Society learns about the wildlife of the Serengeti
The indoor meeting of the Arran Natural History Society took place on Thursday November 3, when Zul Bhatia, manager of the RSPB reserve in Lochwinnoch, gave an illustrated presentation on the wildlife of the Serengeti National Park in Tanzania.
As Zul said: ‘I have been there myself dozens of times and guide tourists there as well. In this talk I concentrated on the birds and mammals, and talked about animal populations and movements too.
‘The Serengeti migration is, without doubt, one of the impressive wildlife spectacles in the world when more than a million large herbivores – mainly wildebeest, zebra and gazelles – move across the area, followed by predators, in particular the big cats – lion, leopard and cheetah.’
Zul is a Tanzanian citizen of Asian origin who has been living in the UK for many years. He has an exceptional knowledge of the wildlife of east Africa, especially Tanzania, where he and his family spent two and a half years, during which Zul was the co-ordinator of the Uluguru Mountains Planning Project.
He has been leading wildlife tours for many years, has carried out ornithological and socio-economic research in Tanzania and presented papers on the findings to international conferences.
Although primarily a birder, Zul is interested in all wildlife and his hobbies include photography and gardening. His photography skills were particularly evident in the evening’s presentation, which included some stunning shots of the Serengeti’s wildlife, taken sometimes on foot, sometimes from a Land Cruiser, and ranging from lions and hippos to mice and beetles, and from tawny eagles to swallows.
Zul explained the movements and interactions of this great diversity of animals over the changing seasons in the park.
One particular point of interest was Zul’s description of the setting up of the park in 1951. To preserve wildlife, the British – this was before independence – evicted the resident Maasai from the park in 1959 and moved them to the neighbouring Ngorongoro Conservation Area. There is still considerable controversy surrounding this move, with claims made of coercion and deceit on the part of the colonial authorities.
Today, the park covers 14,750 square kilometres and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Human habitation is forbidden in the park with the exception of staff for the Tanzania National Parks Authority, researchers and staff of the Frankfurt Zoological Society, and staff of the various lodges, campsites and hotels. After mineral exports, it is biggest earner of foreign currency for Tanzania, which remains a poor although stable country, and a very hospitable one, according to Zul. With Zul’s extensive experience and exceptional knowledge of the area this was a fascinating evening.
The December meeting will not be on the usual first Thursday of the month but on Thursday December 8 at 8pm in the Rangers Centre in Brodick Country Park.
The speaker will be Keith Betton, a passionate birdwatcher and conservationist. He is currently vice president of the British Trust for Ornithology. He has been a council member of both the RSPB and BTO. He is a keen world birder having seen more than 7,900 species in nearly 100 countries.
Alan Bellamy