Grevy’s Z ebra Conservation
in Kenya 2019
Report & funding proposal prepared
for supporters & members
of the Grevy’s zebra EEP conservation projects
Tanya Langenhorst EEP Coordinator & International Studbook Keeper for Grevy’s zebra
Lizbeth Mate Project Manager, Kenya
Enrita Naanyu Team Leader Northern Kenya Grevy’s zebra Project
Marwell Wildlife September 2018
www.marwell.org.uk/conservation
Acknowledgements We would like to thank the following for their ongoing and very generous support during 2018 and 2019: Banham Zoo – ZSEA Berufsverband der Zootierpfleger Drusillas Park Kolmården Foundation Stichting Wildlife Wilhelma Zoologisch-Botanischer Garten Stuttgart Zoo de Montpellier Zoo Frankfurt Zoologischer Garten Berlin Zoo Planckendael
Cover: Grevy’s zebra suckling © Marwell This page: Northern Kenya © Marwell
Introduction
Once again I would like to provide you with updates of the developments in Grevy’s zebra conservation, which are loyally supported by so many of you. Building on the 10-year Recovery and Action Plan for Grevy’s zebra, we are hoping that all the work we and our partners in Kenya carry out towards Grevy’s zebra conservation will further stabilise and even increase the population in their last stronghold.
While you can find details on all new developments and ongoing work in this report, I would like to highlight one issue already: Kenya experienced a very extensive drought, lasting longer than previous ones and this required intervention by our team as well as by our partners GZT in order to prevent Grevy’s zebra populations from losing body condition and potentially their all important foals from this year. We were able to respond swiftly and extensively with the help of EEP funding. Thank you to our donors for making this possible.
We are pleased to present you with details on our work for the conservation of Grevy’s zebra. Despite an increased security risk in the area we work in and often trying conditions, our Kenyan colleagues are continuing with all projects and we have been able to expand on our scout network. We would like to thank all our long-standing and loyal donors as well as welcome new organisations that are joining our efforts for conserving this beautiful endangered species. We could not do this work to protect the Grevy’s zebra without you.
We hope you enjoy reading the report and also the funding proposal at the end of it. Section A of this document contains a report of the activities of Marwell Wildlife and its partners regarding Grevy’s zebra conservation in the past year. At the end of this section is a list of these partners and, as ever, please feel free to ask Tanya for any further information you might require. In Section B we are presenting our proposed activities for 2019/20 together with their associated costs.
The Status of Grevy’s Zebra (Equus grevyi) The 2018 national survey in Kenya has shown an increased number of Grevy’s zebra. Approximately 2,800 individuals were counted in January 2018 (Rubenstein, 2018). While this was fantastic news, closer analysis and finer details of the survey showed that there is not room for complacency as the number of foals and juveniles is still very much on the low side. The next survey in 2020 will show if this situation has improved. Following the publication of the first Ethiopian action plan for equids (EWCA & IUCN/SSC ESG, 2017), the country is taking steps towards an increased conservation effort for Grevy’s zebra and will carry out a survey in 2020. From this we are hoping to receive a first survey-based population estimate since the survey in 2003. Currently, it is anybody’s guess how many and where Grevy’s zebra are left in that country.
The Grevy’s zebra has been assessed in 2016 by the IUCN as Endangered A2acd ver 3.1 (Rubenstein, Low Mackey et al. 2016). International Studbook In the latest international studbook for Grevy’s zebra 2018 (Langenhorst, 2019) 192.309.1(502) individuals were registered in 111 institutions in 28 countries. This breaks down into three managed populations: 98.181.0 (279) animals in 55 institutions are in the EEP; 76.115.1 (192) are managed by the North American SSP in 45 institutions (US and Canada), and Japan coordinates 13.10.0 (23) animals in eight zoos. All other Grevy’s zebra are kept in private hands or non-associated institutions. Together, these populations provide a genetically and demographically healthy back up to their wild counterparts. The studbook can be downloaded as a PDF from our website: https://www.marwell.org.uk/conservation/achievements/studbooks
Groups and organisations mentioned in this report are: EWCA = Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority GZT = Grevy’s zebra Trust www.grevyszebratrust.org GZTC = Grevy’s zebra Technical Committee KWS = Kenya Wildlife Service www.kws.org Lewa or LWC = Lewa Wildlife Conservancy www.lewa.org MW / Marwell = Marwell Wildlife www.marwell.org.uk/conservation NRT = Northern Rangelands Trust www.nrt-kenya.org Princeton/PU = University of Princeton www.princeton.edu/~equids/people.html STE = Save the Elephants www.savetheelephants.org ZSL = Zoological Society of London www.zsl.org
Section A. Summary of Activities in 2018/19
In this section we provide a detailed overview of the work we have carried towards Grevy’s zebra conservation over the last year. Together with our partners from the Grevy’s Zebra Technical Committee and with your financial support we have extended the area in which we operate as well as our team and provided crucial monitoring, cooperation with communities, support for the Kenya Wildlife Service. We would like to thank you for your support, which makes our work in this area possible.
National developments
National Conservation and Management Strategy for Grevy’s zebra in Kenya
Grevy’s zebra Conference The Grevy’s Zebra Conservation and Research Conference was held at Kenya Wildlife Service in Nairobi on 11th -12th June. The conference which was guided by the Recovery and Action Plan for Grevy’s Zebra 2017-2026 (KWS 2017) not only brought together conservation stakeholders, but also provided an interdisciplinary platform for infrastructure developers, conservation policy makers, community conservancy managers, practitioners and educators to present and discuss the most recent innovations, trends and concerns as well as practical challenges, encounters and solutions adopted in the field of Grevy’s zebra conservation. The two-day event was attended by 120 delegates representing 20 different organisations, for example government officials from Isiolo and Samburu county, GZT, KWS vet and education departments, Lewa Conservancy, Marwell Wildlife, Mpala Trust, NRT conservancy managers, , Zoological Society of London, Save the Elephants, IUCN Equid Specialist Group as well as students from different Universities. Marwell was represented by our Kenyan colleagues Enrita and Lizbeth who also presented on our work with scouts and communities, and by the Social Impact Manager and vet to discuss our work with communities and with KWS and GZT veterinarians.
