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Drought threatens rare species in Northeastern

The situation is desperate after rains failed for the fifth straight season

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by The Star

Big-read08 December 2022 - 14:12
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In Summary


• Pastoralists and wildlife in Isiolo, Samburu and Laikipia are reeling from drought

• Groups are providing feed and nutrition supplements but more needs to be done

Reticulated giraffes are seen at Shaba National Reserve, Isiolo on October 25
One failed rainy season is concerning but no reason to panic. Two, you start to get worried. Three, things begin to get serious, and now to think this is the fifth one the rain is failing, you can imagine how desperate the situation is

Attention has been drawn to the plight of residents of Northeastern during the drought season.

Media, government and non-governmental efforts have been rallied as drought left thousands without food, children malnourished and hundreds of cattle dead.

However, less attention has been shown to the fate of wildlife in the wake of drought.

Isiolo, Marsabit and Samburu regions boast rare wildlife, only found in this region, staring at death and extinction.

One of the rare wildlife in this area is the endangered Grévy’s zebras.

Grévy’s Zebra Trust research director David Kimiti says there are only about 3,000 Grévy’s zebras in the world, 2,850 of which are in Kenya, meaning more than 95 per cent of the world's population of Grévy's zebras are in Kenya.

Compared to normal zebras, Grévy’s are bigger, have thinner stripes and live in drier areas north of the equator.

“Because they are so few of them, any single individual that is saved is a massive impact on the overall viability of the population,” he says.

GZT is the only organisation in the world with a mission focused solely on conserving the endangered Grévy’s zebra.

In Kenya, it works in Isiolo, Samburu and Laikipia.

By November 23, the GZT said it had recorded 104 mortalities of the Grévy’s since January linked to drought and drought-related complications.

A vet examines the carcass of a Grévy’s zebra that died due to ongoing drought at Buffalo Springs National Reserve, Isiolo, on October 24

The organisation introduced a complementary feeding programme to combat the deaths, distributing hay to the animals on a daily basis.

“One failed rainy season is concerning but no reason to panic. Two, you start to get worried. Three, things begin to get serious, and now to think this is the fifth one the rain is failing, you can imagine how desperate the situation is,” Kimiti says in an interview.

“The land has not gotten time to recover. Every time there is an upshot of grass, it is immediately cleared.”

The organisation is also mixing minerals with hay to ensure the Grévy’s are not susceptible to malnutrition.

He says some species like elephants have an edge in that they can travel long distances to go look for water, but others like buffaloes and zebras are suffering because they don’t travel spectacularly long distances to look for forage.

“When it hasn’t rained, water sources begin to dry, so we have twin problems of water and grass. We think there would be a lot more deaths if we were not intervening,” he says.

He says supplementary feeding and nutrition supplements are short-term interventions, adding that the animals become habituated to feeding. “They know the only time there is grass is when they see a GZT vehicle.”

A vet is also attached to feeding teams to survey and give updates on the real reason why they could be dying, giving drips and heavy fluids for those who are super dehydrated and carrying postmortem for those that are dead.

In an interview in October, GZT ecological monitoring officer Andrew Leture said the organisation is doing 3,000 bales a week following a spike in mortalities.

He said because the Grévy’s are so few, any single individual that is saved is a massive impact on the overall viability of the population.

A ranger from Grévy’s Zebra Trust distributes hay to Grévy’s zebras at Buffalo Springs National Reserve in Isiolo on October 25

WHY SAVE SPECIES

Northeastern is home to Samburu, Buffalo Springs and Shaba National Reserves. It also hosts Westgate, Kalama and Melako conservancies.

Kimiti says most tourists come to the area to see specific wildlife.

Other iconic species in the region include the gerenuk, reticulate giraffe and beisa oryx.

In 2018, Loisaba conservancy posted on its website that over the past 20 years, the reticulated giraffe population declined by more than 70 per cent, from 36,000 to less than 9,000.

“It is thought the main drivers behind the decline are habitat loss and fragmentation, land degradation and poaching,” the organisation wrote.

According to the Kenya Wildlife Service 2021 national wildlife census report, there were 19,740 reticulated giraffes and 13,400 gerenuks.

“Apart from tourism, there is even the pride and heritage of the communities where these animals are found,” Kimiti says.

“Some of our programmes are aimed at increasing community perception of value for Grévy’s zebra, creating a sense of ownership and value.”

Shaba National Reserve assistant warden Mohamed Abkanu says visitors come for the specific iconic species.

“The visitors even ask you for the specific animals they know are found here. If this drought persists and we lose these species, then our tourism is impacted largely,” he said during an interview at the reserve near Sarova Shaba Game Lodge.

Thriving wildlife helps the community benefit from employment opportunities in the conservancies and hotels in the reserves.

Kimiti says community members are hired as ambassadors, warriors and scouts to monitor, carry out surveys, sightings, collect and submit information and location data to help in the conservation of the Grévy’s.

GZT and other organisations working in the landscape help in sponsoring students’ education and other projects from the money raised from the conservation of the species.

Thriving wildlife means improved quality of life to a region already struggling with the burden of banditry, low education levels and underdevelopment.

LOSS OF HABITAT

Kimiti says most Grévy’s zebras in northern Kenya are in community areas and not in protected areas.

“We have a few in reserves and parks, but a huge population is in community areas. So you can't conserve them without conserving the habitat in the community areas,” he says.

He says the biggest threat to Grévy’s is loss of habitat caused by land degradation, adding that not much effort is being put to restore degraded lands.

“There is no way we can conserve the Grévy’s zebra if the communities that live in those areas and coexist with them are not thriving with healthy rangelands,” Kimiti says.

“They start competing with zebras with forage and in the end, they start seeing the Grévy’s zebras as competitors. And that’s how human-wildlife conflict arises.”

He says an ideal scenario is that a community having healthy rangelands will serve two things: attract zebras to go back to the community areas in large numbers, and rely on the wildlife for tourism.

“If the community has healthy rangelands, that means there will be few of them going to parks and reserves, and that gives other species breathing space in terms of forage in case there is drought.”

He says if there was better rangeland management, supplementary feeding, which he says is expensive, would only happen in the direst situations.

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