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Africa News of Friday, 18 September 2020

Source: bbc.com

Kenya shuts camp that blocked wildebeest migration

The annual migration is a big draw for tourists (Getty Images) The annual migration is a big draw for tourists (Getty Images)

The Kenyan authorities have ordered the closure of a tourist camp built in the Masai Mara that blocked wildebeests from their annual migration to Serengeti park in Tanzania.

Kenya's National Environment Management Authority (Nema) said the Mara Ngenche camp had not complied with environmental requirements.

The camp has now been ordered to undertake a fresh environmental assessment to determine its suitability at current site, the authority tweeted.

"The camp management was ordered to demolish structures encroaching into the riparian reserves of the Mara river," the authority said.

Nema added that it will conduct an "audit of all facilities in Mara's ecosystem in the next one month and all non-compliant facilities will be closed and prosecuted".

Several people on Twitter expressed their anger last week after Kenya's Tourism Minister Najib Balala shared a video showing the wildebeest blocked from their annual migration.