Are vulnerable lions eating endangered zebras?

New study looks at whether a recovering predator is causing another species to decline

Date:  August 31, 2018

Source:  Wildlife Conservation Society

Summary:

Are Laikipia's recovering lions turning to endangered Grevy's zebras (Equus grevyi) for their next meal?

That's what a team of researchers led by WCS and WWF set out to discover -- whether the comeback of a top predator -- in this case lions in Laikipa County, Kenya -- were recovering at the expense of Grevy's zebras, which number only around 2,680 individuals with half of those living in Likipia.

In recent years, lion numbers have slowly recovered in this region as livestock ranching -- which commonly practiced shooting or poisoning lions -- has given way to wildlife tourism. Lions (Panthera leo) are classified as Threatened by IUCN.

Publishing their results in the journal PLOS ONE, the team used satellite telemetry to track the movements of both lions and zebras.

The team found that lions preyed on both Grevy's and plains zebras (Equus quagga) far less than expected. Their data showed that the population of Grevy's zebra populations may in fact be stabilizing with recruitment into the population tripling since 2004.

The researchers did conclude that competitive displacement by livestock and interference competition for grass from plains zebras, which are 22 times more abundant than Grevy's, are most likely the predominant threat to Grevy's zebras' recovery.

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Rare Grevy's zebra born at Chester Zoo

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An endangered species of zebra is the first of its kind to be born at Chester Zoo in more than 30 years.

The unnamed female Grevy's zebra was born on Saturday to first-time parents Nadine and Mac, the zoo said.

Grevy's is the largest zebra species, found in small and isolated populations in Ethiopia and Northern Kenya.

Curator of mammals, Tim Rowlands, said "she is a lively one" and was born with brown stripes that will eventually turn black.

He said: "The arrival of this foal is not only a really good achievement for us but good news for the species as a whole."

There are thought to be less than 2,500 Grevy's left in the wild.

Continued

Grevy's zebra moved to Ol Pejeta

Translocating Grevy's zebras to boost the population in Northern Kenya

November 2012. Since the early 1990's, the Grevy's zebra population on Ol Pejeta has not grown for several years due to predation pressure and the small population size. So in September 2012, the Ol Pejeta Conservancy, in collaboration with the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy and the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) translocated, Grevy's zebras from Lewa to Ol Pejeta.

8 female zebra translocated
Eight female Grevy's zebras were moved from Lewa to Ol Pejeta in a bid to create a viable breeding population and hopefully increase the number of Grevy's in the conservancy in the long-term. This move brought the total number of Grevy's zebras on Ol Pejeta to 21 individuals.

The translocation exercise started at 6 a.m. with a briefing by Lewa's Chief Conservation Officer, Geoffrey Chege, and Kenya Wildlife Service veterinarian, Dr. Matthew Mutinda. The team then set off in search of young female Grevy's without any foals which were considered suitable candidates for translocation. Once identified, the Grevy's zebras were darted, immobilized and moved into a translocation van where the tranquilizer was reversed to wake them up. It was an intensive exercise requiring immense team effort that lasted close to eight hours.

After all eight Grevy's were safely in the translocation van, the KWS team set off for Ol Pejeta. On Ol Pejeta, the Grevy's zebras were released into the endangered species boma, which is a predator proof enclosure aimed at consolidating the numbers of different endangered species and increasing their chances of breeding. Grevy's zebras on Ol Pejeta were separated from the common zebras last year and moved into the endangered species boma to prevent hybridization with the common zebra since their offspring are more often than not sterile.

The eight new Grevy's zebras were closely monitored by patrol teams in the boma over the first few days after their move. During the first three days, they grazed in a separate group from the resident Grevy's, however on the fourth day they had settled and were grazing together with the resident Grevy's zebras.

The Ol Pejeta Conservancy works hard to secure the future of all endangered species and increasing the population of Grevy's zebra in the Conservancy is a step in the right direction for the future of the species.

Grevy's zebra (Equus grevyi) are listed as endangered and can only be found in some parts of northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia. The name Grevy's zebra was coined from Jules Grévy, former President of France, who, in the 1880s, was given one as a gift by Menelik II, Emperor of Abyssinia.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/grevys-pejeta.html