There are many wild places of great note around the world. While a large number of these are hugely remote, and therefore protected by the difficulty of reaching them, some were originally protected when remote, but are now increasingly enclosed by settlements.
The huge Serengeti Mara ecosystem, is a rare one in Africa, as it is still operating largely as it has for millions of year. Unfortunately, while the wilderness is fantastic for the animals who call it home, of the money brought in by tourism is turned off suddenly, what are locals to turn for making their living?
A few people taking to hunting and eating bushmeat could be sustainable long-term, doing this in a vast ecosysytem, but hundreds or thousands could quickly destroy the fine balance- furthermore, while the wildebeest population may cope with the loss of a few thousand members, the lion population could easily see losses that could damage it permanently.
As for species such as wild dog (hunting dog) with only perhaps a hundred members having recently reappeared after their 1995 disappearance, they could disappear for another 25 years.
The pressure on the Masai Mara may be nothing, compared to less visited parks, possibly just building up their own visitors. Also how much will the recovery of tourism be largely halted, delaying the return of tourists to the other African migration – the one in South Sudan, and therefore the money that makes it worthwhile for local people to protect it?
