Mkomazi Newsletter 1999: Introduction

More Information Introduction Rhino Sanctuary African Hunting Dog Outreach Program Management Tourism Nina the Elephant Jipe the Lioness Kora National Park General Travel, Trusts, Trustees

The hard work of planning and stocking both our endangered species programmes in the Mkomazi Game Reserve have now settled into the day to day running and establishment of procedures, safety and development. Civilisation is maintenance, and even if we are not quite civilised yet, with the amount of maintenance going on, we should be.

The politics of the wildlife conservation world would put a soap opera to shame, with the endless emphasis on seminars, conferences and research. When research grants, reputations and rivalries are in play, pure science often becomes a secondary consideration. This seems to sideline the fact that wildlife work is practical, arduous and takes place in the field. Rangers still die in the field protecting their country’s natural resources, and economic raison d'être. Elephants and other animals still get poached and snared, domestic stock increases disproportionately to the amount of available grazing, and the local communities, aware of their neighbouring wildlife since time immemorial, become the subject of study in politically charged environments in quite another world. Meanwhile, the Tanzanian Government tries to implement policies which attempt to be both sustainable and fair and it is a tribute to a vast majority of people’s general good nature and understanding that so much remains in good shape.