Saving the Endangered Grevy’s Zebra

My 11 year old daughter, Mayian, has raised GBP £3,500 via Go Fund Me to help the highly endangered Grevy’s zebra of north Kenya that are suffering from malnutrition and starvation due to the prolonged drought, now entering its third year. These funds have now been transferred in to Kenya shillings and donated to the Grevy’s Zebra Trust (GZT). We hope this will buy more than 1000 bales of hay to assist GZT’s supplementary feeding programme.

The link to Mayian’s Go Fund Me campaign is here: https://gofund.me/e602f691

There are only +/- 3000 Grevy’s zebra left in the wild, so Mayian’s goal was to raise £1 for each one. In the photos below, Mayian (aged 6) is helping the Grevy’s Zebra Trust with a previous supplementary feeding effort during a similar drought in 2017.

Grevy’s zebra are in serious trouble. The biggest issue they face is habitat loss as their home range is being rapidly degraded through overgrazing by livestock, loss of topsoil, erosion, and failed rains brought about by climate change. 

Everything comes down to the availability of grass in the landscape.  

The grass stalks below were collected by Mayian and her parents in the Maasai Mara in 2021, and represent 13 different species. 

The most nutritious of these grasses is the species found on the far right had side of the photo called red oat grass. 

Unfortunately, livestock – especial goats and sheep – have been devastating the grazing areas of north kenya by pulling up the roots of the small patches of grass that remain.  It’s been estimated that 70% of the landscape is now on the edge of permanent desertification, which means that only 30% of the area has the ability to repair itself and produce the grass that is so desperately needed by wildlife and livestock alike.

Mayian’s dream is to see Samburu covered in rich fields of grass again one day.  It will take a lot of work to restore the landscape and regenerate the grass, but in the meantime she wants to find ways to help the Grevy’s zebra and the other wild life that depends on grasslands to survive. Her aim is to raise awareness and contribute to raising funds by making Art.

Her sculpture of a Grevy’s zebra in amongst a herd of the more common Burchell’s zebra tries to highlight how different these rare, very special, desert-adapted zebra are to common zebra. The sculpture is for sale in Kenya to the highest bidder and all donations will go to the Grevy’s Zebra Trust feeding programme!

Please spread the word and thank you for your support!

The link to her Go Fund Me campaign is https://gofund.me/e602f691 or you can visit the Grevy’z Zebra Trust homepage to donate direct.