A surge in cattle populations marked the landscape, with approximately 20,000 cattle recorded in the eastern half of the reserve in the early 1960s. The trend continued as pastoralists expanded to the western half in the early 1970s, resulting in an overall count of around 80,000 cattle by the mid-1980s. At the same time, local herders from diverse ethnic groups, including the Sambaa and Pare, also grazed thousands of cattle within Mkomazi.
 In response to mounting environmental concerns due to an overwhelming cattle population within Mkomazi, the government took decisive action in the late 1980s, halting all grazing permissions and evicting herders by July 1988. The evictions were upheld despite legal challenges from displaced Maasai and Parakuyo pastoralists, who argued for customary rights. Subsequently, the George Adamson Wildlife Preservation Trust and its American counterpart, the Tony Fitzjohn, George Adamson African Wildlife Preservation Trust, undertook a comprehensive restoration initiative, establishing fenced sanctuaries for African wild dogs and black rhinoceros, revitalizing infrastructure, and supporting local communities through outreach programs. https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/maasai-and-barabaig-herders-struggle-land-rights-kenya-and;:.