Data collected will be vital to efforts to manage and save the endangered species from extinction.
A group of more than 500 conservationists, scientists and nature enthusiasts are this weekend expected to take part in a photographic census of the Grevy’s zebra, a rare species mostly found in Kenya, in Samburu, Meru, Laikipia and Marsabit.
Organisers of the Great Grevy’s Rally census on Saturday and Sunday say data collected — including the current number, distribution and habitats — will be vital to efforts to manage and save the endangered species from extinction.
This will be the third edition of the biennual event that involves people from different walks, dubbed ‘citizen scientists’, in identifying, tracking, and counting of the rare zebra distinguished by its thin, elegant stripes, striking frame and gait.
“Citizen scientists will go out to various identified areas, equipped with cameras and a special set of instructions, to photograph all the Grevy’s zebra they find over the weekend. This data will then be processed and analysed to determine the exact number of Grevy’s in Kenya at the moment, their distribution, range and population dynamics,” said the conservation NGO WildlifeDirect, which is one of the organisers.
The teams of citizen scientists will include 50 school children.
Kenya is home to over 90 percent of the world’s Grevy’s zebras, with the rest found in Ethiopia.
A combination of habitat encroachment, poaching and diseases have seen their numbers in northen and central Kenya fall from an estimated 15,000 in the 1970s to 2,812 at the last photographic census in 2018.
The Grevy’s population has, however, been stable in recent years, with 2,350 identified during the first rally in 2016.
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