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Fish are being driven to extinction in the Mara River basin, putting the livelihoods of more than a million people in Kenya and Tanzania in jeopardy, according to WWF.
A report by the wildlife NGO details how farming, deforestation, mining, illegal fishing and invasive species could sound a death knell for the transboundary river. |
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The first stocktake of biodiversity in the river basin identified 473 native freshwater species including four mammals, 88 waterbirds, 126 freshwater associated birds, four reptiles, 20 amphibians, 40 fishes, 50 invertebrate species and 141 vascular plants.
At least 10 species – equivalent to 2% of total species – are on the International Union for Conservation of Nature list of threatened species. Three – the ningu, singida and Victoria tilapia – are “critically endangered”, threatened by the introduction of non-native fish such as the Nile perch. |
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