Ethiopia
Following the development of a National Equid Action Plan, Ethiopia will for the first be included in the biannual Great Grevy’s Rally in January 2020.
Monitoring of Grevy’s zebra National Survey of Grevy's zebra/Great Grevy Rally
Following the success of the first two Rallies in 2016 and 2018, we are hoping that all conservation efforts for the species by Marwell and our partners combined will result in a continued upward trend of Grevy’s zebra numbers. A third rally is planned for the 25th and 26th January 2020. The Great Grevy’s Organising Committee, a sub group of GZTC, has begun organising for this event some time ago. This year, an event manager has been hired to coordinate the logistics that will allow the two-day photographic census to run smoothly. This includes effective communication sharing between the organising committee, organising equipment, accommodation for participants, information dissemination, training and coordinating ground rangers.
Counting Grevy’s zebra has always posed a challenge. The GGR is enlisting the public to search for the animals and take stripe pattern photographs over two consecutive days. By using ‘Sight-Resight’ statistics, GZTC is then able to estimate population sizes nationally and by county. The 2018 survey recorded 2812 ± 163 Grevy’s zebra, an increase from 2350 ± 93 two years before (Rubenstein et al., 2018). 70% of Kenya’s Grevy’s zebras are now identified individually, providing a national data base which already is an invaluable tool for Grevy conservation but will improve with every new photograph and survey. Going forward, pictures taken by scientists, scouts, camera traps and tourists during the intervening years between Great Grevy’s Rallies will provide fine-grained data on locations, associations, movements and habitat use as impacted by climate change and human impacts. Planning has begun fo r the 2020 Ralley Grevy’s Zebra Technical Committee (GZTC)
Drought Relief
Following a period of failing rains, northern Kenya was once more gripped by drought this year. Colleagues working in the GZT areas began supplementary feeding of hay back in June. The areas covered by Marwell scouts were initially holding up. However, by early July it became obvious that the situation was getting very difficult for Grevy’s zebra and other wildlife. The little rainfall and over grazing in South Horr led to a forage scarcity in most areas and, to a lesser extent, water scarcity; even some of the permanent rivers dried up. In order to prevent the animals, in particular lactating and pregnant females, from losing body condition too much, it was decided to begin supplementary feeding of hay at strategic points. Lizbeth and Enrita applied to KWS for permission to do so and, shortly after, a transport of 250 bales of hay was brought from Nairobi to the far north in cooperation with GZT to save on transport costs (Pics 01 & 02).
Pics 01 & 02: Hay delivery and storage © Marwell
We also employed a hay monitor for three months to supervise the distribution of hay and to monitor the uptake by the Grevy’s zebra (03). This served to ensure that enough hay was provided overnight at each station, and at the same time avoided wastage of hay by creating large amounts of left overs which would then be taken by livestock during the day.
Pics 03 a,b,c: Hay monitor loading and distributing hay © Marwell
In late September there were still no signs of the drought letting off. Our camera traps were showing lactating females and young Grevy’s benefitting from the hay provided (Pics.04 & 05). The scouts reported seeing new-born foals in the area and we decided it was crucial to continue the effort into November. Another hay transport was organised with GZT from Nairobi in early October. Happily, I can report that the rains have now started. It will still be a while before the land recovers and forage will be returning in sufficient amounts but, hopefully, by the end of November, when we run out of hay, the zebra will be able to feed themselves without support again. Emergency funds from the EEP are always on hand to allow supplementary feeding as and when needed without any delay. The extend of the drought and the amount of hay required this year, was such that we will be needing most of our reserves. Any new contributions are therefore gratefully received as the next drought will be, sadly, not far off.
Pics 04 & 05: Grevy’s zebra coming to feed on hay at night © Marwell
Digital Stripe Pattern Identification Project
The year 2018 saw a decline in the number of stripe ID images entered into the national Stripe ID database for several reasons: Marwell Wildlife entered fewer images due to problems with camera trap quality and set up. The latter has been addressed through additional training of our scouts, and new traps have been ordered and are awaiting deployment to Kenya. Other collaborative partners had begun using alternative tools like IBEIS or were restructuring their data collection protocols and were therefore not collecting as many data as they used to. Due to severe issues with some alternative tools, both GZT and Lewa decided to return to the ExtractCompare program (Conservation Research Ltd.) used by Marwell. In March 2019, Lizbeth Mate trained Timothy Kaaria, the Lewa research officer, on how to use the Stripe ID program and database. Similarly, in September 2019 she trained colleagues from Grevy’s Zebra Trust (GZT). We can therefore expect more images in the database in the next year from those two partners. The new camera traps should improve the quantity and quality of Marwell’s images and data.
The national database currently holds 30,915 images of which only 167 new images were from 2018 data. In 2019, 1217 images have so far been entered into the database, all from Lewa resulting in 424 identified individuals.
WildBook Ultimately, the plan is to switch all stripe ID tools to just one, called WildBook (www.wildbook.org). It is already being used during the Great Grevy Rallies but due to some technical requirements is not suited yet to be used by all partners in Kenya. In preparation for a more widespread use and for support during and after the rallies, a training session was convened in July 2019. Among the organisations represented were Marwell Wildlife, Grevy’s Zebra Trust, Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Olpejeta Conservancy, and Mpala Research Centre which hosted the event. We will continue to collect stripe ID data as one of the principle monitoring methods for the meta population in Kenya. This relies on the support of the EEP to maintain the project’s staff requirement and the field expenses for travelling to our field sites to collect the data from our scout network.
