Tanzania removes Maasais out of Ngorongoro reserve

Tanzanian herders in the Ngorongoro Crater in Arusha. FILE PHOTO | AFP

Tanzania on Thursday began relocating Maasai pastoralists from the famed Ngorongoro conservation area in a move that rights campaigners described as unlawful evictions.

The indigenous community has lived in the reserve, a Unesco World Heritage site in northern Tanzania, for over a century. But they now face the threat of eviction, as the authorities contend that their growing population is encroaching on wildlife habitat.