Wildlife as a resources

Wildlife as a resource

A wildlife protected area is an area demarcated specifically for the protection and conservation of wild animals. In Tanzania, there are various wildlife protected areas. These include national parks, game reserves and conservation areas. The national parks include Serengeti, Katavi, Manyara, Mikumi, Ruaha and Tarangire. Examples of game reserves are Selous and Ugalla. An example of a conservation area is the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Some of the large wild animals found in these conservation areas are elephants, buffalos, rhinos, giraffes, leopards, lions, wildebeest, kudus and zebra.

The contribution of wildlife to development

Wildlife contributes to our national income through domestic and international tourism. It also stimulates the development of infrastructure such as roads, communications and hotels. Moreover, it helps to increase peoples' income by stimulating and creating employment opportunities, especially through tourism activities. Wildlife areas are a source of knowledge which is obtained through study tours and by doing research.

Protecting wildlife areas

In order for us to protect wildlife areas, we need to:

1. Enforce laws which prohibit human activities such as crop cultivation and livestock keeping in wildlife areas;
2. Educate our people on the importance of wildlife areas and on how to protect them;
3. Conduct day-to-day patrols in wildlife areas in order to prevent poaching; and
4. Strengthen the boundaries of wildlife areas.

Wild animal in a national park