Item 1 of 2 Wildebeests (Connochaetes taurinus) gather in the dry fields during their migration to the greener pastures, between the Maasai Mara game reserve and the open plains of the Serengeti, southwest of Nairobi, in the Maasai Mara game reserve, in Narok county, Kenya August 7, 2025. REUTERS/Thomas Mukoya/File Photo
[1/2]Wildebeests (Connochaetes taurinus) gather in the dry fields during their migration to the greener pastures, between the Maasai Mara game reserve and the open plains of the Serengeti, southwest of Nairobi, in the Maasai Mara game reserve, in Narok county, Kenya August 7, 2025. REUTERS/Thomas… Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab Read more
NAIROBI, Nov 27 (Reuters) – The Kenya Wildlife Service on Thursday rejected claims that a new Ritz-Carlton luxury lodge was blocking a wildebeest migration corridor between Kenya’s Maasai Mara reserve and Tanzania’s Serengeti National Park.
A Kenyan activist filed a lawsuit in August seeking to block the opening of the hotel, which charges nightly rates starting from $3,500 per person. Though the hotel was allowed to open, the lawsuit is still ongoing.
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The case has sparked a vigorous debate in Kenya, which relies heavily on tourism, over access to benefits from the industry.
In a statement shared on its official X account on Thursday, KWS said that monitoring data indicated that the Ritz-Carlton property did “not fall within, obstruct, or interfere with any wildebeest migration corridors”.
“Migrating wildebeest are using the entire breadth of the Kenya-Tanzania border within the Reserve (approximately 68 km wide), without a specific preferred route or corridor,” it said.
Marriott International (MAR.O), opens new tab, which owns Ritz-Carlton, has said the project’s local developer Lazizi Mara Limited obtained all necessary approvals for the hotel. Lazizi said an environmental impact assessment had established that the site was not a wildlife crossing point.
The hotel is just the latest flashpoint in a broader rift over East Africa’s wildlife tourism industry.
In Kenya, locals have complained about what they say are land grabs by wealthy investors. In Tanzania, protests against the eviction of tens of thousands of Maasai to make way for hunting lodges have led to deadly clashes with police.
According to research by the University of Manchester published in August, some African nations’ efforts to attract luxury tourism have yielded limited benefits for local communities and even deepened inequality.
All-inclusive resorts are often cut off from local life, hire few local workers, and keep tourists from spending in nearby communities by providing everything on-site, the research published in African Studies Review said.
Reporting by Humphrey Malalo; Writing by Ammu Kannampilly; Editing by Joe Bavier
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