Terminal decline? What do the numbers say?

Professor Joseph Ogutu is am expert statistician who has been studying wildlife population survey data going back to the 1950s. He reveals an alarming collapse in wildlife numbers correlating with a massive growth in the human and livestock populations in and around the Masai Mara. While the highly protected elephant and rhino populations have increased, other species have declined by 80 or 90%, he tells us. The world famous migrations of wildebeest, gazelle and zebra face serious threats, spending less time in the Mara, while the Loita migration has collapsed completely since 2015. The number of cattle using the reserve illegally has gone up by 1000%. Tourism facilities increased by 84% between 2012 and 2024.
The Mara contains 30% of Kenya’s wildlife, he tell us: “this is really a dire situation.”
What is going on? And what can be done?

Links to some relevant publications:

WRTI/KWS census report for 2021-2022
https://wrti.go.ke/wp-content/uploads...

WRTI/KWS census report for 2025
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kPbM...

Reversing the disintegration of the Mara
https://www.researchgate.net/publicat...

How fencing led to the collapse of the Mara-Loita Migration
https://researchfeatures.com/wp-conte...

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