With greater pressure and competition for access to pasture land, much of the available land has been overgrazed, resulting in a reduction in herd sizes. The Maasai have also been displaced from large stretches of territory that have been designated as national parks and wildlife conservation reserves.

The Maasai people are not "going extinct" in terms of population numbers—in fact, their population is currently estimated at over 1.5 million—but their traditional way of life and culture are facing an existential threat. The primary drivers are climate change and land dispossession. As semi-nomadic pastoralists, the Maasai rely on vast open lands for their cattle; however, prolonged and severe droughts in East Africa are killing off livestock in record numbers, destroying their primary source of food and wealth. Simultaneously, the privatization of land for commercial farming and the expansion of national parks have restricted their traditional grazing routes. Younger generations are increasingly migrating to cities like Nairobi and Arusha for education and employment, leading to a "cultural dilution" where traditional language, dress, and ceremonies are being replaced by modern westernized lifestyles. While the people themselves remain resilient, the unique social and economic systems that have defined the Maasai for centuries are under immense pressure to adapt or disappear.