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I’ve been traveling to, and photographing, the Serengeti ecosystem every year for 27 years. In all that time I’ve seen some variations in the life cycles here, particularly among the grazing animals – the wildebeests, zebras, gazelles and others. Some years there has been severe drought and many animals died.
It’s likely that these variations have taken place because of climate change. The rain patterns that used to be so regular and predictable are not so regular. With more than two million animals dependent on fresh grasses and water brought by those rains, changes in weather patterns can have severe consequences. And then another threat emerged.
In May of 2010 I was in the Loliondo Game Controlled Area adjoining Serengeti National Park. I learned from local people that the government planned to build a major commercial highway through Loliondo that would slice across the northern part of Serengeti National Park like a knife wound. Both Loliondo and ...