Image
© Cherri MegaskoA young Maasai boy stands beside his dead calf.
Drought can be a devastating economic blow to anyone engaged in agriculture. But for the Maasai people of East Africa, it can threaten a centuries-old way of life. Cattle mean more than just food to this primitive tribe that still lives life in much the same way as their distant ancestors. Cows represent status, act as currency, provide a means of social interaction and are even necessary for marriage.

On a recent visit to the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya, East Africa, wildlife abounded. But for every giraffe, elephant and zebra I saw I also saw a dead Maasai cow. Dozens of dying, dead and decaying Maasai cattle littered the landscape, not only of the Maasai villages and surrounding lands, but inside the boundaries of the Reserve as well.

When the rains failed to come in late October, herds of cattle that were already on the brink of starvation from the dry season became even weaker and began to die. The Maasai, whose entire culture is centered around their cows, began sneaking their herds onto the protected lands of the Park under the cover of darkness. "Wilson," the son of a Maasai chief in a village adjacent to the Reserve, explained to me that there the cattle can graze freely - although illegally - until just before sunrise, when they sneak them back out of the Reserve before they are discovered by Park rangers. Unfortunately, the Maasai do not always return with the same number of cows they entered with.

Read the rest of this article here.