes to being a vegetarian. I am all for encouraging the consumption of “home grown” free range produce so that we can avoid endangering the world’s more exotic wildlife.