Kenya: The Ultimate Safari Destination

The extinction of species is a natural part of life on earth, but when humans “help” the process along by destroying habitats, food sources, or the environment, it is anything but the natural order of things. One of the earliest instances of wildlife conservancy came in 1907, when 15 bison were sent to the Wichita Reserve. This all-but-extinct American icon rebounded and once again became a symbol, this time for conservancy efforts. Nature should be allowed to take its course, but when we interfere, we have to help tip the balance back. Wildlife conservancies help do this.

Wildlife conservancies come in different forms:

• National parks.
• Wildlife sanctuaries.
• Zoos.
• Botanical gardens.

The variety of conservation methods helps ensure a broad approach to wildlife management; each aspect of nature is essential to its proper functioning and each needs protecting. From plants and insects to invertebrates, birds, and four-legged beasts, conservancy should not discriminate in favor of the “cute and cuddly” species at the expense of the creepy, crawly ones. This helps keep nature in balance, as it should be.

Preserving wildlife necessitates preserving the land and habitats in which they thrive. Influences like deforestation, climate-change, industrialization, use of chemicals and disposal of waste, and mismanagement of wildlife and land is relieved in these areas. While these lands are still very much impacted by the rest of the world, they are indeed a refuge.

Nature conservation projects allow incredible opportunities for research. The Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona, for instance supports research on the spread and impact of non-native species, impacts of fire on desert ecosystems, impact of various land uses, including grazing, and much more. Conservancies use their natural resources as a laboratory to study their environments with the hope of better protecting them.

A benefit of wildlife conservancies that cannot be ignored is the economic advantages they can bring to an area. Kenya is a leader in this regard, using its commitment to its rich natural resources to bring in tourism revenue. There are over 40 national parks and reserves, and the vast majority of Kenya’s 2 million annual visitors come to see the impressive lion, cape buffalo, giraffe, elephant, hippo, cheetah, leopard, and incredible variety of other flora and fauna. When conservation works in concert with economics, it becomes a tremendously powerful force.

Wildlife conservancy is not perfect; in an ideal world, we would not need to have “protected” areas because every area would be protected and preserved. Until that happens, conservancies provide us with the chance to help in-danger wildlife survive and thrive.

Enid Glasgow is a travel writer who recently visited Kenya.