Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 April 2009
So great are the advantages of a light aeroplane for all aspects of game management, including anti-poacher operations and research, that the effective management of the 5,000-square-mile Serengeti National Park, in Tanzania, now depends on the plane. The running costs are considerably less than those of a Land Rover. The authors, who have been engaged on this work since early 1962, describe some of their observations on wildebeest migration which could only have been made from the air, and their methods of co-operating with ground-based rangers for effective anti-poacher control. Incidental advantages of the plane include its ability to swoop down and “buzz” the meat-carrying poachers, and its speed in discovering the “lost” tourist who has run out of petrol in the park.