ALIEN plants are set to devastate the annual African wildebeest migration, Oxfordshire scientists have warned.

Researchers at the Centre of Agriculture and Bioscience International (CABI) near Wallingford led the study which concluded a number of invasive alien plant species initially introduced as ornamental plants at tourism facilities are now spreading rapidly throughout the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem, posing a major threat to wildlife, including the annual wildebeest and zebra migration.

Writing in the journal Koedoe, the team identified a number of invasive alien plant species in the Masai-Mara National Reserve, many of which have been intentionally introduced into tourism facilities that have now escaped cultivation and are colonising areas far away from any human habitation.

Without urgent interventions, the CABI scientists predict that the rapid spread of these alien species will convert much of the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem into a ‘green desert’, significantly reducing wildlife numbers and impacting on tourism and the economy.

Senior invasive species expert at CABI, Dr Arne Witt, said: “We need urgent action right now with a series of control programs implemented to reduce the severity of these threats. Failure to act could see the devastation of the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem as we know it.”