2% of the world’s rarest zebras wiped out in Kenya’s relentless drought.
The new Zebras conservation park, in Mbita, is designed to help protect the species’ home range, to enable the herds to move less frequently, to ensure genetic diversity and to keep them from being preyed on by lions.
In the UK, the first Zebras had been introduced to the Isle of Wight in the West Country in 1972. Their small populations are now established on the other Welsh islands, with the Isle of Anglesey the only surviving island home to their natural habitat.
The IUCN/SSC African Wildlife Institute and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WC&WWS) are pleased to announce that they have been partnered for the development of a new conservation park for the African golden lion, an iconic African species, one of the world’s most endangered mammals.
The collaboration represents a great opportunity to collaborate on two critically important conservation projects in Kenya, where the IUCN and the WCS (Wildlife Conservation Society) will be working to manage critically important habitat adjacent to the world’s second largest wildlife reserve in order to provide long-term sustainable solutions for the conservation and sustainable use of Africa’s natural resources.
The park that will be funded by the WC&WWS, the African Wildlife Institute (AWI), and the IUCN will be located in Mbita, Kenya. It will form part of a new conservation corridor known as the Great Rift Valley Conservation Corridor. The goal of the corridor is to help manage the wildlife and habitats that have been critically reduced or lost due to the ongoing ecological degradation caused by the ongoing Great Rift Valley Rift. This area is also home to a number of animals of conservation concern, including the African elephant, African buffalo, warthog and cheetah.
The partnership will also take place in partnership with Wildlife Conservation and Tourism Scotland (WCTS). Together, the partners will be developing a number of new conservation projects and monitoring initiatives.
The partnership’s work will seek to manage large areas of land that are threatened, are critically endangered or have been listed for international protection (either international convention, or under the Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources).
The partnership will be based on the following three strategies: