The Dry Cycle Continues

Half way through December & the rain seems to have stopped. This is worrying, because it is the third rainy season in succession that we have had a deficit of rain. As a result, the Sanctuary is green, but the newly sprouting grass is already being guzzled by cattle.
Why? On the southern edge of Nairobi National Park, where we are, the Masai traditional owners of the land have sold it to outsiders, whilst still owning large herds of cattle which are sustained by grazing in the Park. This is the reason why the park will never be fenced.
The main ecological consequence is that the plains outside the park (including the Sanctuary) are heavily overgrazed. When the migratory herbivore species such as wildebeeste (we only have 300 individuals left!), zebra , eland & kongoni move out to the dispersal area of the NNP, they find no grazing & much human activity, not to mention roads, livestock, quarrying etc
What is the overall effect of these realities?
I have never seen zebra in the NNP at this time of year in 10 years of observation, (along with the gnus, kongoni & eland now currently resident in the park.)
This is because of the fact that the Park is gradually being encircled by the city but ALSO because of the progressive management of the Park in the last year by KWS, in which two-thirds of the grasslands were burnt in a controlled burn.
In other words, ecological systems are always dynamic, but few can be as interestingly dynamic as our NNP!