ENDANGERED COUSINS

Saving Endangered Equids in the Horn of Africa

By Guest Author Martha Fischer
Director of the Wildcare Institute for Conservation in the Horn of Africa and Curator of Mammals and Ungulates at the St. Louis Zoo

Two of the world’s most critically endangered equids are found in the Horn of Africa – the Grevy’s zebra and the African wild ass.  In recent years, the countries in the Horn of Africa have endured enormous hardships from drought, famine and political turmoil and outside assistance is often needed to nurture and grow their fledgling conservation efforts.

The Saint Louis Zoo’s WildCare Institute Center for Conservation in the Horn of Africa is playing a key role in sustaining critically endangered wild species and habitats found in this unique and delicate arid region. By supporting community-based coalitions and actively establishing a variety of conservation, research and education programs, this Center is striking a lasting balance between the needs of community members and the imperiled existence of the region’s rare wildlife species.

Grevy's Zebra

The largest of all wild equids, the Grevy’s zebra, is now considered critically endangered across its range, with less than 150 in Ethiopia and the remainder, perhaps as few as 2000, in northern Kenya. Grevy’s zebras are distinguished from other zebras by the intricate pattern of stripes on their skins. Unfortunately, this same trait made Grevy’s zebra highly prized by trophy hunters in the past; thankfully, such trophy hunting has been outlawed for decades, but illegal poaching for food and medicinal purposes has continued to drive this species towards the precipice of extinction. The process has been accelerated by critical range reduction and competition over scarce resources accompanied by an unprecedented influx of humans and their domestic livestock.  These factors have combined to produce a devastating depopulation of this distinctive species, an alarming decline estimated to be as much as 90 percent over the last two decades. 

With less than a half of a percent of the Grevy’s zebra range falling within official national parks and protected areas, this species’ survival depends heavily upon the attitudes and engagement of people in community areas.  Towards this end, the Center for Conservation in the Horn of Africa supports the Grevy’s Zebra Trust, an independent wildlife conservation organization established to address the urgent need to conserve Grevy’s zebra in the community rangelands of Ethiopia and Kenya.  The Grevy’s Zebra Trust is working holistically to secure critical resources and safeguard this species from extinction across its range by engaging communities in the protection and monitoring of Grevy’s Zebra.  With the Grevy’s Zebra Trust’s support, community conservation and education programs are operating in both Ethiopia and Kenya.

One such program, the Grevy’s Zebra Scout Program, supports a number of women and men from Kenyan communities to participate as Grevy’s Zebra Scouts, observing and recording the movements and activities of nearby groups of zebras. This successful program provides the benefit of equal-opportunity employment in the participating communities, a direct and tangible community incentive to support conservation activities. Since the inception of this program, the Scouts have served as advocates for Grevy’s zebras and for conservation.  As a direct result of this program, conducted in tandem with a community awareness campaign, the tolerance of Grevy’s zebra within the vicinity of community livestock has significantly increased and the herdsman now allow the zebras to share the limited grazing and water resources with their livestock. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

African Wild Ass

An emerging conservation program for another rare equid, the African wild ass, is being given important ground-floor support by the Center for Conservation in the Horn of Africa. The African wild ass is a critically endangered species found only in Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia and it is estimated that only 700 to 1,000 sill exist in the wild. Little is known of this species, and research and education projects supported by the Center and its many partners in the field will help lay a foundation for a conservation plan to ensure a future for this incredible species.

The African wild ass is the smallest of the world’s eight wild equid species, standing only about four feet tall at the shoulder.  Their hair, which ranges from gray to buff in color, is perfectly suited for the very hot desert areas they inhabit.  Their sporty zebra-like black stripes on the lower legs jazz up their otherwise neutral coat color and their very large ears are impressive indeed.  In the wild, the African wild ass is found in extremely small numbers in the Horn of Africa countries of Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia.  Somali wild asses live a hard life in the wild.  There are limited amounts of food and water and the competition for natural resources between the Somali wild asses and the growing human and livestock populations is high.  This fact, combined with the fact that these animals are hunted for both food and medicinal purposes, has resulted in an alarming decline in the wild population in recent decades.

 

Saint Louis Zoo keepers are also doing their part to help field researchers in Eritrea by taking weekly photographs of the Somali wild ass mares and foals standing side-by-side so the size of the foal relative to the size of its mother is evident.  By comparing photos of known-aged foals at the Zoo to photos of unknown-aged foals in the wild, field researchers will be able to more accurately estimate the ages of foals in wild herds.