The Northern Kenya Grevy’s Zebra Project (NKGZP)
Peace and Conservation for Grevy’s zebra in Northern Kenya
Grevy’s zebra are using this area as a migratory route as they move northwards due to human population pressure and poaching in the area further south in Samburu District. It is important to understand the perceptions and attitudes of the communities living around the migratory routes as they interact with these animals and affect their access to vital food and water resources. Indeed, the future of Grevy’s zebra and other wildlife is dependent on sustainable coexistence with pastoral communities and their livestock. To monitor a wide range of Grevy’s zebra and other wildlife factors we have built a network of scouts who are managing a large set of camera traps and carry out regular patrols collecting additional information on GPS enabled phones. Furthermore, we are running an outreach programme to engage with local communities, raise awareness and provide conservation education.
Map 01: Map of our Northern Kenyan study area.
The key focus of this project is on communities sharing landscape and resources with wildlife. The main objectives are to
• understand the population and ecology of Grevy’s zebra and other wildlife in this remote region
• foster community-based conservation and ownership of wildlife conservation effort
• map dry season water sources, key grazing and foaling areas to allow targeted conservation efforts
• monitor and mitigate the threats to Grevy’s zebra as posed by disease, drought or human activity
• change attitudes to wildlife for the better and raise/increase awareness of conservation in children from an early age.
We have currently deployed 24 camera-traps which are all well maintained by our team of community wildlife monitoring scouts. This results in hundreds of images of Grevy’s zebra with additional records of other species inhabiting the study area. The camera trap pictures are regularly collected by the team leader, Enrita Naanyu, and added project manager Lizbeth Mate to the national stripe ID database to extract and analyse the information for Grevy’s zebra but also a whole range of other species. The data from camera traps provide evidence for the presence, relative abundance and population demographics of Grevy’s zebra. Frequencies of sightings are used as an indication of the species’ activity throughout the day and night. Direct observations: Our team of specially trained community-based wildlife monitoring scouts follows zebra trails on foot and undertakes direct observations of animals to monitor Grevy’s zebra behaviour, their movements between grazing and water resources and activity patterns. As most of them are illiterate, direct observations are recorded in GPS enabled phones- CyberTracker and SMART with very simple identification pictures. These data are then transferred to Lizbeth in Nairobi. In addition, the scouts report any unusual activities like poaching to the team leader. Any emergencies, e.g. trapped or injured Grevy’s zebra and other wildlife are reported to the KWS vet. The scouts also monitor the habitat during droughts and assess availability of grazing and if supplementary action needs to be taken.
Since we have experienced an increased drop out of some older phones, some scouts were unable to record patrol data. While awaiting delivery of new phones from the UK, we have now introduced a paper data sheet for recording data when phones are not available. As mentioned further up in the report, most of our scouts are non-literate, so the forms use pictures to allow them to easily record the information without the need to read/write. The scouts will tick, or circle wildlife sighted and write numbers by using simple tally next to the picture of the species they will see (Fig.1).
Fig 01. Picture of data sheet used by our scouts, courtesy of Grevy’s Zebra Trust
One scout, Lkurosan Lekenit, has been trained to support all others with data collection on their GPS phones and to maintain the camera traps. He is also liaising with communities in emergency situations, working with the elders to engage communities and reduce poaching, for example. In August 2019 we were able to recruit four new scouts who were trained and briefed ready for a September start. This takes our total to 24 (six are female) including the scout trainer. They team up into pairs for security reasons and also to continue monitoring their assigned area if one of them falls ill. The female scouts work as Peace Ambassadors between the different communities in the project area. All scouts are chosen by the community elders, not by us. This ensures the full involvement and
backing of the people in the areas we work in. On this occasion we were very happy that Mpang and
Arge communities had each selected a woman to join the team. In a meeting they assured us of their
continued support and strong desire to work with us and appreciated Marwell for recognising women
and allowing them to be conservationists which is something unheard of in Samburu community.
The four new scouts are
• Olturot: one male scout (Samburu), Lkitekui Learote.
• Arge: one female scout (Samburu), Maina Lesagaram and one male scout (Samburu), Latina
Lenkurikuri
• Mpang: one female scout (Rendille) Ntesianai Leurare
Scout barazas Every quarter, meetings are held at rotating venues that include all our scouts as well as representative elders from the communities to share their experiences and findings. The elders relay all this back to their communities. In return they bring ideas and wishes of the communities for ecosystem maintenance and conservation education to the meetings. The team often invite the KWS warden of the respective area to attend the baraza to keep them updated and provide a link between KWS and the communities.
