The British were attracted to Maasailand by excellent and varied climatic conditions, the beauty of the landscape and the enormous wildlife-both flora and fauna. Commercial trophy hunting of large game for which the western media had popularized Maasailand, was also an added attraction. By the year 1930, hunting had already threatened many wildlife species with extinction, leading to a conference in London in 1933 to determine the status and future of East Africa's wildlife. Following the resolutions of this conference, national parks and game preserves were created across Maasailand in a bid to ensure the survival of wildlife in the region. The Maasai have lived in harmony within the rich ecosystems of East Africa for years.
People coexist in the natural balance of nature.
The concentration of wildlife conservation areas in Maasai territories and the sheer abundance of wildlife in the communal Maasai lands has been attributed largely to the Maasai culture, their reverence and custodial attitude toward nature. Maasai culture promotes respect for creation and wise use of non-renewable natural resources with the knowledge that the present generations are only holding them in trust of the future generations. The Maasai traditions prohibit killing of wildlife for commercial reasons or destruction of forests or any part of a natural ecosystem. This is why even today, wildlife still thrives in Maasailand unlike many other parts of the region where wildlife has been eliminated either for food or to give way to commercial agriculture. Commercial agriculture, insensitive tourism practices and continued loss of Maasai traditional lands to modern economic development projects all threaten the survival of the Maasai people, wildlife and their shared habitat.