{{The White House has canceled a safari that US President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle were due to take in Tanzania over budgetary concerns, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.}}<\/p>\n
The newspaper, citing a Secret Service planning document, said the excursion scheduled during a tour of Africa that Obama will undertake later this month would have required agents protecting him to take extraordinary precautions.<\/p>\n
The safari \u201cwould have required the president\u2019s special counterassault team to carry sniper rifles with high-caliber rounds that could neutralize cheetahs, lions or other animals if they became a threat,\u201d the paper reported.<\/p>\n
Outlining the vast security preparations made for Obama\u2019s trip to Senegal, Tanzania and South Africa, the document was provided to the Post by a person \u201cconcerned about the amount of resources necessary for the trip.\u201d<\/p>\n
It did not provide cost information.<\/p>\n
The Post said the White House canceled the safari Wednesday after the paper inquired about the \u201cpurpose and expense.\u201d The Obamas had been expected to spend more than two hours at Tanzania\u2019s Mikumi National Park.<\/p>\n
The White House was not immediately available for comment, but a spokesman told the Post that a trip to South Africa\u2019s Robben Island, the site of the prison where anti-apartheid hero Nelson Mandela was held, had taken precedence.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do not have a limitless supply of assets to support presidential missions, and we prioritized a visit to Robben Island over a two-hour safari in Tanzania,\u201d said the spokesman, Josh Earnest.<\/p>\n
{{\u201cUnfortunately, we couldn\u2019t do both.\u201d}}<\/p>\n
The Post said Obama\u2019s Africa tour, his first since taking office in January 2009, could cost the government between $60 million and $100 million, based on cost of similar trips in recent years.<\/p>\n
The report comes as many government agencies struggle with mandatory budget cuts that took effect in March because US lawmakers failed to strike a wider budget deal.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of Secret Service agents will be dispatched for the president\u2019s visit, along with a Navy aircraft carrier or amphibious ship, with a fully staffed medical trauma center stationed offshore, the report said.<\/p>\n
Dozens of vehicles will also be brought to the three countries by military transport planes, along with sheets of bulletproof glass to cover the windows of the hotels where the Obamas stay.<\/p>\n
\u201cFighter jets will fly in shifts, giving 24-hour coverage over the president\u2019s airspace,\u201d the report said, citing the Secret Service document.<\/p>\n
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