Pic.06: the Marwell team and some elders at a baraza © Marwell
At the barazas, each scout is given time to speak and brief members of the team and communities on their work and any challenges they encounter. Wherever possible, Enrita will also hold a community engagement session with elders. In March, for example, the meeting was held in Mpang where she discussed the increase of illegal killing for game meat in the area, a concern raised by
Mpang scouts. The KWS warden from South Horr took time to educate the community on the by
laws that govern wildlife and why poaching is a serious offence that can lead to imprisonment (Pic.08). The community were keen and impressed and the elders assured us that as custodian of the wildlife in their areas they will be more vigilant than before to protect their wildlife and even talk to their Moran age group to stop hunting wildlife. The KWS officer spoke to our team on field discipline and how they are required to carry themselves now that they are rangers in their respective areas. He informed them that this would boost trust and confidence in their communities, and this will in turn lead to better results, collaboration and support towards conservation in our areas. The warden also requested permission from Marwell Wildlife to organize a short course for our scouts on keeping the body fit and to take them through new skills such as handling poachers should they come across them in their areas. Pics 07 & 08: Elder Reps for Arge, Anderi, Ntill+Loltepes, Olturot+Gatap & KWS warden at scouts at baraza © Marwell
Wazee representation For Samburu people, elders known as ‘wazee’ are respected leaders who are esteemed decision makers and influencers within their communities. Making them key allies in addressing conservation problems such as human conflict is essential for conservation success. Our team therefore requested the wazee to identify for us respected elders to join us during our scout barazas. These elder representatives (Pic.07)will then feedback our discussions to their community and act as ambassadors in leading conservation issues and developing solutions and support to reduce potential conflict between communities and with wildlife. Community-based monitoring, using SMART technology. SMART, an open source and freely available software application enables one to collect, store, communicate, and evaluate ranger-based data on: patrol efforts, patrol results, and threat levels. Since the deployment of SMART in 2017, Marwell Wildlife has contributed to building capacity for wildlife conservation and community engagement through training of our scouts. SMART has also enabled us to provide rewards to scouts based on their effort. Totals combined Kms of foot patrols increased from 2,797 in 2017 to 7,510 in 2018. Patrol coverage also increased over the two years as a result of increased effort by the scouts (Maps 02 & 03).
No.
Adult
♂
No.
Non-
Lact.
♀
No.
Preg.
♀
No.
Lact
♀
No.
0-3
mth
foals
No.
3-6
mth
foals
No.
6-12
mth
foals
No.
Juv.
Jan 1 3 0 0 1 4 1 0
Feb 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Mar 9 10 8 8 5 4 13 5
Apr 0 10 0 8 0 24 0 5
May 0 0 0 13 0 0 0 0
Jun 5 9 3 6 1 12 0 2
Jul 2 1 3 0 0 0 8 0
Total 24 33 14 35 7 44 22 12
Sightings Grevy's zebra 2019
Map 02 & 03: Coverage of scout patrols in 2017 and 2018
There has been an increase in Grevy’s zebra sightings between 2017 and 2018 since the scouts have covered more ground. We now can also map the areas of the Grevy’s zebra sightings, which had not been possible before engaging the scouts in the patrolling exercise (Maps 04 & 05).
Maps 04 & 05: Map of Grevy’s zebra sightings in 2017 and 2018
Since the Grevy’s zebra is the focal project species, their sightings are recorded every month. The chart below shows the numbers sighted since October 2018 which fluctuate based on dry and wet seasons, conflict in near communities, and patrol effort among other factors (Fig.02 & Tab 01). Fig.02: Grevy’s zebra sightings by month Oct 2017 – Mar 2019 & Tab 01: sightings 2019 © Marwell
The map below shows the areas where both livestock and Grevy’s zebra have been sighted. Livestock observations help us to understand where pressures for water and forage are likely to be most urgent and could lead to unhealthy competition between wildlife and livestock.
Map 06: Mapping of Grevy’ s zebra and livestock during 2018 © Marwell
Regular training of scouts is mandatory for data quality to be realized across all teams (Pics. 09 & 10). Analysed data shows that we need to employ additional scouts in some stations so that proper patrol coverage is reached. Patrol based on targets will enable us to be effective in our data collection so that gaps can be identified and addressed.
Pic 09 & 10: scouts during GPS and SMART phone training with Enrita and Lizbeth © Marwell
Camera trap study
Many of our camera traps are very old now. They no longer produce pictures of a good enough quality. Others have been lost to theft, a fire and even been eaten by hyenas. Replacement cameras are currently awaiting deployment from the UK. Once the extra traps have been set up, we will have a total of 30 in the field around the communities of Anderi, Loltepes and Ntill, as well as in Gatap and Sarima.
The study is designed for the scouts to place the camera traps at strategic points (where presence or signs of Grevy’s zebra have been seen) between 6pm and 6am giving us 12 hours of data every day (Pic 11). This takes into account that the Grevy's zebra generally avoid interacting with the communities during the day and therefore mostly go to the water sources later in the evening, night time and early morning (Pic 12).
Pic 11 & 12: Ltigirwa Lekenit setting up a camera trap and GZ caught on camera
Based on our sightings frequency data we have developed a list of seven (7) key indicator species which we also monitor. In order of priority the table below outlines these (Tab.02).
Priority Species Justification
1 Grevy’s Zebra Endangered, Focal Project Species
2 Small Antelope Abundance of mainly dik-dik. Ease of assessment as an indicator. Other species will also be noted.
3 Ostrich Third most sighted and only avian spp. Good value as often sighted and a good indicator
4 Carnivores (Cheetah)
Largely Cheetah, but also lion and leopard which are starting to be encountered more often. Indicator of ecosystem functioning.
5 Elephant Resident and primary HWC spp.
6 Oryx Present but typically only sighted from the air
7 Giraffe Small population and typically only sighted from the air
Tab 02: Key species monitored by Marwell scouts.
Conservation Outreach Our conservation outreach programme takes Enrita to schools and community groups, as well as college and other adult groups (Pics 13 a,b,c). As our team discovered last year, many children have negative feelings towards wildlife and believe that it poses danger and should be killed when sighted. We have a concern that there is a generational gap developing between parents who grew up with abundant wildlife and their children who see so little of it today. Enrita is now planning to organise joint outings for school children and so called ‘Lchekuti’ or ‘herders’, those kids that cannot attend school because they are looking after their families’ livestock all day. We hope that these camps will expose children to wildlife conservation and protection through wildlife lessons, camping activities, field trips and patrols, exchange programmes, and natural encounters with wildlife. By including the Lchekuti, Enrita will not only provide them with conservation education but they can share their knowledge on the environment and wildlife they encounter daily during their herding activities. The aim is to prepare and inspire the children to be the next generation of park wardens, wildlife biologists, future conservationists and wildlife ambassadors.
