The Serengeti we know today is renowned for its untouched wilderness and scenic views of wild animals grazing. But did you know that ancient dung fertilized this land?
According to anthropologist Fiona Marshall, an assistant professor of anthropology at Washington University in St. Louis and senior author of the reputed journal Nature, much of the iconic African landscape has been shaped by prehistoric herders for thousands of years.
In her paper, Dr. Summers explains that areas where ancient herders kept their animals became more fertile over time. For more than 3,000 years, cattle, goats, and sheep enriched the soil in these corrals, creating nutrient-rich spots that helped increase the diversity of Africa’s vast savanna landscapes.
The Impact of Ancient Poo on Kenyan Soil
The study finds that various regions of Kenya benefited from the cultural practices and living arrangements of these ancient societies. It explicitly states that by mapping the precise patterns and migratory routes of these hunter-gatherer communities, researchers were able to correlate them with various natural phenomena observed today.
One such phenomenon is the famous Serengeti wildlife migration. Ecologists believe that ancient, nutrient-rich soil — enriched by dung and quick to green after rainfall — helped shape the now-famous migratory route.
The explanation is fairly straightforward. These hunter-gatherer societies always traveled with their livestock, and over time, their animals’ dung accumulated on the ground. This constant depositing of waste formed nutrient-rich manure, gradually enriching the soil until it became fertile enough to support grasslands. Present-day migratory animals need to feed as they travel, so they follow these grasslands.