ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the environmental disadvantages associated with tsetse fly "eradication" / components in livestock projects. In any tsetse control projects that employ toxic chemicals, especially persistent biocides, a biological and chemical monitoring component should be used to reduce the risks of induced pest resistance and non-target damage and deaths. Much semi-arid land being considered for increased livestock range cannot sustain even present livestock levels. Since much, if not most, tsetse-occupied land is of poor quality, most tsetse control is for extensive livestock ranching, rather than for agriculture. Proponents claim that game ranching is superior to cattle ranching because it is cheaper, requires less tsetse control, and lowers major capital expenditures. In the longer term, trypanosomiasis control appears to be more practical and environmentally less damaging than tsetse eradication campaigns. The Glossina predator candidates for tsetse control include hersiliid spiders and asiliid flies, which can decimate adult tsetse populations, and some ants and carnivorous Coleoptera which attack tsetse pupae.