Pics 13 a,b,& c: Enrita teaching in a school with props and pictures © Marwell
Late in 2018 Enrita held our first ever young kids training in Loltepes. The target audience for these sessions are younger kids of 3-6 years who don’t go to school yet as well as some herders (if they are not in the field on that day). The children learn species identification and their behaviour and Enrita also uses plastic models. Again and again she can see afterwards how young kids identify wildlife they have never seen in their landscape. This more formal part, themed as “living World around Us”, is usually followed by conservation games like animal actors, rope pulling competitions and jumping with sacks. Enrita is sometimes accompanied by her husband, Jacob, who is also a teacher. This occasionally allows them to seize an opportunity to engage children who gather while Enrita downloads data from camera traps and phones. Jacob organizes kids, aged 4-6 years old, under a tree and teaches them on the theme: “wild animal around us”, using an early childhood teaching methodology by drawing on the ground with sticks and having the children seated around him (Pic. 14a&b).
Pic.14 a & b: Jacob during an impromptu session with pre-school children
Lchekuti / Herders Outreach Herders are those children that cannot attend school because they have to look after their families’ livestock all day. In her drive to increase conservation education and awareness through outreach visits, Enrita engaged for the first time with young herders in Lchekuti in the Lkotikal area. She conducted a pre survey with 16 herders, to test the children’s knowledge on wildlife in their area before making plans on how best to engage with them. The results were quite surprising: Only 12% of herders were able to identify and name the species they were shown in pictures, while 88% were only managed to identify two species, elephants and dik dik. The survey further asked who in the herders’ view is responsible for taking care of wildlife in their landscape. The majority of them, 90 %, thought this role lies with the Milgis Trust (our partners in the area) and Marwell scouts; 7% agreed that community elders have a responsibility and only 3% mentioned KWS, the scouts and elders together.
At another herders’ outreach session (in Arge), the children were able to name dik diks and elephants again, as well as some birds and zebra. However, they could not distinguish between plains and Grevy’s zebra. This was made even more difficult by the fact that the word for both species is the same in their language: loitiko. Since most of the herders’ sessions take place in the evening, and the children are often tired, the more formal part of the education is kept short, followed by watching nature films. During this part, community members and our scouts join it all benefitting from this kind of information sharing.
People and capacity building
George Anyona who has been fulfilling the role of Grevy’s zebra Liaison Officer for many years has now moved on to a new position at Lake Nakuru National Park. We would like to thank him for his dedicated work as the link between KWS and the GZTC. The EEP and Marwell have always supported this important role and will continue to do so, now that George has handed over to Dr Fred Omengo (Pic.15). Fred is a Senior Research Scientist at KWS (in charge of Mountain Conservation Area). He has a master’s degree in Environmental Science, and a PhD in Bioscience Engineering and his role so far was to ensure efficient provision of wildlife research regulatory services and provision of scientific information to support wildlife conservation within the Mountain conservation areas. In addition, he is now taking over the GZLO responsibilities.
Pic.15: Dr Fred Omengo © KWS
Our ever-growing scout team has undergone a restructuring process. While we have two scouts each in 12 areas, we have now appointed four of them as team leaders. Lizbeth and Enrita held discussions with all scouts to find out what they thought makes a good team leader, and who they were proposing for these extended roles. This assured buy in from the whole team. In addition to camera set up and patrolling, the leaders are also responsible of their area scouts’ performance and discipline, reporting to Enrita, and coordinate any activities within their community areas, e.g. during the Grevy’s Rally.
Northern Kenya Conservation Education Working Group Workshop:
Lizbeth and Enrita attended an interpretive peer evaluation workshop at Lewa conservancy
organized by San Diego Zoo Global. The workshop was aimed at goal setting, evaluation of different
education approaches coaching styles. Following this, they took part in a Community based Success
workshop at Narumoru River Lodge Nanyuki. This was hosted by The Living Desert Zoo and
Gardens and Grevy’s Zebra Trust and was attended by 14 organizations. The main goal was to
introduce participants to creating perception and evaluation studies in rigorous, scientifically valid
manner.
Enrita trained the data trainer on how to use a GPS unit so that he could start recording data on water points and wildlife migratory routes which should lead to a better understanding and ultimately a map of those important resources for the area we work in.
Last, but certainly not least, I would like to pay my respects to a true Kenyan conservation champion: On 25th December morning, the Grevy’s Zebra Trust lost their Elbarta Regional Coordinator, Rikapo Lentiyoo, who died after a short illness. I first met Rikapo back in 2005, and we have been working with him increasingly for the last four years in northern Kenya in our area during the monthly patrols, hay feeding programme and during the 2018 Great Grevy’s’ Zebra Rally. He was a passionate conservationist and the first Grevy’s Zebra Trust scout who worked with Belinda Low even before GZT was founded. Through the years, he rose to the position of regional coordinator. His big smile and heart and his incredible passion for Grevy’s zebra and their conservation will be greatly missed for a long time. The whole of Northern Kenya feels this loss.
Please also read the funding proposal (Appendix B) which will give you a lot more details on our plans.
References
ConservationResearchLtd: Extract Compare - software designed to automatically identify
individual animals from their natural markings.
Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority and IUCN/SSC Equid Specialist Group (2017). Ethiopia National Equid Action Plan. Ethiopian Wildlife Conservation Authority, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
KWS (2017). Grevy's Zebra Recovery and Action Plan (2017-2026). Kenya Wildlife Service, Nairobi, Kenya.
Langenhorst, T., 2019. International studbook for Grevy's zebra 2018, Marwell Wildlife, Winchester, UK.
