Land of Grass: Grasslands naturally form in tropical regions that get too little rain for forests but are not dry enough to become deserts. Vegetation dies in the dry season but grows during the summer rainy season. Grasses dominate the area, but drought resistant trees such as acacias also grow in the grasslands. Grasses quickly grow again when their stems are bitten off or trampled. They recover easily after the fires that sweep the terrain in the dry season. Narrow leaves provide dense cover and food for herbivores (plant eaters). Grass roots bind the earth and provide food for soil animals.

Dwindling Resources: Human settlement threatens the ecological balance between soil, vegetation, and animals on the tropical savannah and other grasslands worldwide. Land plowed and tilled for crops or used as pasture for herds of cattle, sheep, and goats take over natural habitats.  These domestic herds graze more intensively than wild herbivores, altering the pattern of vegetation and driving out native plants and animals.  Intensive grazing and cultivation in drier areas reduce plant cover until it no longer protects and binds the topsoil, leaving it exposed to the wind and rain. The soil blows and washes away, leaving the land uninhabitable for either animals or human.

Hunting: Varieties of large animals on the open savannah terrain suffer from hunting. Killing fast running animals is considered an exciting sport, and many make valuable trophies. Hunters kill some animals for food and some because they are predators that might attack domestic livestock. As a result, large grassland animals have declined over the past few centuries. In India, blackjack and Asiatic lions have decreased to low levels. Africa elephants, rhinoceroses, giraffes, zebras, lions, leopards, and cheetahs have all disappeared from their original ranges. Several species, including more than a million springboks, were brought close to extinction in the nineteenth century.

Conservation Measures: The impact of farming on grasslands worldwide would be difficult to reverse. As human populations grow, the need for farming tropical grassland in the future increases. But for these areas to continue sustaining life, careful efforts to conserve the soil must be made. Livestock herds need to be reduced to fit the size of the land. Pastures should be left empty some years or planted with crops such as alfalfa to restore soil fertility. Lines of trees should be planted as windbreakers to protect the crops and stem erosion. Other measures to protect grasslands include laws protecting animals from hunting. The Convention on International Endangered Species (CITES), controls animal trade and products.

National Parks: The future of tropical grassland conservation lies setting aside land in national parks and reserves. Habitats in selected areas remain as wild as possible with our human intervention.  The Savannah's in eastern and southern Africa have many parks, including the large areas in Kenya's Tsavo or Tanzania's Serengeti. These parks harbor the largest grazing herds, maintaining wildlife once common in African grasslands. Yet national parks have been unpopular with local people because of park restrictions. In some parks, antelopes and elephants are killed because the protected herds become too large and destructive. Poachers still penetrate protected areas and hunt endangered species. Despite shoot to kill policing in some countries, elephant and rhino poaching has increased.

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