The Tsetse Trap
It is the tsetse fly, not man, that rules most of Africa. There are 15 million square kilometres of fertile land, excellent for ranching, that cannot be used because of the fly. The parasite it carries, called a trypanosome, kills all domestic animals, cattle, pigs, goats and horses, from the Sahara to Southern Africa.
After 60 years of scientific effort the fly belts are still increasing. The tsetse is one of the oldest species of fly alive. Why its unique and strange way of life has made it so difficult to attack is part of the fascination of this story. But now there is hope. In Tanzania, Kenya, The Gambia and Rhodesia, scientists are trying new ideas-from sterilised super-stud males to a weird machine called a tsetse trap.
If any of them succeed and the battle with this strange insect is won, Africa could become the meat basket of the world. Narrator PAUL VAUGHAN
Film editor KEITH WILTON
Editor SIMON CAMPBELL-JONES
Written and produced by EDWARD GOLDWYN