They complained that the present peak season has ended earlier than usual after the Wildebeest returned to Serengeti because many international visitors were not getting value of their money since the media started highlighting the drying river.
Speaking in Narok the driver’s association secretary Mr Felix Mgoya said the Mara game reserve receives half of the tourists visiting Kenya annually.
Mr Daniel ole Soit a tour guide and driver at Sarova Mara camp said the survival of wild animals in the reserve is threatened by shrinking rivers.
Tour drivers and guides from Kenya and Tanzania have warned that the drying up of the Mara River whose source is the Mau Forest could lead to an ecological disaster.
They complained that the present peak season has ended earlier than usual after the Wildebeest returned to Serengeti because many international visitors were not getting value of their money since the media started highlighting the drying river.
Speaking in Narok the driver’s association secretary Mr Felix Mgoya said the Mara game reserve receives half of the tourists visiting Kenya annually.
“One of the best spectacles of the river crossing was last seen in 2012, from then the waters in the river have been dwindling and soon or later we might be out of employment if we depend on Wildlife tourism alone,’ said Mr Migoya.
The driver noted that there has been constant migration of wildlife in the recent past and attributed it to the changes in climate and destruction of the Mau Forest.
“The climate in the Mara is becoming unbearable. The animals tend to move to other areas where they can be able to survive. The Mara River is a source of life but there is no water,” said Mr Migoya.
He hailed the coverage done by NTV two days ago as the reality on the ground.
He said thousands of hippos, elephants, wildebeests, and buffaloes have migrated to Serengeti park in Tanzania after several streams and water dams within the Mara dried up.
Mr Daniel ole Soit a tour guide and driver at Sarova Mara camp said the survival of wild animals in the reserve is threatened by shrinking rivers.
“We are optimistic that the evictions in the Mau forest will give hope to Mara river,” said Mr Soit.
The river cuts across three counties of Bomet, Narok, Kericho and Nakuru which is part of the Mau Forest ecosystem which is a critical basin of Mara river.
“This climate change issue and occupation of the Mau Forest is negatively affecting wild animals and is causing changes in their breeding grounds,” said Mr Parmataro Lemein, a wildlife scientist based at Matira camp.
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