Grevy’s Zebra Trust
Recovering the Grevy’s zebra through community stewardship.
Northern Kenya is home to the Grevy’s zebra - one of East Africa’s most endangered and range-restricted mammals. Unregulated hunting in the 1970s led to the decline of the zebra population to only several thousand animals, and an increasing number of threats continue to threaten the species today. Habitat degradation and loss, an increase in unchecked infrastructure development, and the degradation of essential resources such as grazing and water imperil this unique species’ future.
Grevy’s Zebra Trust (GZT) is the only organization solely dedicated to conserving Grevy’s zebra in its core remaining range, focusing on the community lands of northern Kenya. The organization’s work is rooted in partnership with the region’s pastoralist communities, by working to foster community ownership and stewardship of rangelands and wildlife. Through grassroots partnerships, GZT works with communities to monitor and protect Grevy’s zebras; improve rangeland management in order to recover healthy pastures for livestock and wildlife; and build a strong and peaceful local constituency for conservation.
“A new strategic focus for GZT is to find ways to participate in and influence discussions and decisions made around infrastructure development in northern Kenya, by working in partnership with other key stakeholders, especially community, county and national leaders.”
GZT’s work has focused specifically on three strategic regions - El Barta, Wamba, and Laisamis - all of which are located in Isiolo, Marsabit, and Samburu counties of northern Kenya.
90%
Of the Grevy’s zebra population is found in the rangelands of northern Kenya, with a few isolated remaining individuals or small populations to the north in Ethiopia.
2,812
Current population of Grevy’s zebra according to the GZT 2018 census.
Since its founding in 2007, GZT has played a key role helping put Grevy’s zebra on a path towards stability and recovery in its core range.
The most recent census numbers from the 2018 ‘Great Grevy’s Rally’- a unique collaborative census that GZT helped found- indicates that the Grevy’s zebra population has stabilized after decades of decline. Building on this progress, GZT’s new strategic plan provides a greater emphasis on restoring community rangelands and addressing the growing threats of infrastructure development in northern Kenya, as keys to supporting the long-term recovery of this unique and threatened species.
