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Masai Mara, a large nature reserve in south-western Kenya, was created in the midst of semi-arid agropastoralist rangelands to protect wildlife. Wildlife and indigenous people co-existed for many years, usually with limited conflict; but in recent years, the conflict has intensified, mainly due to increasing human population, changing land use patterns, and altered perceptions of wildlife. This study examines the causes and nature of wildlife-human conflict in the Masai rangelands of Kenya, and considers how wildlife conservation and human development needs can best be integrated. / Findings indicate that common conflicts are livestock depredation and crop damage, human deaths or injuries, transmission of diseases, and competition for resources. Land surrounding the reserve can be divided into two distinct topographic and agroclimatic regions. The degree of conflict is spatially varied within the region. Upland ranches have high land use potential, high human and livestock population densities, and more development of agriculture. They experience limited conflict with wildlife. Lowland ranches are more arid, have lower human population density and little agriculture, but have high wildlife and livestock population densities and experience a high degree of conflict. These conflicts vary seasonally, and with distance from the protected area. / Perceptions of wildlife and attitudes towards conservation are related to past experience with wildlife. The degree of loss, effectiveness of damage control, fairness of government compensation, and involvement in wildlife tourism affect the degree of tolerance for wildlife conflict. Various socio-economic factors including level of education, knowledge of conservation priorities, and system of land ownership are related to attitudes towards wildlife. As human activity increases in the region, wildlife is more likely to be displaced. Because most animals are migratory, conflict in the land surrounding the reserve puts the viability of animal population in the protected area in question. / A two-phase program for integrating wildlife conservation with human needs is proposed. The first phase involves designation of the region into four zones: Zone A--the protected area, Zone B--the peripheral area, Zone C--multiple use, and Zone D--agriculture. The second phase of the program is the integration of the wildlife conservation with human interests through: community wildlife-damage-control, compensation for loss, sharing of tourism benefits with local people, conservation education, and local participation in wildlife conservation policy. The program provides a framework within which operational decisions can be made, and serves broader natural resource management and community development objectives in the rangelands.

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The Maasai of East Africa traditionally consume a diet of milk, meat, and blood. Previous studies have found the Maasai to suffer from vitamin A deficiency (VAD). This micronutrient deficiency compromises systemic immunity and increases morbidity and mortality. A semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was used to investigate the vitamin A intake of small Maasai children in Loita, Kenya. On average, children consumed 596mug/dayRAE from retinoid sources and 956mug/dayRAE when coupled with beta-carotene sources. The measles virus (MV) has yet to be eradicated from East Africa and remains a threat to young children. The Maasai have developed methods to deal with this disease and improve systemic immunity by introducing medicinal plants into the diet. Plant species added to the milk and soups of small children were determined using the FFQ. Antiviral properties of the seven most common dietary plants were then investigated, measuring MV neutralization and MV production, and compared to 7 arbitrarily selected non-medicinal plants. Significant differences (X2 p < 0.05) were found between the antiviral actions of medicinal and non-medicinal species.

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Dietary phytochemicals such as saponins have been suggested to have therapeutic uses in the prevention and alleviation of hypercholesterolemia. Thus, twelve Tanzanian plant additives hypothesized to contain saponins and used in soup by the Batemi, were investigated for in vitro hypocholesterolemic potential by: (1) screening for likelihood of detectable saponins using TLC, hemolysis, frothing ability and molluscicidal activity. (2) using changes in hemolytic activity to indirectly examine interactions of plant extracts with cholesterol, cholesterol-analogues, conjugated bile salts and non-conjugated bile salts. (3) using radiolabelled cholesterol to examine direct binding capacity of extracts with cholesterol. Albizia anthelmintica, Myrsine africana and Acacia goetzii were most likely to contain saponins and had significant (p $<$ 0.05) hemolytic activity that was effected by the presence of cholesterol, cholesterol analogues, conjugated and non-conjugated bile salts (p $<$ 0.05). Methanol, ethyl acetate, aqueous and n-butanol extracts of A. anthelmintica and methanol, ethyl acetate and aqueous extracts of A. goetzii bound significant amounts of cholesterol solubilized in ethanol (p $<$ 0.05). Thus, saponins are a detectable component of the Batemi diet and extracts likely containing saponins do interact with chemicals that have been proposed to be involved in in vivo mechanisms of saponin induced hypocholesterolemia. A. anthelmintica and A. goetzii seem likely to have hypocholesterolemic potential as dietary additives.

Countries in the developing world, in attempts to promote investment in land and agricultural productivity, and to establish frameworks for economic development, have regularly embarked on extensive tenure reforms designed to replace customary forms of tenure with private individual forms. In the Kenya rangelands, the Group Ranch system: a hybrid tenure system that allows communal ownership and use of titled land, was created and implemented in the rangelands where private tenure was thought to be unsuitable. This thesis discusses the failure of the Group Ranch system in Kajiado District, and the parallel transformation of Maasai communal lands into private, individual holdings, which has eroded land security, facilitated land loss to non-residents, created local socio-economic disparities, and made difficult the sustainable practice of pastoral livelihoods. From this discussion it is suggested that communal tenure systems may be useful in preventing and addressing land and resource related problems, and that tailoring land policies and tenure reforms to clarify and strengthen customary systems can play a significant role in promoting land conservation and productivity in the African rangelands and enhance security for the people that depend on them.

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Tropical African forests are thought to be declining due to human activity, resulting in serious threat to local communities and wildlife. The threatened status of populations of Juniperus procera and Olea africana was studied in Loliondo, Tanzania. Three hundred persons were interviewed in ten Maasai communities concerning tree utilization for fence and house construction, firewood, traditional medicine and gourd sterilization. By comparing the indices for 169 species, J. procera and O. africana usage was significantly higher than all other species (Kruskal-Wallis, chi2 = 15.3, DF = 2, p = 0.0005). Ninety-six percent of interviewees have witnessed local decline in J. procera and O. africana. In conjunction with interviews, ecological sampling was carried out in community forests to determine species status. The correlations of size class distributions are not typical of "healthy" plant populations. If current trends continue local extinction of J. procera and O. africana may occur.