Rubenstein, D., J. Parham, C. Stewart, T. Berger-Wolf, J. Holmberg, J. Crall, B. Low Mackey, S. Funnel, K. Cockerill, Z. Davidson, L. Mate, C. Nzomo, R. Warungu, D. Martins, V. Ontita, J. Omulupi, J. Weston, G. Anyona, G. Chege, D. Kimiti, K. Tombak, A. Gersick and N. Rubenstein (2018). The Great Grevy’s Rally - The State of Kenya’s Grevy’s Zebras and Reticulated Giraffes: Results of the Great Grevy’s Rally 2018. Kenya.
Rubenstein, D., Low Mackey, B., Davidson, Z., Kebede, F., King, S.R.B., 2016. Equus grevyi., The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T7950A89624491. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T7950A89624491.en. Downloaded on 05 April 2017.
Our Grevy’s zebra conservation colleagues and partners Marwell Wildlife works closely with Kenyan conservation partners with whom it develops joint conservation programmes. Our key partners – listed alphabetically – are described briefly below:
Grevy’s Zebra Technical Committee (GZTC) The Grevy’s Zebra Technical Committee is a technical and steering committee with a mandate from KWS to evaluate implications of technical recommendations for Grevy conservation before implementation, develop intervention protocols, set monitoring standards and procedures, and evaluate their implementation and effectiveness, reviewing all Grevy’s zebra conservation, management and research proposals. The GZTC is a collaboration among seven organisations all committed to conserving Grevy’s zebra, including: Grevy’s Zebra Trust (GZT), Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, Marwell Wildlife, University of Princeton (DZ), Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT), and Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) AND ZSL. Marwell continues to play a key role in the coordination of this group and its activities.
Grevy’s Zebra Trust (GZT) The Grevy’s Zebra Trust (GZT) has been established to address the urgent need to conserve Grevy’s zebra in the community rangelands of Ethiopia and Kenya. GZT has become an integral part of the GZTC.
Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) The KWS is the country’s statutory wildlife body and is ultimately responsible for the conservation of Grevy’s zebra. In partnership with KWS, Marwell Wildlife and the EEP have contributed significantly to the development and execution of the national Grevy’s Zebra Conservation Strategy.
Lewa Wildlife Conservancy (Lewa or LWC) The Lewa Wildlife Conservancy holds some 20 percent of the world’s remaining free-ranging Grevy’s zebra and hosts a dynamic research programme. Marwell continues to support Grevy’s zebra monitoring and research within Lewa, and many of the projects planned by the GZTC will be carried out in collaboration with the Lewa Research Department (LRD).
Milgis Trust The Milgis Trust is a non-profit organisation founded by wildlife conservationist and safari guide Helen Douglas-Dufresne and her partner Peter Ilsley to sustain the wildlife, habitat and the pastoral peoples’ way of life in northern Kenya. In January 2010 the Trust approached Marwell with a request to establish wildlife monitoring within the Milgis ecosystem and has since become a close partner in our NKGZP. Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT) NRT supports the development of community conservancies. Marwell has partnered with NRT to implement a programme of training and capacity building to strengthen wildlife management within all member-community conservancies. In addition, it has co-developed a system for wildlife and vegetation monitoring which is being introduced to a selection of conservancies.
University of Princeton (PU) University of Princeton have collaborated on a number of Grevy’s zebra conservation activities, most notably the Great Grevy’s Rally and analysis of the photos collected during the survey. They are also heavily involved in the stripe ID project, which is hosted at Mpala Research Centre in Laikipia thanks to Princeton’s close association there. Zoological Society of London (ZSL) The Zoological Society of London an international conservation charity, They are engaged in field conservation around the world and manage two zoos in the UK, ZSL London and ZSL Whipsnade. In 2018 they have employed one of the long standing GZTC members, Dr Zeke Davidson, and this has brought them to the Grevy’s zebra conservation network. Their focus is in Tsavo National Park but Dr Davidson’s expertise and experience with Grevy’s zebra will continue to contribute to the bigger picture through his GZTC membership.
B. Proposed Activities for 2019 – 2020
Marwell’s main objective in Kenya remains focused on protecting vulnerable, small populations of Grevy’s zebra in remote and under resourced areas. Our ongoing programmes maintain a strong community-based approach and develop local capacity to ensure long-term viability of our efforts in the field. We have expanded our network to 24 scouts in 12 locations this year. This not only provides manpower for monitoring but creates greater inclusion of the communities we work in as well as their increased understanding of our conservation work. This collaboration goes a long way to overcome political, social and security challenges which are inevitable parts of our work in Kenya. Our team continues to deliver its conservation impact across a spectrum of national policy development, species intervention strategy and conservation in remote areas. The support we receive from the EEP and the wider EAZA community is critical to this effort, and we hope that you will continue with us in this important extension of our zoo-based conservation in the field next year.
1. Great Grevy’s Zebra Rally
The third National Grevy’s zebra census using stripe ID software and citizen science participation will take place on the 25th and 26th of January 2020. Last year we detailed the 2018 event and the results delivering an increased number of Grevy’s zebra showed that the methodology of using citizen science rather than aerial survey methods, is working. Next year will represent the third data point in a three-part trial of the method for its robustness. Apart from providing verifiable population size data, it also presents a unique opportunity to observe a major proportion of the population in a short, two-day, time period. This allows us to gauge population health by estimating body condition and to calculate its vital rates including sex ratios and foal survival. It is setting a precedent for emergent technologies and the effective use of wide scale citizen science contributions for the conservation of wildlife in general. Once again, we are involved with this hugely important event and hope you will be able to contribute to its success.
