Paolo Mauritania
AH veteran
Anyone can comment on the allegation that fires are used to divert the great migration?
I can only comment on the UAE side having lived there few years; unless they have changed their approach, in the 60's-70's they have almost completely wiped out their own Oryx population due to over hunting (hunting from openings in the roof of specially built cars), I sincerely hope they have changed their attitude toward conservation.
The problem with Ortello could be the "real" ownership; having lived in Middle East for a while, there is no such a thing as an independent company organizing safaris for Royalties, it doesn't work that way. If only the royalties hunt there Ortello might well be a cover for some members of the royal families (Dubai or Abu-Dhabi) and if such they expect to do pretty much what they want (it is a difficult concept for us to understand, however we are in the realm of absolute power even though the reality is mitigated by a carefully thought out PR campaign).
It is not uncommon in the UAE to have in some private locations (small islands too) all kind of animals for display, when I used to live there my neighbor used to have two cheetas in a large cage in the garden..........
Cannot comment on the specifics but we have the same problem of overgrazing from cows here in Mauritania too, there are more cows than people, is part of their culture, however it would be also interesting to check if interrupting the migration forcibly (if it is true) will not eventually result in overgrazing, after all that's the reason for the migration.
It could be also interesting to check what actually cattle eat, I mean what kind of plain grass, Zebra, Wildebeest and Gazelle they self regulates food competition eating different kind of grass in the plain's lower vegetation layers, are the cattle influencing all of the three layers that constitute the great migration animals food source?
Very complex problem.
I can only comment on the UAE side having lived there few years; unless they have changed their approach, in the 60's-70's they have almost completely wiped out their own Oryx population due to over hunting (hunting from openings in the roof of specially built cars), I sincerely hope they have changed their attitude toward conservation.
The problem with Ortello could be the "real" ownership; having lived in Middle East for a while, there is no such a thing as an independent company organizing safaris for Royalties, it doesn't work that way. If only the royalties hunt there Ortello might well be a cover for some members of the royal families (Dubai or Abu-Dhabi) and if such they expect to do pretty much what they want (it is a difficult concept for us to understand, however we are in the realm of absolute power even though the reality is mitigated by a carefully thought out PR campaign).
It is not uncommon in the UAE to have in some private locations (small islands too) all kind of animals for display, when I used to live there my neighbor used to have two cheetas in a large cage in the garden..........
Cannot comment on the specifics but we have the same problem of overgrazing from cows here in Mauritania too, there are more cows than people, is part of their culture, however it would be also interesting to check if interrupting the migration forcibly (if it is true) will not eventually result in overgrazing, after all that's the reason for the migration.
It could be also interesting to check what actually cattle eat, I mean what kind of plain grass, Zebra, Wildebeest and Gazelle they self regulates food competition eating different kind of grass in the plain's lower vegetation layers, are the cattle influencing all of the three layers that constitute the great migration animals food source?
Very complex problem.
