Tanzania, Aug. 31 -- Serengeti. As Tanzania earns billions of shillings from growing tourist numbers and successful wildlife conservation, communities living around protected areas in Serengeti District, Mara Region, are paying another price for that success through crop destruction, livestock losses and threats to their safety.

An investigation by Mwananchi in Bokore, Nyanungu and Pakinyigoti villages found that rising wildlife populations, particularly elephants, have been accompanied by increasing incursions into farms and settlements, while mechanisms for addressing the resulting losses have failed to reach some victims promptly.

Residents say the problem recurs every farming season, with elephants sometimes entering farms in large ...