Outputs
1. Rigorous national population estimate 2. Repeatable methodology based on sound science 3. National Grevy’s zebra population health and status 4. National population structure
Conservation Impact
Following the first two rallies in 2016 and 2018 we are now able to provide reliable population estimates and accurate population structure figures for the species. with every subsequent rally we are able to improve and expand our knowledge on trends in population performance and survival. The Rally is thus a strategic tool that will guide conservation planning and management going forward. Conservation effort and the mobilization of resources can now be more effectively planned and managed, resulting in greater effectiveness of conservation activities. The results of the Great Grevy’s Rally highlight the critical importance of access to grazing and water within a secure environment for Grevy’s zebra. Historically, Laikipia County was not a natural part of the Grevy’s zebra range; however, today it is supporting over half of Kenya’s Grevy’s zebra population due its healthy rangelands. This tells us that the Grevy’s zebra is a sensitive and reliable indicator of ecosystem health.
1. Great Grevy's zebra Rally 2020 £
Mileage for 4 vehicles @ GBP 0.45/km for 3420km 1,539
Transport and training for those handling cameras 270
Food supplies & camping fees for Marwell teams, local volunteers, security 1,082
Extra driver 77
Security for plane 93
Contingency 10% 306
Contribution to the organisation of the GGR Event 2,000
5,367
2. Grevy’s Zebra Liaison Office facilitation per annum.
The success of the GZTC is grounded in the direct collaboration with the Kenya Wildlife Service as its parent organisation. Supporting the Liaison Officer, a KWS employee, is key to maintaining this structure and providing effective national coordination for conservation activities. The officer needs to be facilitated in their duties only, as salary is covered by KWS. This includes mobilising them around the country with a transport budget and ensuring that there is sufficient funding to maintain their activities. Without this support the office would most likely be closed by the authority owing to budget limitations and this would diminish the effective coordination of Grevy’s zebra conservation in general. We need your support to ensure that the GZTC and its partners can continue to operate as successfully as they have done over the years.
Outputs 1. Centralised collaborative conservation effort 2. Nationally owned structure and direction of conservation activity 3. National Strategy for conservation and Management of Grevy’s Zebra
Conservation Impact Centralised liaison prevents much loss of resource through duplication and wasted effort. By appointing a chief whip through the Liaison Office the GZTC’s mandates are monitored and stewarded from inception to implementation. This ensures high productivity.
Northern Kenya Grevy’s zebra Project
3. Grevy’s zebra monitoring: national stripe ID database & SMART
The Stripe Identification Project is now at a stage where we can analyse data over several years and get results on population trends in survival and growth. It is also driving the development of cutting edge technology to improve the speed and accuracy with which population data can be monitored. While newer identification programmes are already being used by one or two of our partners, they are still not without major issues, especially in the more remote locations of Kenya, and our Extract/Compare software is currently still the only one all partners can access and contribute to in support of the national ID database for Grevy’s zebra. It is therefore more important than ever to maintain our effort on the Stripe ID project.
Outputs 1. Maintenance of the individual Stripe ID database 2. Contributions to the National Conservation of Wildlife in Kenya 3. Analysis of movement patterns in conjunction with collar data 4. Population census data 5. Revision of the species range map 6. Publication of reports and peer reviewed papers on species biogeography 7. Development of new tools and capacity building through training 8. Publish: Long term population trends and survival indicators for the first time (in prep).
Conservation Impact The Stripe ID database is a cost-effective means of monitoring movement, distribution and abundance of Grevy’s zebra, as evidenced in this and previous reports. Our Database manager is now responsible for general project management of all aspects of stripe ID data gathering and management. In addition, she manages the people and budgets required to achieve these goals and is a pivotal member of the Marwell Kenya team.
2. Grevy’s Zebra Liaison Office facilitation per annum £
Travel & Accomodation 4,600
Purchase of Stationery 275
Workshops, meetings & Conference 460
Calling airtime card 185
5,520
4. Peace and Conservation for Grevy’s zebra in Northern Kenya
The NKGZP and its Peace Through Wildlife initiative are thriving in our efforts to secure the habitat and resources shared by Grevy’s zebra, Turkana, and Samburu communities alike. We have managed to expand our team to 19 scouts at the time of writing and another one will be recruited by the end of this year. One of the scouts himself has become a trainer in data collection. Our scouts teams are in ten different communities now– delivering new data to our stripe identification database as well as GPS and observational data. The conservation education work has expanded from teaching school children and now includes sessions for pre-school children, ’herders (children not in school) as well as a variety of adult groups; furthering the understanding of environmental issues and the relationship between people and the habitat and wildlife they share. Our whole team have been invited by our partner GZT to join an intensive
training workshop on conservation conflict transformation (CCT). This workshop aims to address specific issues of human-wildlife and conservation conflict facing the endangered Grevy’s zebra and will
provide the skills to understand, address, and transform conservation conflicts in the communities and regions where we work. This will enable our scouts to ease or avoid conflict on their outings in the field and should also contribute to the project aim of peace between different communities. Outputs
1. Grevy’s zebra population data 2. Biodiversity data 3. Movement and spatial ecology data 4. Schools engagement 5. Community engagement 6. Employment 7. Peace through common resource conservation
Conservation Impact Through community engagement we have sensitized a large and remote population of pastoral people to the relevance of conservation and the importance of wildlife to their health and welfare. Improved social security and an understanding of the role of wildlife and environment provide clear grounds for coexistence of regional communities. This in turn secures habitat and resources that wildlife also depend on for survival.
