6th annual Grevy’s Zebra conference

Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) recently held the 6th annual Grevy’s Zebra  conference in Nairobi to review measures taken over the last 10 years to stem the decreasing population of the endangered species, whose population has dwindled from 15,000 in the 1970’s to the current 2,800 animals.

The conference brought together researchers and academics from diverse backgrounds who made presentations on recent findings on Grevy’s zebra, particularly on its survival amid a myriad of threats.

Mr Patrick Omondi KWS Deputy Director for Species Conservation and Management, and Chair of Barcode of Wildlife Project Kenya, who opened the conference, asked participants to strive to come up with a clear road map of addressing the threats facing the survival of the endangered species. He cited habitat loss, predation and diseases as the major threats to the survival of the Grevy’s Zebra.

Historically, Grevy’s Zebra were found in Kenya, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Somalia with a reported sighting in Sudan. Currently, the species is only found in Kenya and Ethiopia, with Kenya holding 90 percent of the total population.

Grevy’s zebra (Equus grevyi) was listed as Endangered A 2ac, C 2a (i) by the IUCN/SSC Equid Specialist Group (IUCN, 2003).  Grevy’s zebra is also listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES), which offers them the highest protection against trade. The population size of Grevy’s zebra has reduced drastically and the species’ natural range has undergone one of the most dramatic constrictions of any animal species in Africa.

The main threats responsible for the decline of the species population are loss of range, hunting, competition with domestic livestock for critical resources, loss of access to critical resources, disease, predation, use of its products for medicinal purposes and drought; particularly in northern Kenya.