3. National Stripe Identification Database & GZ monitoring £
5000km for vehicles @ £ 0.45/km to cover travel to, from and within field sites 2,250
1 x field data trainer (scout) @ £ 46/month, over 12 months 552
3 x scout leaders @ £ 46/month, over 12 months 1,656
20 community scouts (men and women) £40/scout/month, over 12 months 11,520
10 x additional camera traps @ £ 150/camera 1,500
1 x stripe ID database license 1,000
3 x back up phones @ £ 70 each 210
18,688
4. Peace and Conservation for Grevy's Zebra in Northern Kenya £
Field expenses and transport (£ 550/month) 6,600
Camera/video camera 320
Speakers for Projector 80
Stationary for school visits & community meetings 530
100 x printed shukas (African blankets worn by warriors) 630
100 x printed T shirts (for community training and discussion workshops) 630
200 x printed caps (for community training and discussion workshops) 600
Honda generator 350
9,740
5. GZ Conference 2020/21
The Grevy’s zebra Technical Committee is planning to hold a Grevy’s zebra conference annually
now. It aims to bring together leading academic scientists, researchers, conservationists and other stakeholders to share their experiences and research results on all aspects of Grevy’s zebra conservation and management. It also provides an interdisciplinary platform for infrastructure developers, conservation policy makers, community conservancy managers, practitioners and educators to present and discuss the most recent innovations, trends and concerns as well as practical challenges, encounters and solutions adopted in the field of Grevy’s zebra conservation. The 2019 conference stressed the need for collaborative partnerships with local communities, private landowners, government agencies, cross-border conservation entities and research institutions in achieving Grevy’s zebra conservation success. Central and county governments in Kenya also have a key role to play in ensuring that the road to successful conservation of the species is open and supported at all levels. The conference will again be structured around the thematic areas of the strategic objectives of the Grevy’s Zebra Recovery and Action plan. In addition to all Grevy’s zebra involved NGOs, the conference is aimed at an audience of KWS staff (both field and HQ); conservancy managers, Laikipia landowners, local universities (students and lecturers), as well as county governments in the Grevy’s zebra range. With this in mind the conference will take place in Nairobi to allow KWS officials to attend as many presentations as possible.
6. Drought Emergency Fund
The emergency fund has demonstrated its value several times already when critical supplementary feeding is required to stave off starvation and keep lactating mares alive in the harshest seasons. The results of the most recent Great Grevy’s Rally have once again demonstrated that this activity alone can prevent the loss of Grevy’s and ensure recruitment to the next generation. With the increasing variability in climate conditions and unpredictability of rainfall we need to ensure that we are ready to react immediately and at short notice when feed is required. Any contribution, large or small, to this fund will back-stop our efforts in times of need.
Outputs 1. Critically affected lactating females are supported with food during times of need
2. Foal survival is ensured so that succession is guaranteed
3. Community participation provides an opportunity for coexistence with wildlife to be integrated to pastoral lives.
4. Depending of severity of drought, many tens to hundreds of individuals may be saved.
Conservation Impact By preventing the loss of foals the loss of entire year class cohorts are saved from starvation during harsh droughts. This would otherwise interrupt the recruitment cycle and increase the overall decline in the population. Drought preparedness is a key part of the strategy to conserve the National Grevy’s zebra herd.
5. Grevy’s zebra Conference 2019 £
100 x Meals/water for participants two days @ £ 11 per person/day. 2,200
30 x Transport to/from Nairobi for field/conservatory participants @ £ 23/person 690
30 x Accomm. Nairobi field/conservatory participants two nights @ £ 31/person 1,860
100 x Notebooks and pens @ £ 0.77/person 77
Stationery (Printing papers and cartridges) 77
External presenters/moderators 154
Event banner 77
Facilitation during write-up of conference proceedings for 4 persons for two days 385
5,520
4. Drought Emergency Fund £
Provision of supplementary feed -hay & monitoring ~ 8 months @ £500 4,000
4,000
1. Great Grevy's zebra Rally 2020 £
Mileage for 4 vehicles @ GBP 0.45/km for 3420km 1,539
Transport and training for those handling cameras 270
Food supplies & camping fees for Marwell teams, local volunteers, security 1,082
Extra driver 77
Security for plane 93
Contingency 10% 306
Contribution to the organisation of the GGR Event 2,000
5,367
2. Grevy’s Zebra Liaison Office facilitation per annum £
Travel & Accomodation 4,600
Purchase of Stationery 275
Workshops, meetings & Conference 460
Calling airtime card 185
5,520
Northern Kenya Grevy's Zebra Project
3. National Stripe Identification Database & GZ monitoring £
5000km for vehicles @ £ 0.45/km to cover travel to, from and within field sites 2,250
1 x field data trainer (scout) @ £ 46/month, over 12 months 552
3 x scout leaders @ £ 46/month, over 12 months 1,656
20 community scouts (men and women) £40/scout/month, over 12 months 11,520
10 x additional camera traps @ £ 150/camera 1,500
1 x stripe ID database license 1,000
3 x back up phones @ £ 70 each 210
18,688
4. Peace and Conservation for Grevy's Zebra in Northern Kenya £
Field expenses and transport (£ 550/month) 6,600
Camera/video camera 320
Speakers for Projector 80
Stationary for school visits & community meetings 530
100 x printed shukas (African blankets worn by warriors) 630
100 x printed T shirts (for community training and discussion workshops) 630
200 x printed caps (for community training and discussion workshops) 600
Honda generator 350
9,740
5. Grevy’s zebra Conference 2019 £
100 x Meals/water for participants two days @ £ 11 per person/day. 2,200
30 x Transport to/from Nairobi for field/conservatory participants @ £ 23/person 690
30 x Accomm. Nairobi field/conservatory participants two nights @ £ 31/person 1,860
100 x Notebooks and pens @ £ 0.77/person 77
Stationery (Printing papers and cartridges) 77
External presenters/moderators 154
Event banner 77
Facilitation during write-up of conference proceedings for 4 persons for two days 385
5,520
4. Drought Emergency Fund £
Provision of supplementary feed -hay & monitoring ~ 8 months @ £500 4,000
4,000
Overall Total 48,835
Summary of funding proposal Grevy’s zebra conservation 2019/20
